Hello from Cuba (10) - A Country Excursion
Hotel Havana Libre, Sunday, April 10, 2005, 12:45 pm
After my walk through the Vedado neighbourhood, my friend
Pedro came to pick me up since I had suggested a little excursion
with a rental car to get to know the countryside. His wife
and sister-in-law unfortunately coulnd't make it since their
cousin was coming to town. La
Habana can feel a little claustrophobic since the transportation
options are limited and even a basic taxi ride to the Eastern
Beaches (Playas del Este) is quite costly.
Havana province coastline.
And it's also nice to get away from the city, which can get
rather congested and contaminated with car exhaust fumes from
all the old vehicles. I can't imagine what the air must be
like here in the summer when it is 35, 40 degrees Celsius
with 80, 90 percent humidity. All the locals talk about the
extreme heat in the summer and it's better to visit outside
of the months of June to September, even October.
In addition, August and September are very prone to hurricanes
which are an additional complication, that's why many buildings
have crosses of thick adhesive tape attached to the glass.
The tape prevents the glass from shattering when the hurricanes
hit town.
Renting a car is always an interesting experience. I rented
a small skoda at the Hotel Havana Libre for about $46CUC for
24 hours. If there were no damages and the gas tank was full
upon return, there would be an additional $30CUC for the insurance
and an additional driver. Being in the rental car felt strangly
liberating because all of a sudden it was possible to overcome
all the limitations of Havana's public transport and you could
go where you wanted.
My friend Pedro is an experienced driver and loves driving,
so he drove and off we went eastwards along the coast. We
passed by Cojimar, Playas de Este, Playa Guanabo and stopped
at the Puente Bacunayagua bridge which forms the border between
the provinces of La Habana and Matanzas. The bridge is more
than 100 m high and the view extends through forests to the
ocean in the north and inland there is a valley with lush
vegetation (Valle de Yumuri) with a chain of medium-size mountains
in the background. At the bridge there is a little basic restaurant
and a shop for tourists and we stopped for an hour or so.
We also saw a really oversized iguana, apparently it was the
offspring of the mother iguana which apparently is twice the
size. The animal must have been almost 10, 15 inches long,
including tail.
We then proceeded eastwards, past Santa Cruz del Mar, where
there is a big rum factory, to Matanzas, the capital of the
province of the same name. We just took a little drive around
town and didn't stop, but the town has a couple of nice squares
with monuments and statues. The
architecture is definitely much less stunning than in
La Habana. After Matanzas we drove inland to a small mountaineous
area called "Escaleras de Jaruco", from where we had a beautiful
view inland and towards the sea.
Driving along the north coast of Havana province.
On the way back we briefly stopped at Playas del Este to capture
the sunset and then we headed off towards Cojimar, a town
famous for its connection to Ernest
Hemingway. The town apparently still houses a very old
man who was the inspiration for the novel "The Old Man and
the Sea". Apparently the old man is still alive, probably
around 100 years old or so and he used to receive visitors
(for a small fee), but his health has deteriorated over the
last few years and he no longer receives visitors. We wanted
to have a nice dinner in a Paladar in Cojimar, but one was
completely full, and the other one so expensive that we decided
to continue on.
After our arrival back in La Havana we decided to go to a
pizzeria near the Parque Central since I had a real craving
for pasta. The food here can get a bit monotonous and I love
Italian food, so we headed into a freezing, over-air-conditioned
pizza parlour, where they had just run out of spagetthi. We
tried another upscale Italian restaurant on the other side
of the square, but it had prices that were higher than in
some of Toronto's fine restaurants and we decided to head
back to the Barrio Chino since they also serve pasta.
There we tried to park the rental car, but in doing so, we
had a little encounter with the local traffic police. They
alleged that my friend was not wearing his seatbelt (although
he was) and they ended up giving him a fine of 10 local pesos
(about 40 Cents or so). Apparently it can happen very easily
that a local Cuban gets stopped and the police impose a fine
and there are not too many things you can do.
After a very filling pasta dinner (for less than $7 for 2
people) we headed back to the hotel which is very close to
the University. There was a big concert on in front of the
university's steps and there were thousands and thousands
of young people singing and chanting to the sound of a pretty
famous Cuban pop group ("Moneda Dura") which plays very popular
music for young people with sociocritical undertones. The
atmosphere among the people, singing and dancing in the street,
was amazing. I ended up heading to bed at about 12 or so and
the music from the concert stopped at about 12:20 am and the
huge crowd dispersed.
Early this morning I awoke to the smell of exhaust fumes from
some of the buses and old cars passing through. Since I had
to take the rental car back at 11 am today, my friend came
to the hotel early and we decided to visit the area of Miramar,
also called "Playas" on the western side of Havana,
past the Rio Almendares. Miramar is a very upscale area with
many foreign embassies, upscale hotels and congress centres.
"Marina Hemingway", a nautical centre with canals, boats slips
for yachts and private residences, is also located in Miramar.
It is so strange, but Miramar actually reminded me a bit of
Fort Lauderdale. In general, Miramar, due to its more modern
architecture,
some of which is in very good condition, reminded me quite
a bit of Florida. We visited a public sandy beach in Miramar
which is surrounded by a range of public recreational buildings,
most of which have been abandoned and are in dire condition
due to the lack of public funds for upkeep. It is a real shame
to see so much of the beautiful architecture around here collapsing
and my professor said that in the future it may be cheaper
to tear down a lot of the old architecture and rebuild from
scratch than to try to preserve the old architecture, particularly
in Habana
Vieja.
Marina Hemingway.
As I had to return the rental car at 11 am today, we filled
up the tank and although we had only gone about 250 km, the
cost of the gasoline was $36 CUC (which is equivalent to about
Can$45 or so), which was quite a bit more than I had expected.
We took a brief tour through Nuevo Vedado, then past the Centro
de Deporte Nacional, past the Comite Central (the Cuban government)
and punctually returned the car at 11 am without any problems.
This afternoon I have been invited by my friend to come and
meet his family at a private dinner. I am really looking forward
to the experience of spending time with a Cuban family and
from what I have experienced so far, Cuban hospitality is
truly amazing. I'll try to pick up a few flowers from the
market and bring along some of the Canadian souvenirs that
I brought from Toronto to reciprocate the favour. It'll be
interesting to see Cuban life from inside a Cuban home....
Interesting and useful books about Cuba:
Related Articles:
"My
Post-Cuba Reflections: Appreciation and Balance"
"Cuba
is Calling - Why I selected Cuba as my language study destination"
Hello from Cuba (1) -
First Impressions"
"Hello from Cuba (2) - Rain
in Vinales"
"Hello from Cuba (3) - Hiking
Vinales and Exploring Nature"
"Hello from Cuba (4) - Bureaucracy
Galore - The University of Havana"
"Hello from Cuba (5) - Another
Mind-Twisting Experience"
"Hello from Cuba (6) - The
Student Experience and Political Insights"
"Hello from Cuba (7) - Fun
and Recreation"
"Hello from Cuba (8) - Bicycle
Rides, Camellos and Cannon Shots"
"Hello from Cuba (9) - Havana
Neighbourhoods"
"Hello from Cuba (10) - A
Country Excursion"
"Hello from Cuba (11) - Inside
a Cuban Home"
"Hello from Cuba (12) - Contrasts
and Contradictions"
"Hello from Cuba (13) - Exploring
Downtown Havana"
"Hello from Cuba (14) - Field
Trips and Interviews"
"Hello from Cuba (15) - Getting
ready to say 'Goodbye, Havana'..."
"Hello from Cuba (16) - The
final day"