Island Blog

Currency

Sun, 1 Mar 2009 10:13:09 +0000

Tourists have to convert their Dollars or Euros into “Cuban Convertible Pesos” (CUC). You can do that in Havana and Santiago. Restaurants, hotels, gas stations etc. will charge their prices in CUC. Sometimes you can pay food in Cuban Pesos (CUP), so you might want to have maybe 10 of those handy as well.
Someone told us to bring plenty of single Dollar notes, which we did, but that advise was from a period around 2000, when Cuba was accepting Dollar as a currency. Forget about bringing dollars. You actually get the better exchange rate for Euros.
Needless to say that the money is worthless outside Cuba and at best you can use it to decorate your refrigerator.
Food is in general relatively cheap. The same is true for cabs in Havana (even though we never figured out how they end up with the final price, we also never felt ripped off).
Everyone in Cuba is happy about a tip. Since the economy is virtually non existing, you can only make a decent living if you have access to CUCs. Over-tipping is certainly not a good idea. But keep in mind that people typically don’t make more money in a month than you spend on a single meal (that’s also why you should check out “what to bring”). That’s also why we felt less bad about those cases where Cubans where charging us the CUP price in CUC...

How dirty is this island?

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:01:12 +0100

From Christof’s perspective, Havana can easily compete with Beijing or Shanghai when it comes to air pollution. It’s largely due to the old trucks and cars, that have no exhaust filter whatsoever and seem to run on extra virgin diesel oil. It’s pretty bad in the city but obviously gets better on the country side. However, during the entire trip, we were able to smell a truck long before we passed it.
If you’re sensitive to air quality, you should seriously reconsider Havana. Christof got a sore throat the second day. Ruth was fine - after all, health is a mental state...
The situation seems to be born out of necessity, less out of ignorance. Even though Christof complained during the entire stay, Havana and Cuba in general is pretty clean. You don’t see any garbage outside towns like you do in Spain and besides the desolate state of the buildings, the Cubans do their best to keep things clean. Like all major cities, Havana is not representative for the rest of Cuba.

No, that’s not a knife - THIS is a KNIFE!

Sat, 6 Sep 2008 11:09:46 +0100

Some people asked about security. Ruth and I never felt threatened or in danger at any moment during the trip (Chris felt in danger of getting killed by Ruth several times, but that’s a different story altogether). There is virtually no crime in Cuba, since there is nothing to steal in the first place (sad but true).

You probably want to take the usually precautions in the touristy places. Pick pocketing is certainly where there is tourism. You also don’t want to tempt hotel staff by leaving any valuables in plain sight. Every place we stayed had in-room safes where we could lock our cameras, passports, etc. And you don’t want to bring your designer jeans to Cuba. If somethings gets lost or stolen, keep in mind: it’s not gone - someone else is using it now.

While crime is not a security risk, the streets and potholes are (seriously). You don’t want to drive at night, because a) you already get lost during day time b) the potholes are everywhere. Christof got carpal tunnel syndrome from driving and steering all the time (no kidding). We can not imaging anyone would want to drive there in the dark.

What to bring?

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:20:07 +0100

Living conditions are relatively poor. So when you travel and meet people, you will regret not having some small “thank you gifts” to hand out. We did not listen to such recommendations and deeply regretted this decision.

Things to bring:
Soap, pens, perfume (those small test bottles), shampoo, textiles you no longer use (sneakers, shirts, jeans, etc.). Load up your suitcase with all those little luxuries that we almost don’t even notice anymore. Cubans barely make a living and such goods cost a fortune. Department stores are largely empty and any goods they do carry are largely unaffordable for the average Cuban.

Especially if you travel around, you will meet people and you will regret not having anything to give other than maybe money. You probably want to be smart what to give to whom. Churches might be a good starting point. You don’t want to give presents to children (in no under-developed country). You only risk that they will start begging and chase tourists instead of attending school.

How to get there?

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:27:01 +0100

Since we started out our journey from NYC, there was no way getting directly to Cuba. Due to the US embargo, there are no direct flights available. We chose a flight via Cancun (JetBlue and Cubana). Another popular route is via Toronto.

You need an entry permit, which you can apply for online (link). Seems largely a way to make money, rather than a true check.

Notice that Cuban authorities will not stamp your passport. Some brave US citizens use that to sneak into Cuba despite the US ban.

Flying Cubana from Mexico was a bit of an adventure. The boarding procedure is not the typical one: Forget the one personal item constraints. Everyone brings as much as she or he can carry....