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Lol, a couple of lucky breaks, almost too bad! I would have loved to have heard how they reacted to the Cuban stamp. As to the Aunt J story, i've seen the same thing happen in SP.

Cuba Trip Report, November 2016

by Alvaro Rosado

My visit to Cuba was November 11 - 18 (to celebrate our 36th. Wedding Anniversary). I visited in the late '90s, I went once on "informal" official business (as UCB Vice President) and started out at one of the plusher hotels (Neptuno/Triton) then moved in with locals to get a real feel for the place. On another trip I went on official government business and stayed at the Foreign Ambassadors Compound (private chalet with assigned Mercedes Benzes with individual drivers, Swimming Pool, and a complete house staff that catered to every whim and fancy - knocked on the door at 6am to collect my laundry for the day and take my shoes to polish etc.). After the rest of the delegation left I moved in with my local family.

Cuban Chronicles - Day 1, Friday 11th of November -
11:45 am picked up by popular taxi driver Albert "Girl I Love You" Robinson and taken to PSWG International Airport. Checked in with COPA Airlines by very courteous and helpful desk attendant (cost of round trip air fare $1120.00 BZD per person - Cuban Visa $15USD each). Boarded at 1:45 pm and took off on time at 2:10 pm. - nice flight with hot meal and cold drinks served by a courteous cabin crew. Smooth on time landing at Tocumen Airport in Panama. Planed taxied for at least 10 minutes non stop to terminal area where we disembarked the plane to board a bus for a five minute ride to the terminal building. Three hour lay over - long walk to restaurant area where Dorla and I had snacks and refreshments. Boarded our connecting flight to Havana at 9:30 pm and again great service by courteous cabin crew who served hot meal and cold drinks.

Landed on time at 12:10 am Saturday morning - took an hour and a half for our luggage to arrive on the carousel. While waiting for our luggage I made a phone call to Chino (our full time driver/guide) to confirm that he was waiting for us outside the terminal. About 2:00 am we exited the terminal with our luggage and Chino took over. He and an assistant guided us to a Lada compact car which took us to our apartment in Cojimar, Havana.

On the way Chino explained that his car was in the garage getting bodyworks so he had arranged for a friend to pick us up at the airport - he explained that transfer would cost $40 CUC (a CUC - Cuba Convertible Currency - is equivalent to $1.15 USD at the official exchange rate i.e. a USD is worth $0.87 CUC). After a 40 minute ride we arrived at the apartment - very well appointed apartment with A/C, fan, Fridge, Microwave, TV etc. - and settled in for a well deserved sleep! Next installment - first day in Cuba!

Cuban Chronicles - Day 2 -
Sunday morning and we decided to sleep a bit late til 9. We had breakfast at 9:30am and Chico was there to pick us up at 10:30am as arranged. By 11:00 am we arrived at our first beach in Bacuranao. While in Havana we saw many persons fishing off the Malecon and from small canoes and styrofoam squares floating off shore - I thought it was merely passing time - SURPRISE : they were earnestly fishing for home use and to sell. At Bacaranoa we paid $6 CUC to rent an umbrella and two lounge chairs for the day. There we saw swimmers mingling with wading fisherfolk and saw one fisher actually land a 2 foot fish that he cleaned and gutted right there on the beach before resuming fishing. Another fisher approached us with an assortment of fish which he offered to sell us.

It was much too soon after breakfast to eat or drink anything so after 15 minutes or so we decided to move on to another beach. At 12:00 we arrived in Megano - beautiful beach!!! We rented an umbrella and chairs again and spent about an hour observing the view. Shortly after 1:00pm we moved on to Atlantico Beach but it had suffered some hurricane damage recently and was not in good shape - we moved on to Tropicoco Beach where we decided to have lunch on the terrace. While waiting for lunch we saw a fisher with snorkeling gear emerge from among the swimmers with a string of Squid/Octopi which he offered for sale. The restaurant food was terrible ( generally cuban food is bland and certainly not comparable to Belizean cuisine - meats are generally cooked as killed i.e. no precooking cleaning with lime, vinegar etc. - the beach view from the terrace was awesome and mitigated for the terrible food.

We moved on to Guanaba Beach where we had a so-so lunch at El Cubano - a cooperative like establishment (the first restaurant where we saw prices posted in Cuban Pesos - the local currency). 1 CUC is worth $25 Cuban Pesos or 1 Cuban Peso is worth about $.04USD. By 4:30pm we were beat and decided to return to the apartment to rest. Chino picked us up at 7:30pm to go to dinner - we chose a restaurant over the sea at the eastern end of the Malecon but they had ran out of food so we went to Ajiaco - a Paladar- where we had dinner. I ordered what looked like a winner (the special) and was told that it would take 45 minutes to prepare - by the time it arrived Dorla and Chino had finished eating and I was no longer hungry so Chino took the Special home for his family. About 10:00pm we decided to call it a day. Attached are some photos taken the first and second days.

