Cuba Cruise: dancing to the rhythm of salsa and reggae.

Although I’m not a big fan of taking a cruise, traveling on a tight schedule and restricted to a moving hotel, I have received with joy the announcement that finally Cuba Cruise will be sailing, starting this December, around the Island.

It's been a long wait for this news, since the Minister of Tourism in Cuba made the announcement around 2011 and the different ports of call started to get some face-lift. Logistically, Cuba has always been tricky for cruise lines, as it’s difficult for American citizens to get visas to travel there; but, also, keeping a large ship supplied with fresh food and beverages up to certain standards can be really hazardous for any cruise line operating around Cuba, and the reasons are well known.

Thankfully, Louis Crystal Cruise came out with a great solution for cruises lovers, having Canadian food, beef, beer as well as Cuban and International beverages, combined with specialty Cuban dishes, entertainment and front-office crew. This is when Canadian cuisine meets Cuban entertainment as its best!

Circumnavigate the biggest island on the Caribbean will be an incredible opportunity, making the fascinating but otherwise difficult to reach ports accessible and affordable to many. Same ship, same week, but two unique ways to start your cruise, one on Mondays from the always vibrant Havana and call at Cayo Coco, Bahia de Nipe in Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, and past by Punta Frances in Isla de la Juventud on the way back to Havana, it will be also possible to join the ship on Fridays from Montego Bay, Jamaica making the experience even more easier; you choose!!

On board of the Louis Cristal, a modern vessel with a yacht-like modern design that features all the amenities and comforts expected of today’s contemporary ships, you will have the chance to visit a total of six UNESCO world heritage sites, four National Parks & Reserves, strolling down cobblestone streets, through rain forests and of course, the world-famous beaches what Cuba is well known.

Cuba Cruise will revolutionize the perception of travel to Cuba forever, and even an sceptic like me, perhaps, will take a chance to get into the adventure of navigate around the Island, being part of an historical opening in nautical trips from and around my homeland, since September 1962 when the ferry City of Havana became the last vessel to leave Havana after the revolution.

I’ll join this new opportunity and will dance to the beat of salsa and reggae, sailing with style and rhythm!

Searching for a “Cucurucho” in Baracoa.

Indeed, my first and only trip to Baracoa was in hoping to find (and taste) the famous cucurucho, a blend of coconut, sugar and sometimes guava, orange or pineapple wrapped in a cone-shaped palm leaf that is a local delicacy.

Baracoa is called “La Ciudad Primada de Cuba”, which means Cuba’s first city, and was founded in August 11th 1511. Baracoa was Cuba first capital, a title that Santiago de Cuba claimed a few years later and then Havana, the country’s present day metropolis.

In the easternmost province of Guantanamo, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa is in a remote location surrounded by a wide mountain range that helps to its isolation, and has kept the mass tourism quite low despite the idyllic location and the magnificent scenery in its surrounding. 

Baracoa was for long time only accessible by sea but now you can take La Farola, a road built through the mountains that links Guantanamo city with the eastern end of the Island, and there are also domestic flights even from Havana.

I went to Baracoa as part of a cultural project in my former job in Cuba, and only for three days. I knew that I wouldn’t have enough time to discover the magic of Baracoa, yet I felt under its spell… and still was hoping to find my Cucurucho.

We drove for long six hours from Santiago de Cuba to Baracoa, stopping for lunch in Guantanamo and now I can tell that driving through La Farola was quite an experience, even for someone like me who has traveled to Topes de Collantes and Sierra Maestra, but the view from La Farola will take your breath away.

After check in Hotel La Rusa we had the afternoon free to go around ourselves, until next morning when the event was planned to start. If you go in tourist plan, I’ll recommend to stay in Hotel El Castillo, a former Spanish military fort that is now a hotel, and was one of the three fortress that oversees the city.

Knowing that I wouldn’t have too much free time, I strolled the town trying to capture its essence but without forgetting my Cucurucho. My first visit, and will say a must see, was to Nuestra Señora de la Asunción Cathedral to see the Cruz de Parra, a wooden cross that is believed to be brought by Columbus and is the oldest in the New World. Many claim is a legend, but true or not, the cross have been there way before us.

The next two days I was immerse in my job, but still I had time to stroll around the beach just in the doors of the city and feel the warm of its people, dancing the night out in Parque de la Independencia (Independence Park), which is next to the church, and putting my feet in the Miel River like in the movie “Miel para Oshun”.

