Postcards from Cuba
On my recent (March 2016) trip to Cuba I mailed 51 postcards to family and friends. They arrived in the U.S. approximately 4 weeks later, most without cancellation marks, perhaps because ink is in short supply. I'm still waiting for arrival reports from Europe.
Determining the appropriate postage rate was a bit of a challenge. A shop in a government-run museum offered up 3-stamp combos for visitors (with a free paperclip!) totaling 70 centavos. Elsewhere, I was told postage is "more than 70" and "between 70 and 90". Our guides also did not have a firm idea. Another person thought 75 was correct. At a major hotel in Havana, I bought out virtually the entire supply of stamps from concierges on 2 shifts, again in various denominations, without being able to determine what the actual rate was. We had no opportunity to visit a post office, where perhaps greater clarity could have been obtained (maybe).
The stamps were colorful. One featured the pope and Raul Castro, another Hugo Chavez. Another had a cat using a telephone.