Hi
posted a message yesterday on the mexico forum but am now contemplating leaving that trip for next year when i can do a longer trip. am considering cuba as an alternative and would appreciate some answers to the questions below. i am looking at 2 weeks and ideally a mixture of culture and beach time. happy to do local travel so long as it is fairly easy (i want some relaxation over the 2 weeks). as for beach i am not totally closed to the idea of visiting a developed area (varadero?) so long as the beach is still clean. equally i am happy to go to a quieter beach so long as there is at least a little bit to do at night.
these questions have been prompted having just spoken to a colleague (a relatively experienced solo traveller) who shared his experience of cuba (albeit only 5 days in havana). it was fairly negative, hence i'm aiming to get a second opinion!
1) as a solo traveller will there be opportunity to meet people?
2) what places can you reccommend, given what i have said above? i have done some of my own research but it's helpful to get different opinions.
3) how easy is it to find reasonable accommodation and food? i have read casas are the way forward but how restricted are you if you want to party at night (in a club, not the casa!)?
4) how safe is havana/cuba for a solo traveller? i have travelled extensively so am not naive in this respect but my colleague, who is also a relatively experienced traveller, told me he never quite felt safe in havana.
5) is november a good time to go? i know it's coming towards the end of the hurricane season so will there be a lot of rain or just sporadic? i can do early dec at a push but november would be a lot easier.
thanks
adriano
1/2/3. If you want to meet other travellers, stay in one of the cheaper hotels. Often in casas, there is only one, maybe two rooms and the likelihood of it meeting someone to spend your time with is slim. That said, no one cares what time you come and go at a casa.
4. Safer than some (most?) cities/countries, but use common sense.
5. No one can predict when a hurricane will hit. End of November is low season for Cuban travel, not because of the possiblity of hurricanes, but because of the timing just before Christmas holidays, etc., with a lot of good travel deals (at least from Canada) and the weather is usually warm but not too hot. Not too much rain then.
Also if you want to meet other travellers, hang out at places, like the Hotel Ingleterra outdoor cafe, or go to hotel swimming pools, ie, at the Nacional Hotel and you can talk to touriss there or at the hotel bar/restaurant. Another place that I enjoyed, is the Cafeteria Sophia on Calle 23, near the Yara Theatre, music playing, have a beer and talk to people there.
I used to travel to Cuba either in October or November and once in December, and never had a problem with hurricanes. But weather systems are changing all over the world, and it is harder to predict these things. It may rain once a day, around 4 in the afternoon for abit, bring out the mosquitos and then the sun comes out and it is hot and 'humid'.
The easiest way to meet other independent travelers in Cuba is, immediately after you've arrived in Havana or Varadero, catch the Viazul bus (easiest , safest, most reliable way to get around in Cuba!) to a smaller town like Trinidad (5 hours from Havana) or Vinales (less than 4 hours from Havana). Most of the passengers on the bus will be other independent travelers like yourself, so you will have plenty of time to chat them up. Once arrived, you're bound to cross paths with them and other independent travelers in the main squares; in Trinidad, the largest gathering tends to be on the broad steps leading up from the Plaza Mayor, there alongside the cathedral, usually with a salsa band playing at the top.
If the people you want to meet are Cuban people, then the easiest, safest way to meet them is by staying in private homes which are licenced to rent to foreigners. (Their version of our B&Bs). Most casa owners are very heads-up, and will leave their guests completely alone, as in a hotel, or sweep them right into the family and introduce them to all their relatives and neighbors, or something in between--as you reveal to them which you prefer. Almost all of them are enormously helpful in terms of helping you see/do whatever you want to see and do in the are, place phone calls for you, arrange transportation, or call ahead to the next town on your itinerary to reserve a casa for you. I don't know of any casas who would object to their guests going out to party at night, but do know that if you are a single woman, they will often be concerned for your safety and want to send someone (son, cousin, or whomever) along to look after you. Which of course you are free to accept or reject. Whether going alone or with someone sent along by the family for your protection, you should not try to walk back, but take a taxi--most especially in Havana. (Don't know that it's that walking a few blocks home at night is that much of an issue in Trinidad or Vinales.)
If you don't speak Spanish, then you'd most likely want to stay in casas where somebody in the family speaks English. This tends to be noted in ads on casa websites. Besides the websites, you can also line up a casa by taking recommendations posted on this branch, or by waiting until you arrive in a particular town and then walking with one of the teenaged boys hanging about the bus station, either to a casa address you have in hand or to one of his choice. This works well everywhere except Havana, and you have no need to pay the boys, since, if you stay at the place they take you to, the casa owner will give them a commission. You just have to be prepared to say thanks-but-no-thanks and walk on if you don't like the room you've been shown. Green or blue stickers on the front door will tell you which casas are licenced to rent to foreignrs--and you DO NOT want to stay in one that is not licenced.
The above comments apply mainly to Havana and the eastern end of the island, although pretty much the same would apply if you flew into Santiago, the main city at the eastern end of the island; there you'd want to bus to Baracoa or Bayamo, and get your bearings in Cuban culture in one of those smaller towns; then come back and do the big city later.
PS: If you decide to do Cuba, and to stay in licenced casas there, you should read the post by INFO, about 8 or 9 below yours, which begins, "SEARCH ENGINES..."
I have found November an excellent month for travel in Cuba. Also early december.
Beach places (with good social life near at hand): Havana, of course, with the Playas del Este only 10 or 15 minutes away by taxi. Or the Playas del Este (East Beaches) themselves; most licenced casas in the one called Guanabo; best beaches in the one called Santa Maria. Or Trinidad, which has Playa Ancon, only a 3-CUC, 10-km taxi ride away.
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