Passion et Liberté: Cuba

Cuba, a country I visited the least time on the last trip but a country which had an enormous influence on me and how I see life. Layers on layers, Central America puts on a veil of happiness, loads of gringo parties, things to do, many things you will never have the time to do, an escape root into nature, but a gringo oasis if you want to join the circus. Cuba is more isolated, and you wont find the usual hostels and lifestyle you find there. You will spend more time with Cuban families, you will spend more money on those guesthouses, you will see many illogical and strange things, you will never understand how some people live there with the money they earn, and you will probably give away loads of your clothes.

Cuba was conquered by the Spanish, they had war, disease, enslavement, they were big sugar producers, they had a war with Spain then, a Spanish-American war and in the end a revolutionary resistance movement, the Cuban Missile Crisis and an U.S. embargo.

So, the times changed, and Raul Castro took the place of brother Fidel. While discovering Cuba I met loads of people to understand how things work here and how they and on what they spend money. To understand it you should know they have two currencies - the Cuban convertible pesos (CUC) and Cuban pesos (CUP), also called moneda nacional (MN). The CUC is ca. 1 USD and the CUP is 25 CUC. With the CUC you can pay only in local restaurants (one meal with salad and soup, 20 CUP), on the market, on the street and with this you will save a lot of money while traveling. The CUCs are for the tourists and with the CUC you pay the tourist guesthouses (blue sign on the door, you can only use those for sleeping), in tourist restaurants and all other tourist things.

So in the time of Fidel the socialism allowed all families to buy groceries with there "social food card". A whole family could buy rice, oil, flour, salt, sugar, and even cigarettes and rum for a month supply for 2 CUCs (2 dollars). Now, it changes every year and the ratios are smaller and families need to work more and earn more money to feed themselves.

A doctor with two specialisations earns 24 CUCs a months and needs to go sell chicken on the street to survive, but a taxi driver takes 5 CUCs for each ride from rich "one week" tourists and earns 50 CUCs a day. Many young people leave on illegal boats trying to enter Florida on the north. The old cars they have (U.S. oldtimers from 1940) cost around 8000 USD and Raul Castro allowed mobile phones which cost around 150 CUCs. So you will never understand how they buy it or even live there. Some have families abroad and they help them. One good friend and local Cuban I was having lunch everyday said to me that he doesn't understand it either. And the global babylon coming to that country with nothing changing regarding that above mentioned is not doing good to the country.

Here are some bits..

Havana, the capital and for me the most amazing place in Cuba.

I like the beer, Bucanero, strong and costs 1 CUC. So a doctro can buy 25 of them each month but has nothing to eat.

Family fishing.

From the fort.

The places you can use the local money, the CUPs. Usually its pizza or some sandwiches.

I couldn't get out money from the ATMs and was eating just bananas for two days with the CUPs. ATMs work only with Visa. With other cards you need to go to the banks.

You will probably spend only three days taking pictures of cars.. :)

Shared taxies..

From the inside..

Santa Clara and Che Guevaras Mausoleum

Looking a soccer match from the 2014 Mondial with some local dudes..

My friend for one day..

The city Baracoa

Funny drawings.. :)

In some villages you can drink the best coffee ever and eat some cucurucho. Cucurucho is a local delicacy of the city of Baracoa in eastern Cuba. Wrapped in a cone-shaped palm leaf, it is a mix of coconut, sugar and other ingredients such as orange, guava and pineapple.

Everyday in the evening the see is full with kids.

The local butcher.

I went walking in the hills and the jungle.

Some seeds we ate.

Coffee! :)

The pigs and the chicken seem healthy. They feed them with coconut.

Drying the cocoa.

Beaches, beaches.

Fort near Santiago de Cuba.

I came to Santiago de Cuba in the time of the Fiesta del Fuego, officially known as the Festival del Caribe which takes places each year in the first weeks of July. I had days of caribbean dancing, rum drinking and drum playing. My ukulele was useful and the rhythms where amazing. Street parade from morning till morning. :)