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<< Back to Articles & Features Belize Barbados Costa Rica Cuba Interview with... Richard Davis, Cuban holidaymaker Guatemala Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Trinidad & Tobago |
Cuba interview Name: Richard Davis (Ginge) Age: 23 Occupation: Student Hi Ginge - so tell us, how did you end up holidaying in Cuba? After a rather traumatic, life-changing experience I decided I wanted to get away from everything that was going on at home. Completely out of impulse while walking past a travel agent’s in the town centre I decided to book a holiday. I walked into the office and asked for a holiday; at first I was thinking of somewhere a bit random (Latvia), but after looking at the Caribbean sun holidays I realised that a Latin American beach holiday was what I was after. I was given a choice of two cheap last-minute destinations (I wanted to leave the following week) - the first was the Dominican Republic and the second was to Cuba. Cuba was more appealing, I wanted to relax, but I also wanted to indulge in a completely different culture and with the current political system I thought Cuba would be more interesting. As it turned out I choose correctly as the whole time I was away the Dominican Republic was battered by a huge tropical storm which flooded the entire island. When most people book cheap, last-minute holiday deals, they tend to end up going somewhere a bit crap like Benidorm or Ayia Napa. Have you got any tips for getting last-minute deals to more exciting places like Cuba? I came across the holiday in Cuba completely by chance, but I think when looking for last minute holidays the price tag shouldn’t be the most important aspect. Obviously a cheap holiday is nice, but if you wanted to buy a car you wouldn’t buy a skateboard just because it’s cheaper. I think having a few interesting destinations in mind, and the ability to be flexible about departure dates are the most important aspects. Also if something is suggested don’t dismiss it just because you’ve never heard of it as a tourist destination.  If you booked at the last minute, how did you go about sorting out things like visas, vaccinations etc? For Cuba no vaccinations were needed. A tourist card is required to enter the country. I flew with Thomas Cook, and they said that they would arrange the tourist card and it should have been issued when I picked up the tickets. Unfortunately, I was a little confused by this as I didn’t have any tourist card with my tickets when I picked them up. On arrival in Cuba I realised everyone in the queue in front of me had a separate piece of paper, but as it turned out I was able to buy a tourist card for $25 from the people at the airport; this was later refunded by the Thomas Cook rep at the resort. I was a little worried at the time that they would send me straight back home though. So... what was your first impression of Cuba? Was it as you’d expected? My very first impression of Cuba was not what I expected at all; from the air I could see various chains of islands in the Caribbean which were small enough to take photos of. I expected Cuba to be small, or at least small enough that I could take a picture of the island as we came in to land. With hindsight this was obviously a ridiculous expectation, especially once I’d found out that Cuba was actually the same size as Great Britain. The first thing I noticed on landing was the heat; stepping off the plane in my English summer clothes and into the thick Cuban air was something I had expected, but having never experienced anything like it before it took me a little by surprise. Saying that it didn’t take long to acclimatise to the heat; there was a constant shore breeze, which kept the air fresh, and dissipated most of the humidity. Where did you stay and what was it like? I stayed in a resort called Villa Cojimar on the small island of Cayo Guillermo, which is just off the north coast of mainland Cuba. It was a fantastic little resort, fully inclusive, with three bars (including a pool / beach bar), three restaurants (Cuban, Italian and a buffet) as well as a poolside café where they did the best grilled fish I’ve ever had in my life (the fish of the day was whatever they had caught that morning). There was a swimming pool, a gym (with archery), and a nightclub. Every evening there was a show - it was a bit crappy (the usual kind of cabaret song and dance) but the dancing girls made it worth going for. Nice beaches? The beaches... Every morning I woke up at about eight or nine (I’ve never been one for sleeping in) and I went for a swim in the sea. Having grown up in Devon and Cornwall I’m used to having to put on full wetsuit to go swimming at that time in the morning, but in Cuba, the sea was bath temperature, even that early. The water was a pure, clear, turquoise and the sand soft and brilliant white. It was clean, beautiful, perfect, paradise, and I could see it from my sun terrace, a slow meander through the coconut trees and I was on the beach.  We understand you did a lot of water sports - tell us a bit about them...The resort I was staying in had a load of facilities available, so after the first day I’d already had a go at windsurfing, kayaking and sailing. There was also snorkelling gear available from the guys on the beach, so you could take one of the cats and then go snorkelling around one of the reefs. They also had pedal boats, but one of the disadvantages of travelling alone is that pedal boats become useless, unless you want to pedal in circles for hours at a time. Not far from the resort it was possible to rent out speed boats, and following a trail of about 20 boats, the course ended with a snorkelling excursion through mangroves. There were hundreds of fish swimming through the little channel, and they didn’t seem to notice us swimming alongside them, bizarre. This was a great day and well worth the money, although I did end up with the worst sunburn (and salt burn) as a result of that day. I also spent most of the journey back trying to tip the boat over on sharp corners, but wasn’t able to succeed. The water sports in general were fantastic; there is also the possibility for a lot more including a trip on a luxury catamaran to the second largest coral reef in the world, a snorkelling trip around the reefs, and a champagne and lobster lunch on the boat. Tell us a bit about the political / cultural scene in Cuba - does Communism have a strong impact on the country? Yes, Communism does have an impact on the country, although if you didn’t know it was a Communist country I doubt you’d be able to guess. The main impact the current political system has on the country is that the Americans are still frightened of Communism, and so haven’t recognised Castro’s government. This resulted in the current trade embargo, and Cuba’s entry on the ‘axis of evil’ list. You can see the results of this everywhere, partly in the poverty of some of the towns and parts of Havana, but also in more subtle ways. For example, the cars: I have heard Havana described as a living classic car museum, very few modern cars are seen in Cuba so the ones they have are generally those that were around before Castro.  