Cuba Independently?
Es Posible!
By
Derek Gruar
All photos by David Badger
Flight
Cubana use DC10's from a French based company as this supposedly offers passengers better aircraft for a trans-Atlantic crossing. Personally I have to say that this is the most cramped that I have ever been on a plane, with leg-room seemingly to have been forgotten by the designers. Certainly, Dave was struggling on a 8-10 hour flight being well over six feet tall. If I ever return to Cuba again, I would have to strongly think about booking a different airline on this principle alone, especially with the current discussions regarding long haul flights and the occurrence of DVT (deep vein thrombosis) in passengers in cramped economy conditions.
The flight itself was uneventful, with friendly and pleasant service. Meals were typical no frills airline fare, there was also the option to buy cans of the Cuban lager Cristal for one dollar (US). The landing was what only can be best described as interesting!! The runway at Jose Marti is very short and the brakes are applied by planes almost as soon as the tyres hit the tarmac. The fact that the pilot managed to land the plane brought out whoops and hollers from the Cuban contingent on the plane.
Customs
After disembarkation we are guided around to a series of booths manned by customs officials, here we are ordered to stand behind a line and await a call to present both passport and tourist card, all very similar to gaining entry to the United States. The officials were all pretty unsmiling and all three of us were of the same opinion that people were delayed slightly longer than was necessary to gauge their reaction.
After a long and quite taxing flight we emerge from the customs area into the baggage reclamation. Here we have a minor panic when after some time there appears to be no baggage. We find out that a number of bags have been removed from the conveyor and are unguarded near a rear wall. We then head out into the main concourse to look for a taxi to take us to the Hotel Inglaterra in which we are booked for the following three nights. Every western tourist is met at the entrance to the main concourse and quizzed where they are staying so that multiple taxis can be arranged etc...here we find that due to some event in Havana that we are unable to stay in the Inglaterra and have been moved into the outskirts of the city to the Neptuno-Triton Hotel in the Playa district of the city.
Tired and feeling a little unhappy, we take a taxi on our first journey in Cuba. Spirits are lifted when within a couple minutes of being in the taxi along the dimly lit streets of Havana, when we notice our first "Yank Tank", those old 1950's American cars that seem to be used as a symbol of Cuba's "playground for the rich" heritage. Arrival at the hotel and we have our rooms allocated and it's on the top floor of this hotel, we begin our acquaintance with one of the most temperamental lifts ever...
A couple of Cristals later, on a warm night with the crashing breakers of the Straits of Florida 100m behind us provide a calming end to the first day in Cuba. We are all very excited about what hopefully at this stage will prove to be a trip of a lifetime (I promise that that will be the only time I use that cliché in this trip report!).
Questions?
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