Reserved...

Resources:

U.S. Interests Section (consular services)
Web: http://havana.usint.gov
Address: Calzada between L and M Streets, Vedado, La Habana
Telephone: (53)(7)-839-4100
For after hours emergencies, please call the main switchboard at (+53)(7) 839-4100 and dial 1 to
speak with the emergency operator.


Websites of interest:

Link to U S Department of State Cuba information, notices, etc. web page

Link to US OFAC pages on Cuban sanctions (called "el bloqueo" in Cuba)

Link to ‎Granma newspaper online, Órgano Oficial del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba (sic)

Link to English version of Granma online newspaper, "Official Organ of the Central Committee of the of the Cuban Communist Party" (the guys who run things in Cuba )

Link to U S Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook on Cuba

Link to Wikipedia crowdsourced article about Cuba

List to goodreads Listopia booklist for Cuba

Link to "Ten Best" books on Cuba from Amazon

List of important books written by Cubans.

Books from the Cuban perspective (some definite propaganda) can be purchased in English and Spanish at the booth in the international departures area at José Martí International airport. The kiosk in the departures salon is government-sanctioned (and takes US and Canadian Dollars, Euros, first born... )

Guidebooks:

Moon Cuba- though these folks usually have the best maps and the size is right for traveling, the Cuba book is rubbish - it is way out of date IMO, don;t even try to publish a guidebook if you have no plans to update it; it's like keeping fish way past its pull date, and stinks.

Lonely Planet Cuba (Country Guide) by Planet, Lonely, Sainsbury, Brendan and Waterson, Luke (Sep 1, 2013)





The driest and more moderately warm time of year, also the low season, is April - May.

Hurricane season is July - November, also rains season, with September and October having the highest probability of a tropical storm, a few of which may be hurricanes. Cuba is one of the more prepared Caribbean nations in dealing with hurricanes, and tourists have high priority as well. On most days with rain, rain occurs as afternoon showers (can be very heavy showers!) and at night; a few days at the beginning and end of rains season may be rainier, and of course tropical storms hurricanes bring torrential rains and very high winds. It's common to see waves break and flood the Malecón (waterfront promenade), but at times the water can flood several blocks inland and the Malecón can be dangerous for pedestrians and even drivers.

Hot season May - August, and quite humid. This is also high tourist season.

Coolest season is December - February and occasional cold fronts from the north can bring cooler weather (much as in Florida, which is only 90 miles or so away to Key West).

Cuba weather online

US NOAA NWS National Hurricane Center (includes quite a bit of information affecting Cuba)


Who's taking licensed tours to Cuba? Seems like nearly everyone...

Link to New York Times Travel article: Cuba: Going With a Tour Company (Sep 2013)

The list is vast, with all levels of tours. Abercrombie and Kent, National Geographic Expeditions, Smithsonian Travel and Tauck probably offer the most upscale trips, but many others are offered from Grand Circle to Insight Tours to Gohagan and Globus, and Coda International has offered deluxe tours for Gay and Lesbian travelers.

LGBT: There is legally no discrimination and there are active communities. Unfortunately, there are some (often older) Cubans who still are resistant to the message and can act in discriminatory ways.

Racism and its relatives: Skin color is a child of the colonial Spanish era, and is present to some degree in Latin America. In Cuba it became official policy Cuba is Afro-Cuban, though among some older people you will still find some discriminatory belief and behavior. Among schoolchildren I did not see any evidence of color-or ethnic-based discrimination, and one sees many "mixed color" groups and couples.

Religion: Since the revolution in 1959, religious belief was discouraged officially, and practicing members were banned from Communist Party membership. In 1992, Cuba changed its Constitution to permit religious belief, and in 2013, bans against religion were lifted, though religious belief must "maintain respect for the law". Though many Cubans are at least nominally are Roman Catholic, it's often a Catholicism that is syncrectic with animist religions brought in originally from West Africa, especially Santería, with Yoruba influences and words. Catholicism claims 60%, but it's estimated 80% practice some form of African-origin religion, such as Santería / Regla de Ocha, Palo Monte or Abakuá.