Time to go back to my place and Baracoa has already left its aura on me, aiming to come back and hike El Yunque, a nearby table mountain, to see Salto Fino the highest waterfall in the Caribbean and cross the Toa River on rafts made of bamboo that are powered with a long staff.

        

Courtesy of Cuba Tourist Board

 

      

  But most of all, I’ll be back to taste the real Cucurucho, that didn’t found anywhere around my short stay,  but ironically I found its underrated “cousin” in my way back, on the road through Las Tunas. Hence, it didn’t taste the same… or not what I was told!  

Cuba in a nutshell




Courtesy of Cuban Tourist Board

Cuba is a fascinating island nation, a country that has been famous for its postcard images of sun, palm trees, sugar cane plantations and clear blue sea. All that coexist in a place where history has been made on its own, a unique land where music and colour vibe in every corner, and its ethnic mosaics of race have shaped a complex culture that have merged in a unique rhythm.

Most of all, it is a land of proud people that will captivate you with their friendly smile, their uniqueness, that despite its own difficulties, will enchant you with its particular identity, and will welcoming you with open arms and making sure you won’t feel a visitor… you are at home!

The Caribbean’s largest island, Cuba is in fact an archipelago comprising the main island (Cuba, slightly smaller than Pennsylvania), the Isle of Youth (south of Artemisa province) and thousands of cayos (cays and small islands) in the Greater Antilles, laying just south of the Tropic of Cancer between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, its closest neighbour are Florida (US) to the north, the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) to the west, and the islands of Jamaica and Haiti to the south and east respectively.

Cuba is a long and narrow island that, on an east-west axis, is about 1250 km (776 miles) long and 100 km (62 miles) wide on average, covering 110,992 square kilometres (42,828 square miles). It is mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains and has more than 300 beaches, unspoiled cays and small islets, mountains, caves, forests, savannas and swamps, making the island more than just a “sun, sea and sand” destination.

The Republic of Cuba is composed of 15 provinces and has over 11 million inhabitants, and about 2.5 million of whom lives in the capital, Havana.  The official language is Spanish, although you will find that English, French or Italian are spoken in almost all hotels and tourist areas.

The climate in Cuba is tropical, moderated by trade winds and sea breezes. Average temperature is 25C (77F), although from June to August it can rise up to 35C (90F). There are clearly defined two seasons: dry season (November to April), and rainy season (May to October). The east coast is subject to hurricanes from August to October (in general, the country averages about one hurricane every three years).

Thanks to the island mild weather, any time of the year is good for visit, but the best period is from December to April (coinciding with the winter months in most northern countries), when the climate is warm without being unbearable.

Cuba is five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), like Canadian Eastern Standard Time (EST) and the US east coast, and in summer there is daylight saving time, same as in Canada.

I have promised that this blog would not be a mere tourist guide, but as a start I think it is logical to put us on the map.
Cuba is not a dream of mine, is a reality, Cuba is something that even if you think away is very close...

A big “thank you” for stopping by…with Cuban accent!

I know that a lot has been written and said about Cuba, its wonders and its downsides, but as someone that is proud to be called “Cubano”, someone who was born there and a few years ago decided to take a turning point in live and career, and as a travel agent I have decided to step into this new fever called “blog sphere” with the biggest ambition of helping many of you that dream of visit Cuba.
Since Cuba’s government decided to open up to international tourism in the 90’s, and we all know the reasons, a lot of Travel Guides-Travel Journals-Travel Websites have been created. Neither to say that the tourism flow to the Island has increased every year since, but still I think there’s a lack of personal touch in travel context.
Every time you turn around looking for information about Cuba, either if you’re a savvy traveler or a first-time adventurer, you find a lot of materials in travel books, which is very helpful and has a great trusted info about when-where-what to do etc. Also, there’re great tour-operator websites, travel journalist articles but not many blogs about the biggest island of the Caribbean with a more personal approach. Cuba is a wonderful place to go, but can left uncomfortable memories if you don’t have the right information to discover it to the fullest.
And here I come, trying to bring every one of you my personal experience, best advices and tips about Cuba, not only as a Cuban but also as a travel agent who live and work in Toronto, Canada. You’ll find Cuban accent in this space, and every recommendation made will be worth.

It’s a most saying that this blog it’s a travel-related site, a place where to express my personal views and opinions but far from any political or journalist approach to Cuba’s reality… for that, I think there’s a lot of space out there.

Said all that, I’ll cheers you with my best cup of "café cubano" and finishing with a Mojito… please unwind, you just got to paradise. Cuba is closer than you think!