Cuba's Communist bubble could be about to burst, so now might be the
best time to visit the Caribbean island stuck firmly in the past.
We were approached by a lady with more fingers than teeth. 'Señor, you
like lobster?' she whispered, checking around for the secret police – in
Cuba it's illegal to serve langosta in private homes.
Within seconds she'd given us an address and a time, and scuttled back
to her husband, who was tinkering under the bonnet of a 1950s Chevy.
Shortly she returned: 'I'm sorry!' she near-sobbed; we assumed the deal
was off.
'There's no rice, only potatoes!' That evening we ate lobster and drank
rum in their backstreet home, while listening to her son play the guitar.
'You don't go to Cuba for its cuisine,' confesses Rafe Stone of tour
operator Journey Latin America after recounting his covert-crustacean
tale, 'but who knows? It could be the most memorable experience you ever
have.'
Open-house hospitality, vintage cars, music forever in the air – Cuba is
an island apart, kissed by the same sultry breeze as the rest of the
Caribbean but utterly unlike it; only 150km from the US but a million
miles away ideologically.
In geographical size it's a relative tiddler – only 1,200km long. But in
popular culture – from the Che Guevara T-shirts to the Buena Vista
Social Club CDs – it's a giant.
Havana, Cuba Musicians entertain passers-by in Havana (Corbis)
Since the 1959 Revolution the country has remained in a Communist
bubble, where time seems to stand still. Since 2008, when leader Fidel
Castro's ill health prompted his abdication in favour of brother Raúl,
changes have begun to creep in: for instance, locals may now enter
tourist hotels and own mobile. But what's next? Fidel is 84, Raúl 79.
When they die, will the country's emotional connection to the Revolution
go with them?
The Obama administration looks set to overturn restrictions on Americans
travelling to Cuba – possibly bringing an influx of tourists and money –
so life will change, and soon.
Simply, now is the time to go before the end of an era. In more
immediate terms, as the region's hurricane season blows itself out by
November, this is a fine place to escape the British winter.
It might offer a rather different experience to the rest of the
Caribbean but
Cuba still boasts the trademark white-sand-turquoise-sea idyll: try
laid-back Cayo Levisa out west; the huge dunes of Playa Pilar further
east; or Playa Santa María, for sun fun near the capital.
Havana, Cuba The pure sea and sand of Playa Pilar (Alamy)
Yes, the capital: Havana. A crumbling, hypnotic city, lapped by the Gulf
of Mexico, infused with cigar smoke and thrumming to the sounds of
salsa, son, rumba and reggaeton.
While a stroll around Habana Vieja – the old colonial centre – and down
the waterfront Malécon are a must, it's in the bars and the dancehalls that
you'll really feel its rhythm.
'There are 37,000 professional musicians in Havana. Music is the
lifeblood of Cuba,' explains Dan Hipgrave of Original Music Travel. His
top city picks?
'The Copa Room at the Riviera Hotel on a Friday – the place to practise
your salsa moves. And Diablo Tun Tun, where the night owls wind up till
5am.'
Better still, guides can introduce you to some of the old Cantineros,
the surviving top barmen of the 1920s to 1950s who remember the days of
Earnest Hemingway, Al Capone and Frank Sinatra, and will reminisce about
the good times over a rum or two.
Havana, Cuba Chewing the fat on the balcony of an old Havana building
(Corbis)
For more revolutionary reminiscences, head east. It was in the Oriente
region that a young Fidel Castro was raised; his childhood home, Finca
Las Manacas near Birán, is now a museum.
Next, delve into the Sierra Maestra Mountains, where Fidel and his
guerillas hid out in the 1950s. It's also where they built Comandancia
de la Plata – rebel HQ, from which the revolution was orchestrated; it's
now open to those who make the effort to reach this purposefully
hard-to-access eyrie.
Supporters in Santiago de Cuba, the spirited city abutting this wild
hinterland, kept the guerillas supplied and it was from the balcony of
the main square's Ayuntamiento building that Fidel made his 1959 victory
speech.
Today Santiago is the place to watch African-influenced folklórico dance
(head to the Teatro Galaxia) or sign up for music lessons.
Once you've come this far south – having already wheezed your vintage
Buick past the fancy French styling of Cienfuegos, the colonial charm of
Trinidad, the hiking trails of the Escambray Mountains and the coral
reefs off Playa Santa Lucía – you might as well keep going to Baracoa,
seemingly the end of the Earth.
The road only made it here in 1964; as such it has developed alone, a
hot-and-humid outpost of crumbling architecture and singular culture
surrounded by a lush and mountainous biosphere reserve. A hike through
cocoa and coconut groves to the top of El Yunque will give you the best
perspective.
Cuba is a country in transition. What happens next, no one quite knows.
A continuation of Communism? An internal power struggle? A whole new
ideology? Whatever the future holds, now's the time to get there:
chances are you'll never see anything quite like it again.
Best bits
1. Best historic bar: La Floridita, Havana
A favourite of Hemingway, who famously came here to drink the daiquiris.
2. Best beach: Cayo las Brujas
A five-hour drive north-east of Havana, this is a picture-perfect strip
of creamy white sand and warm turquoise seas.
3. Best sunset: Cayo Levisa
An unspoilt islet off the northwest coast, it's the place to relax with
a mojito while watching the sky turn from red to purple.
4. Best ice cream: Coppelia Ice Cream, Havana
Famous for more than 50 years, this spot on Calle 23 serves the best ice
cream in Cuba, if not the Caribbean.
5. Best cigar shopping: Viñales Valley
Avoid buying off street sellers; instead head to Viñales, where the
world's best dark tobacco is processed into its finest cigars.
6. Best deep-sea fishing: Tarara Marina
Take a boat out from Tarara (east of Havana) or hire the boat at La
Terraza restaurant in Cojimar for great game fishing.
7. Best monument: Ché's Mausoleum, Santa Clara
Most Cubans are atheists but they approach this striking landmark with
the same reverence as entering a church.
http://www.metro.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/843059-cuba-life-in-the-slow-lane
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