Beth Shalom synagogue and community center (the Grand Synagogue is a tourist attraction), though the Jewish community is not very large. There are many Christian groups active in Cuba. For Jewish believers, there is Adath Israel, Cuba’s only Orthodox synagogue, a Sephardic Hebrew Center / synagogue with a Holocaust Museum, the Conservative

Santería, also known as La Religión, Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumí or Lukumi, is very common. How common? On a Saturday by the Castillo de la Real Fuerza I saw a queue over three blocks long. These were Santería believers heading for the large ceiba (kapok) tree at O'Reilly and Barillo near the Plaza de Armas to take a walk around the tree and pray to the appropriate orisha. Santería uses Yoruba (or Lucumí) as its liturgical language, incorporates representations of orishas (gods or akin to Catholic saints and sometimes sharing some attributes) in vigorous dances, trances, sacrifice (including animals), and centered on neighborhood casas de santos or ilé. One you can visit is the one in Callejón de Hamel in Cayo Hueso - to me it feels like a business, and though many true believers are in evidence, it feels to me like there's a significant amount of hustling of visitors. Nonetheless, you can see rituals, attend lectures and dances, and you are welcome to inquire and film - and contribute CUCs, of course, and the Babalao is a very interesting guy who dresses in tie die, has a Rasta do and reminds me of Wavy Gravy in his day. (You may see Santería novices around Cuba, dressed entirely in white.)

The art of Salvador González Escalona is eye catching and interesting! Link. Weekends, the place is hopping - you will hear lots of music jamming and see dancing and friendliness.

There is also an Orisha Museum Museo de los Orishas at Paseo de Martí (Prado) #615, between Máximo Gómez (Monte) and Dragones, 863 5953, www.cubayoruba.cult.cu, dedicated to the orishas of the Santería / Regla de Ocha.


Some words to be aware of:

So, you speak some Spanish? OK, be aware:

The bus is not el autobús, it's "la guagua", and one does not "tomar la guagua", one "coge la guagua" - though in the rural areas you might be taking a "camión" - yep, it's a truck with benches or seats, kind of like le truck in French Polynesia or the "mammy wagon" in West Africa", and both are crowded like sardines. The Metrobús is a more modern articulated bus common to the streets of La Habana (replacing the "camello" or "camellito" truck-long bus combos).

Café - a Cuban espresso, often with some sugar. A "cortadito" is the same with a bit of milk; and "café con leche" is about 50/50 Cuban coffee and milk, no sugar - the milk is generally separate so you can choose how much. A "colada" is several Cuban coffees served to go in a Styrofoam cup (usually) to share (you'll see working people with several plastic demi-tasses).

Papaya is not a fruit in Cuba; it is an offensive word for a woman's pudendum - you eat "fruta de bomba" in Cuba. There, I warned you!

Taxi can cover a multitude of vehicles, from actual well-maintained taxis called by telephone to "colectivos" with set routes and low prices - and often check full of passengers. These are often informal, old classic cars with a "TAXI" sign over the dashboard.

Food and drink: water may not be safe in many areas, so insist on sealed bottles of purified water ("agua purificada" - ah-waoor-eef-ee-COD-uh) and be aware of the source of ice in drinks. Cuba has experienced cholera during 2013, and this is usually from contaminated food or water. Cholera is more easily treated than one might think, but there is no vaccine that is both available and considered more than ~50% effective in the USA. So take care with your food and drink, and wash / sanitize your hands prior to eating. Restaurants and paladares catering to visitors should theoretically provide safe ice, etc. (but ask if the ice is from "agua purificada") and the best tour groups do considerable research before using a restaurant, etc.

Bottled beverages are safe - there are Ciego Montero still and sparkling (con gas or sin gas) as well as soft drinks such as TuKola (your cola - dietético is available), and the two most likely encountered beers are Bucanero (darker) and Cristal (light). Most of these will run 1 CUC (slightly higher in a paladar or hotel). Mixed drinks can run as high as 6 CUC for a mojito in La Bodequita de el Medio (allegedly Hemingway's favorite place, but the story and the alleged testimony scrawled "Mi mojito en La Bodeguita, mi daiquiri en El Floridita" on the wall are likely hype, and the mojito is spectacularly lousy) or a daiquiri in El Floridita. Havana Club is the most common rum, and you can get some nicely aged anejo. "Guarapo" is sometimes seen - basically, sugary juice freshly pressed from sugar cane, which theoretically should be safe to drink, and sometimes mixed with rum.

