Intro to Cuba

Just 180 kilometres south of Florida, lies the largest Caribbean island in the shape of a traditional vacuum cleaner. This tropical climate filled archipelago is 1,250 km long, 100 km wide, and has a total surface area of 110,922 square kilometers. But it’s not alone. A smaller island, as well as hundreds of tiny others, surround it, as if making a shield against the powers of the sea. The landscape is divided into 4 groups: mountains, plains, marshlands, and tropical forest, and all of them contain many varieties of exotic flora. The island that I speak of is Cuba.

Before the Spanish discovered the island in 1492, Cuba was inhabited by three Amerindian ethnic groups (Guanajatabey, Siboney, and Taino). They were conquered by the Spanish who ruled if for the next 4 centuries. Although the people of Cuba gained their independence in 1899, they found their country being heavily influenced by the United States to the north. It wouldn’t be until 1959 when two communist guerillas would overthrow the American backed dictator and establish a ‘socialist utopia’ that exists to this day, managing the lives of 11 million people.

Today, Cuba is one of the prime tourist destinations in the world, known for its cigars, rum, sugar, music, and doctors. For me, I would be visiting this tropical place for the first time, just for a week in December to relax in the sun, swim in the sea, and get away from the cold winter that had engulfed Canada with mounds of white snow. I would join the million Canadian tourists who visit this place every year.

Aside from going for the first time, the other reason to travel to Cuba is to see a communist society before it changes. Unfortunately, I was too young to visit the USSR and Eastern European countries before they collapsed in 1989 & 1991. So Cuba looks like a good start. Then, if I’m lucky and there’s enough time, visit Vietnam, China, and North Korea before democratic reform kicks in.

But for now, on to describing a tourist’s vacation in Cuba . . .