You can also see Communism’s effect in some of the shops; certain shops are ration shops, specifically for Cubans. The money system is a little strange as well: there are Cuban pesos, which only Cubans are allowed to use. There is then a currency called the Cuban Convertible peso, which is fixed at one American dollar, and most places accepted American dollars. Saying that, American Express cards or other American bank cards could not be used.Most of the people I spoke to didn’t seem too bothered about the Communist government, and most people seemed to like Castro. The only thing I ever heard anyone complain about was the bureaucracy involved in the system, but then while saying that the guy I was speaking to started to think that every Cuban around him was a government informer, so maybe a tourist can’t find out about the real Cuba. Were there many tourists in Cuba? Where I was staying was a tourist resort, so the majority of people I met were tourists. Most of them were either Canadian or English, although there were a few French and German tourists as well. There were no American tourists in Cuba: as a result of the American trade embargo it is very hard for Americans to get travel permits to go to Cuba. In Havana there were a lot of tourists, and a lot of people willing to be tour guides. As for the smaller towns, these seemed a lot more for the Cuban people. In one local town, Moron, I didn’t see any other foreigners. If it’s possible to generalise, what are the Cuban people like? Did you meet some nice folks? Every Cuban person I met seemed so helpful, nice and friendly. They were always eager to help with any problem, and they all wanted to use every possible opportunity to practice their English. One of my favourite memories was on the first morning; after breakfast I went for a swim in the sea, and just as the heat was beginning to get unbearable I took refuge under a palm tree. It was then that I noticed one of the gardeners coming up to me with a coconut he had carved; he popped a straw through the top. It was possibly the most refreshing drink I’d ever had. Another thing about Cuban people is that they are able to offer everything that the tour operators offer for approximately a tenth of the price. By taking advantage of this I was able to have a beginner's lesson in Scuba diving, including an hour's sea dive, for about fifteen pounds. One piece of advice is to always talk to the locals to find the bet deals. Did you go to Havana? What’s it like? My only experience of Havana was on a one-day bus tour, so I didn't explore as much as I would have liked to. I did see a lot of the tourist sites, including the hotel seen in the second Godfather film. One of the main things I noticed was that it was a beautiful city, with gorgeous architecture everywhere, but apart from the grand public buildings it was all falling apart. A few places I would recommend visiting would be: Revolutionary Square, the place where Castro gives his speeches to over a million listeners once a month (although due to health reasons he has cut these speeches to just five hours long), the fort on the entrance to the harbour, and Bogidita and La Floridita, two regular haunts of Hemmingway, worth a visit and a quick drink. What else did you get up to? There was another trip where I was able to view a few of the more colourful aspects of Cuban life. This included a trip to a crocodile farm, a speed boat ride through a mangrove forest, a visit to a sugar refinery, a steam train ride to a banana plantation (including traditional Cuban food in the middle of the plantation) and an afternoon in a small sleepy Cuban village called Moron. Feeding crocodiles was an amazing experience, and then holding a baby crocodile, it was a lot softer and cuter than I had expected (although I was still glad it’s mouth was taped shut). Moron was a great place as well, even if it did seem like a Wild West ghost town at first. You travelled on your own - how was this? Would you recommend solo travel to other people? There are some benefits and disadvantages to travelling alone, as there are with most things in life. In some ways travelling alone is the best possible way to travel; when travelling with someone else you worry about whether they are enjoying themselves, and whether what you want to do is what they want to do. If there is a difference of opinion this can become very awkward, either because you do what you want to do, and the other person resents this, or you don’t do what you want and then resent the other person for holding you back. So I had loads of fun while I was away doing exactly what I wanted to do. On the other hand there were a few moments, usually at night, when I was sat back on a comfy recliner, watching the most beautiful sunset explode over a paradise Caribbean beach, sipping on an ice cold (and very strong) cuba-libre, wearing shorts and a tee-shirt while a cool Caribbean breeze took away some of the heat of the day and the warm waves lapped around my feet, when I wanted to turn to someone and say 'Have you got a light, my cigar’s gone out?'. In truth, when you are in a place as perfect as Cuba, I think you need someone, anyone, to share it with.  Tell us a fascinating fact about Cuba...Cubans are given a free keg of beer by the state when they get married. Finally - did you smoke any big, fat cigars while in Cuba? Bear in mind that gapyear.com will be most disappointed if you say no... While in Havana I went to one of the old forts at the entrance to the harbour; in this fort I found a huge room, with shelves from floor to ceiling packed with the largest variety of cigars I have seen in my life. I choose the biggest, fattest monte cristo I could find, and that evening back in the resort, I smoked the cigar in a bar, on a rickety old pier, drinking the worst rum I’ve ever had in my life. I woke up the following morning with a voice like the Godfather... another perfect night in Cuba.  Click here >> for more Cuba info |
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