Apartment Terrace

Dinner at Ajiaca

Dorla in front of Havana Cristo

Megano Beach

Tropicoco Beach

Cuban Chronicles - Day 3
Breakfast at 9 then out to stroll around Havana Vieja and purchase gifts and mementos for friends and family. About 10:30 we had gotten what we wanted so decided to visit the Hemmingway Museum in Marianas which is about 15 miles away. Enjoyed the countryside views on the way. After a tour of the museum we stopped to buy postcards and enjoy a glass of hand pressed cane juice - mmm mmm good! We stopped at a roadside Paladar (Ranchon Piloro) where we saw prices again listed in CUC and Cuban Pesos - this restaurant looked like it catered mostly to locals. We had Rice and Beans with chicken, tostones and yucca for $50 Cuban Pesos ($2.25USD) each. Was one of the better lunches we had while in Cuba.

We returned to Havana to visit the Plaza de la Revolucion then left for the Palacio National and the Museo De La Revolucion but both were closed for renovations. We returned to the apartment to rest up before going out for 7:00 pm dinner at La Brisa. After dinner we decided to call it a day. We had big plans for tomorrow which was the reason for the trip - Dorla and I would be celebrating out 36th. Wedding Anniversary.

Cuba 40's Vintage car

Cuba Breakfast at Villa Chico

Cuba Dinner at La Brisa Cuba

Cuba Hand Pressed Cane Juice

Cuban Chronicles - Day 4 -
Today is the reason for this trip to Cuba. Dorla and I are celebrating our 36th. Wedding Anniversary. I had scheduled a Medical Checkup for tomorrow but postponed til Thursday because we plan to attend the Cabaret at Cafe Havana which starts at 10 - my usual bed time is about nine so I know that I will not be up early tomorrow morning.

Breakfast at 9 then out to the Pan American School of Medicine t see if we can find a Belizean student that we promised to visit but I lost the number so we will go looking for a needle in a haystack. As expected the attempt was futile.but we did some sightseeing on the way. Passed Mariel Marina where Hemmingway kept his yacht and where the famed Mariel Boat lift was staged. If I remember right the US in an attempt to embarrass Fidel had offered to take in all Cubans who were allowed to leave the island. Fidel surprisingly agreed to allow all who wanted to leave to board the boats sent by the US. In a brilliant or a macabre move (depends on how you look at it) Fidel secretly loaded the boats by emptying the Mariel Prison and several mental institutions thus satisfying the US and easing Cuba's burdens. Passed Fidel's family estate and thru the wealthy Mira Mar suburb where most foreign embassies are located. Did some more gift shopping and decided to turn in about 3pm to rest up for our big night at Cafe Havana. Chino had been instructed to reserve a good table and pick us up at 9pm. Chino called me about 8pm to say that the Cafe Havana would not be opened that nite. So much for planning. We decided to stay in for the night

Cuban Chronicles - Day 5

Well rested today after a long night's rest. After last night's disappointment with Cafe Havana not being opened I decided to wing it for the rest of the trip.Chino said that Cafe Havana was probably closed for a private show for visiting Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau.

Breakfast at 8 and left for a long road trip a 9.Headed for Pinar Del Rio to see some of the interior. First stop was at Las Terrazas which is the entrance point for a Nature Park. Paid $10 each to enter and this entitled you to lunch at a designated restaurant and 3 drinks each including beer - not a bad deal. Stopped at a village in the park which had restaurants and hotels - ziplines - nature trails - a lake etc. Bought some local pastries before heading to Rio San Juan. Beautiful scenery almost as beautiful as Hummingbird Highway and Mountain Pine Ridge. Walked a trail to the designated restaurant and stopped to rest beside some beautiful waterfalls and natural swimming pools. We reached the restaurant about 11 only to be told that they would not open til 12. At 11:30 I decided that it was not worth sitting around for another hour for the paid for lunch so I struggled back to the car. When we reached the car I was thirsty and Chino offered to go back to the restaurant to see if he could at least get the drinks. He returned with 12 beer and 12 sodas in lieu of the food. We headed to Soroa and La Mirador. where we had lunch at a really neat restaurant. Dorla and Chino climbed up to La Mirador -I could have taken a horse but decided to pass. About 3pm we headed back to Havana to rest up for Cafe Havana tonight.

