Road To Havana

The day had come for my parents & I to explore the capital city of Havana, home to 2.2 million Cubans, and declared a UNESCO world heritage site. Since this was our first time, we chose the Havana One Day excursion, costing 67 CUC per person. The other two in the Sunwing brochure were the Havana History & Rhythm, and Havana Special.

The warm early morning greeted us as we waited at the front of the hotel to catch our bus after eating a well prepared breakfast buffet. My backpack carried my digital camera, pack of cards, book, sunscreen, bottled water, and toilet paper. Despite the successes of the revolution, it hasn’t been able to fully guarantee that all public washrooms will have available toilet paper . . . and toilet seats.

Following ‘Cuban Time’, our tour bus arrived 15 minutes late, carrying Canadian tourists from other hotels. The bus would later stop at a hotel in the town of Varadero, and another outside of the city of Matanzas to pick up more tourists. Tony, a man in his 30s, would be our tour guide for the day, while our bus driver was Victor, an older man who had been driving for over 100 years according to the tour guide. Tony spoke good English and had six years experience working as a tour guide, professing that he knew the difference between real Canadian currency & Canadian Tire money. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had been tipped with Canadian Tire money in the past.

The drive to Havana would take two & a half hours, but we would be stopping at a police checkpoint/pit stop to stretch our legs, use the washroom, and order pina coladas. As the bus drove, Tony spoke over the PA system about Cuban history, rambling off dates, events, famous people, baseball, and how Cuban society evolved. After that he went into great detail about the cigar & rum industries. Despite my anti-smoking position I can’t blame him for promoting & advertising Cuban cigars; they alone bring in $300 million USD a year for the socialist country! The top three cigars are Cohiba, Monte Cristo, and Romeo & Julieta. The best rum is Havana Club.

As we drove through the bustling city of Matanzas, Tour Guide Tony explained that 30% percent of Cuba’s budget is devoted to health care and another 30% goes to education. Cuba has one doctor for every 170 people, and thousands of others working around the world, thus putting the Castro government on good terms with these countries in the hopes of acquiring goods & services.

The countryside highway was adequately maintained, snaking its way through lush green tropical countryside, art decoy houses, and under two concrete bridges that didn’t go anywhere. I was reminded by my travels in Eastern Europe when the bus drove through the smaller towns; people were waiting for a bus, hitch-hiking, and asking for a lift. I guess the revolution hasn’t delivered enough cars for everyone.

The police checkpoint simply consisted of a small shack and radio tower, sitting on a rocky coastline, marking the border between the provinces of Matanzas & La Habana. The pit stop next to it consisted of a bar, restaurant, and small tourist shop. The assumptions I made while getting off the bus for the 20 minute break were correct: there were other tourist busses there, the pina coladas were good, there was a band playing next to the bar, and the washroom I used had no toilet seat or toilet paper (even though I didn’t need them).

As we neared Havana the vehicle traffic began to increase. I have to admit that I only spotted maybe one or two propaganda posters next to the highway. On the northern outskirts of the capital lies the white & blue Estadio Panamericano (Pan American Stadium) where the 1991 Pan American Games were held. Its seating capacity is 50,000, and is currently used for soccer matches. I was able to quickly snap a clear picture of the stadium as we passed it. After that, the bus descended into an underground tunnel that enables vehicles to drive under the harbour entrance and surface in the city centre.

To Be Continued . . .