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Before Daniel left us for Havana we decided to rent a car and take a trip around the east coast of the island. It started off well but deteriorated quickly once we saw the state of many of the roads. To say there were a lot of potholes would be an enormous understatement. It would be more realistic to say that there were a lot of big craters in the eroding pathways that used to be roads. We cut back and forth across both lanes of traffic trying to avoid damaging our wheels as they aren’t covered under the insurance policy for rental cars. Signage wasn’t wonderful so we stopped and asked for directions multiple times and picked up some helpful hitchhikers along the way. We rolled into Baracoa after dark and discovered that we had arrived in time for Carnival. We stayed in Baracoa for two days, tried a few local restaurants, and checked out the last two nights of Carnival. It was just enough time to see some of the sights, catch up on our sleep, and for Adam to get hooked on pizza con queso, which is essentially doughy bread with tomato sauce and cheese sold at street stalls.
On the way to Santiago De Cuba we got into a fender bender with some construction machinery and ended up in the Guantanamo police station for 4 hours while we waiting for an official report for the insurance company. It was annoying but no one was hurt so it wasn’t so bad and we ended up driving the last hour of the trip in the dark which was quite the adventure. I won’t bore you with all the details but at one point we found ourselves driving in the wrong direction down a dark section of a four lane highway.
Santiago De Cuba is one of the largest cities in Cuba. It is bustling with people, stores, and big buses and trucks billowing out thick black smoke. Tourism is a huge part of the Cuban economy and a byproduct of that seems to be the business of hustling tourists. In Santiago we met many entrepreneurs who are making a living off the money that they get from tourists for services rendered – perceived or real. That might be something as simple as pointing you in the direction of a “good” restaurant, giving you a guided tour of the town, or watching your car for you without telling you that they were doing it. Walking down the street became a chore as we were stopped over and over again by people looking to show us the city or find us a taxi. The hook was usually that they just wanted to practice their English but many said they had competed at and even won Olympic events. It doesn’t help that Adam’s beard attracts a lot of attention. Many conversations were started with shouts of “Fidel!” as we walked by.
By far the hardest place to walk around in was Holguin. We were there for an hour and a half and it felt like an eternity. We couldn’t walk five steps without someone trying to sell us something. We sat down for lunch and people would press their faces against the window of the restaurant to get our attention. If we didn’t make eye contact then they would come inside and stand at our table. We had envisioned loading up with supplies in Holguin but in the end we just stopped at a few placed on the way back to the marina. We were glad to get back to the boat.
On the way to Santiago De Cuba we got into a fender bender with some construction machinery and ended up in the Guantanamo police station for 4 hours while we waiting for an official report for the insurance company. It was annoying but no one was hurt so it wasn’t so bad and we ended up driving the last hour of the trip in the dark which was quite the adventure. I won’t bore you with all the details but at one point we found ourselves driving in the wrong direction down a dark section of a four lane highway.
Santiago De Cuba is one of the largest cities in Cuba. It is bustling with people, stores, and big buses and trucks billowing out thick black smoke. Tourism is a huge part of the Cuban economy and a byproduct of that seems to be the business of hustling tourists. In Santiago we met many entrepreneurs who are making a living off the money that they get from tourists for services rendered – perceived or real. That might be something as simple as pointing you in the direction of a “good” restaurant, giving you a guided tour of the town, or watching your car for you without telling you that they were doing it. Walking down the street became a chore as we were stopped over and over again by people looking to show us the city or find us a taxi. The hook was usually that they just wanted to practice their English but many said they had competed at and even won Olympic events. It doesn’t help that Adam’s beard attracts a lot of attention. Many conversations were started with shouts of “Fidel!” as we walked by.
By far the hardest place to walk around in was Holguin. We were there for an hour and a half and it felt like an eternity. We couldn’t walk five steps without someone trying to sell us something. We sat down for lunch and people would press their faces against the window of the restaurant to get our attention. If we didn’t make eye contact then they would come inside and stand at our table. We had envisioned loading up with supplies in Holguin but in the end we just stopped at a few placed on the way back to the marina. We were glad to get back to the boat.