Chino picked us up at 9:30and we got a second row table. Cover charge was $20 CUC each (as opposed to Tropicana where the cover charge started at $90 CUC each!!). We had dinner and drinks and the total tab for the night was $90 CUC. Enjoyed a good cabaret show - at one spell the leggy buxom dancers walked into the audience inviting patrons to join them on stage for a dance - my knees are almost totally shot due to sports injuries suffered in my youth so I had to pass on this golden opportunity - I love to dance to latin music especially with beauties like these. A Cuban female entertainer was co host - she must be in her 80s since I remember seeing her on a documentary years ago. She danced and strutted as if she was a teenager. The show lasted for about 2 hours and we decided to call it a night.

BY JOHN HENRY EAST

"Cuba " from San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize.
Since moving here (May records our 5th anniversary) Rose and I have ventured 'out of country' maybe 10/12 times (me more than her). Chetumal perhaps around 7/8, Merida twice, USA three times and the U.K. and Panama both once each. During our last trip (to Panama) we determined that we would 'treat' ourselves to little trips a lot more frequently so with Christmas safely put away for another year I set about planning our next excursion. A trip to Cuba! I looked at the numerous ways of gettng there. Favourite (favorite for you non UK readers) for a while was using Copa Airlines via Panama. Amazingly flying in the opposite direction to Cuba worked out less expensive than taking the more obvious route via Cancun. Strange but true. But in the end we plumped to travel via Cancun. Why? Well because of the fairly recent introduction of two new services. More expensive than the option via Panama but we'd get to try out some new flights. So I made the arrangements. Not though before I'd made certain that we had accommodation in Havana booked.

"Cuba" from San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize - Part Two.
Now where was I? Oh I remember. Rose and I had just caught a taxi (cab for non UK readers) at Havana's Jos� Mart� International Airport and after skilfully avoiding being CUC'd by our taxi driver were headed to our hotel. The journey took around 25 minutes but the time just whizzed by and it seemed like that in no time at all we were pulling in to the driveway of our hotel, Hotel Nacional de Cuba. Even before we entered the hotel we were impressed. A long, tree lined, two - way driveway and at the end of it the very impressive facade of the hotel. The taxi pulled up and before the driver had opened his door a uniformed bellboy was waiting to take our suitcases in to the hotel. We paid the taxi driver and followed the bellboy up the steps in to the hotel to the Reception Desk.

"Cuba" from San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize -Part Three.
Feeling my age - I try to fight it but sometimes it just gets the better of me - I suggested to Rose that it might, perhaps, be a good idea to eat at the hotel for our first night. Rose, who it was patently obvious to see, was nowhere near as bushed as me, agreed. So, after a shower and change of clothes we headed downstairs with the knowledge that we had 4 options to choose from ranging from fine dining at Comedor del Agular to light meals and snacks at Cafeteria "Film Corner". The maitre d' at the La Veranda - here they serve a buffet of international and Cuban cuisine - made our mind up for us. "What's the price", Rose enquired (she can be so nosy at times!). "Twenty-five CUC", the maitre d' responded. "But tonight, for you, it's a special price, twenty CUC". We asked (well Rose did actually) if it would be OK to have a look to see what was on offer. He affirmed this would be OK. So we did. Have a look at the food, that is.

"Cuba" from San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize -Part Four.
After showering on the Thursday morning of our trip to Havana, Cuba Rose noticed quite a lot of water on the floor of the bathroom. And it didn't come from me splashing around in the shower. A look around the room and she saw the origin. A leaky pipe. We went down for breakfast and after finishing this we went straight to Reception to report the problem. The lady behind the desk appeared very concerned and when Rose showed her the photo she had taken (now I would never have thought of doing that) she exclaimed "You cannot stay there. You must move. Is that OK?". "Yes" we replied in unison. So she checked the available rooms and handed us new key cards. We were moving from the 5th to the 7th floor. And to a much, much better room. And a Caribbean Sea facing one at that. We unpacked our suitcases (again) but before heading out for the day took time out to check on Ziggy. Pampered Paws -where Ziggy was staying whilst we were away- posts photos of the "guests"and they'd posted a couple of our boy.

"Ridin' in My Chevy" away from San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize.
Today's edition will bring to a close the trip that Rose and I made to Havana, Cuba. I probably could have run a further two editions but for the sake of everyone's boredom levels (mine included) this will be the final instalment in the 'John & Rose go to Cuba' series. If you've missed the previous instalments (how dare you) you can find them at: Rose and I did quite a lot of walking in Havana so for our final day we decided that we would take it easy and we'd try some of the transport options. When we left the hotel grounds we considered our options. A classic convertible? or a plain, old taxi (cab for you non UK readers)? or a Lada! or a tuk-tuk (or auto rickshaw) ? We hadn't been in a tuk-tuk since visiting Thailand in the '90s ( that's 1990s for those of you that think I'm really old) and we'd enjoyed it then . So� the tuk-tuk it was.

What does this mean?

"avoiding being CUC'd by our taxi driver"

An attempted joke. "Sounds like". You'll either get it, or you won't.