1999 - 2000
One day in Spring 1999. To celebrate the year 2000 in Cuba suddenly came to our mind.
Before the trip
Everyone need a visa to go to Cuba. And for the economic reason, it's very easy to apply.
I’ve got mine in a special Cuban travel agency in Paris and it only took me 5 minutes
To bring and not to bring
Bring extremely efficacious anti-mosquito products.
Do not bring any food.
An island where the politic could be part of landscape
Dictatorship's propaganda boards are everywhere and in every cuban?s life.Some of them are memorables, some updated with actualities.
They’re part of cuba’s culture and cuba’s landscape.
Arrive in Havana
We spent two hours in speaking poor Spanish to arrange a small jeep with tourist licence. We arrived at hotel Sevilla in the old Havana at dinner time,
and w'ere the last clients at the unique roof garden restaurant.
Enjoying our delicious meal and surrounded by the Cuban music and Havana’s night view
and black and white pictures of the old golden time with Al Capone
Great places to go
After two days luxorious hotel room and swimming pool. We went to a paradisiac island called Cayo Levisa where only 20 cabins hotel room to rent, and you can kayak to the interior lake of the island, to spend some fantastic moment in the nature.
Playa Giròn, a small charming bay where you can snorkeling with tropic fishes swim side by you.
And the incredible Cuevo de los Peces to dive in the total obscure underground, across the sea and pound.
To walk trough or an evening at the night club in the amazing Jurassic age of caves called Cueva del Indio, stay at Caleta Buena. or spend sometime at village called Viñales.
New Year's Eve
Too many people with too many ideas how to celebrate the new years.
We started with CNN’s world new years’ report in our Casa Miramar.
Then we found sat in the daily power off darkness waiting for the light.
Finally we manage to go to celebrate in a local fiesta at the social club of the film
and the Habana Club for the final count down with champagne
The end we went to the most beatiful square in Havana, Plaza Catedral
where you can have a lobster dish with champagne and fire works for 100$. eve.
People
We found Cubans are very hospitable, they'r'e both warm and sorrow. They are music, baseball and Mojito lovers and they’ll keep an eye on our car for 1dollar.
and they spend most of their time  waiting for the buses, and repair their old cars.
Beautiful culture mix
From 1511 till 1873. The Spanish, English and French colonists brought a large number of African and Chinese from Macao and Hong Kong as slaves.
After several liveration revolts slaves were set free, but they couldn’t afford the ticket to return  home,
So they stayed in Cuba and started their business.
For generations, they mixed between Spanish, African and Chinese.
Culture and food as beautiful as people.
We followed the trace of Hemingway from Bodeguita to Cojimar where he lived for 22 years and wrote The Old Man and Sea.
Hemingway
Cigars
We learned how they make the cigar so tasteful ...
ans: the pesticide on the tobacco plants has never been washed off.
Eat & Drink, Sleep
Eat sea food and seaweed smoked chicken. Drink a lot of Mojito.
Avoid any big vacation inn. A small hotel or 30$ for a room for two in Cuban's home.
Animals
Crocodile at Boca de Guama
Varadero (50US$ to swim with dolphins)
Dial 119 to make international calls.Calls from the hotel lobby is much cheaper than calls from your room.
Mail will take 3 weeks to a month to arrive,
But most of the hotels will send your mail for free.
Ask hotel’s lobby to know where to have internet connection.
Useful tips
Links
www.cuba.com
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/Aficionado/travel/fa699.html
www.gocubaplus.com/index.asp
Link to my Iceland page
http://www.lostgeneration.com/hrc.htm
Private use only - Smile C. copyright  -  Sep. 2001 - Dec. 2002 updated
little w. Productions
coco taxi
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