The last few days have been testing for me, I have been frantically searching through my files for images of my trip to Cuba 8 years back. I seems it has been a fruitless task and it looks very much that somehow a folder found it's way into the trash. When I travel I tend to take a lot of pictures as years down the line they serve as a great reminder of years gone by and when recounting stories to others they are often more descriptive than words alone. While some of my best moments have not been captured on film many have and reliance of a fading memory is not always reliable, these photos would have been nice to share in the community, I have found a few in another folder which I will share today.
2012 was a special time to be in Cuba, the country was just starting to open up a little more and the citizens had been slightly released from the constraints of communism. A couple of years earlier Fidel Castro in ill health had handed over control to his brother Raul, he had a different view of the future for his country and recognized that the state could not afford to continue with it's current policies. Up until this point tourism was controlled by the state and most visitors would stay in resorts in the north of the island staying in places like Playa Varadero an area of large hotels that had catered to the American market until 1959 when the Cuban revolution took place. Although beautiful it was akin to a Caribbean version of Benidorm and not the best way to get to see the real Cuba.
Raul relaxed the rules and allowed locals to start using their homes as guest houses, this from the tourist point of view was a chance to immerse yourself in day to day life. Like many our first port of call was Havana, here we stayed with a family for two nights while arranging transfer to Maria La Gorda in the south west of the island. Havana was a strange mix of Spanish colonial buildings and culture juxtaposed with 1950's American cars on the roads.
Havana taxi.
Staying with our city host was nice but slightly awkward, she was very attentive and welcoming but at the same time you could feel this was new to her and clearly she was out of sorts, we spent as much time trying to make her feel comfortable with our presence. Through a friend of hers we arranged transport for our onward journey, "it will be a modern Russian car" he told us, thanking him we set out for our last evening in the city. As we strolled along my mind was working overtime eventually I turned to the wife "what the f#+£ is a modern Russian car"? the next morning we would find out. We finished our night in the main plaza in a bar listening to a band playing Buena Vista Social Club style music, it was fun but felt somewhat staged for tourist. A few Mojito's and a cigar later we headed back to get some sleep before our road trip the following day. Next morning bags packed and ready outside the house we awaited the arrival of our "modern Russian car" still racking my brain for what it could be, a car pulled up and I gave it no attention until a guy got out and told us he was our driver, with a big smile on my face we loaded our bags into the boot. When you are in a country that runs Chevy's from the 1950's as daily run arounds the word modern takes on a new meaning.
Our modern Russian taxi, 1980 Lada riva.
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So off we go on a 200 mile drive to a destination we have been promised is a world class place to scuba dive, joining the national highway we were amazed by how few cars were on the road. I think on the entire journey we may have seen 5 other vehicles, in fact more horse and carts than cars.
Excitement as we spot a truck in the distance.
Next time Maria La Gorda and the bay of pigs.
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[//]:# (!pinmapple 23.091804 lat -82.358849 long Havana d3scr)