Booze: Havana Club is the rum most commonly encountered, and the aged (añejo) product is worthy. Of course, the daiquiri, mojito and other mixed drinks are common, and why not, they were invented here! (Be careful of ice and water in the lower end places.)

CAUTIONS: Food safety and handling is not guaranteed - and can lead to protozoan disseases such as amoebiasis (Entamoeba histolytica) or giardiasis (Giardia lamblia) or even, at times, cholera. I have met visitors and Cubans who have had one of these, so choose your food with care. (See USDOS warning in the first post.)


What kind of food?
Typical Caribbean mostly - heavy on the starches, with plantain (green it's a starch, very ripe it's sweet and dessert-y), rice (in a variety of ways, including with beans - black beans and rice prepared separately as "moros y cristianos" or prepared together as "congrí"), yuca (cassava or manioc in English), potatoes or malanga (corms of Xanthosoma roseum); not as many vegetables, but when you get them they are usually organic; salads are often worth passing by, and if not properly disinfected and prepared can be a source of protozoan disease like amoebiasis or even cholera from time to time); beef is scarce, and in better places imported from Brasil or possibly Argentina; fish is not as common as you'd think, but seafood is available; desserts - well, Cubans LOVE their desserts and sweets! Get some churros, enjoy some ate (a sweet dessert made from fruit paste like a thick fruit leather), with a cup of Cuba style coffee (demi-tasse with a Cuban style espresso coffee, often with some demerara sugar).

Fruits: Especially in the mercado agropecuário, or farmer's markets, you'll find lots of fresh, mostly organically grown, fruits. You may also see these in little temporary ad hoc stands by the side of the road, particularly in rural areas. Some fruits are common - and you'll have seen them before, like bananos / guineos (Musa acuminata) - though there can be different kind of bananos, not only the Canvendish banana common in the US; guayabas or guavas in English (the commonly used short sleeved shirt with two large lower patch pockets and two small ones above, often with pleats and some embroidery, are called "guayaberas" because they have pockets large enough to stash some guayabas); guanabanas (soursops), sapotes; piña (pineapple); fruta bomba (papaya - see note above in words), coco (coconut, served green with a slight yellow line on the top, good for drinking and then scooping the soft flesh with a "spoon" made of the husk, or dried, flaked, etc.); mango; plátano or machos (Musa paradisiaca or plantain, used mostly for starch such as fufú, or in tostones, but when very ripe for desserts). Aguacate (avocadoes) are common, Apples and other cold land fruits are rare and expensive. (Many fruits are pulped for juice and where possible and in sufficient number, exported.)

Cuban common foods:

Boliche: beef roast, often eye of round, with vegetables - succulent and tasty!

Croquetas: stuffed pastries with meat, chicken, etc.

Medianoche: like a "mixto" made with egg bread, consumed late at night most often

Mixto: Cuban sandwich

Moros y cristianos: "Moors and Christians" referring to the white rice and black beans served and mixed on your plate.

Pasteles: filled pastires, with sweet (fruit) or savoury (meat)

Ropa vieja ("old clothes") is a stewlike food of shredded meat, usually beef, (like pulled pork) originally from the Canary Islands

Tostones or patacones are twice-fried pieces of plantain, often looking like thick potato crisps

There's a lot more - and you just have to try it!

Classic Car ride: Gran Car provides classic car rides, and they are bookable via your concierge. Highly recommended, unless you totally pooh pooh sightseeing - and being seen - in, say, a robin's egg blue 1957 Chevrolet convertible or the like.

Cigars: The Casa del Habano (cigars are "Habanos" in Cuba) are nearly ubiquitous. The usual suspects are there - H. Upmann (Pres. Kennedy's favorite was the Petit H. Upmann, and the story confirmed by his aide Pierre Salinger is he held off signing the Cuban embargo until Salinger had acquired a sufficient quantity - 1,200! - to keep JFK in smokes for quite a while), Romeo y Julieta, Partagas, etc. etc. These are often sold in larger and hotel shops. Some factories are on tour; ask your concierge. lists some of the better cigars. Beware the jineteros with unbanded cigars stating they "are made by the factory workers in the ____ factory and they are allowed to take them home as a benefit" and other rubbish stories; they are crap cigars and will taste like one.

In La Habana, the easiest habano factory is Partagas. Tour cost CUC 10.
Address:Calle Industria #520, between Dragones and Barcelona, Centro Habana
Tel: 866 8060

(more to come)