Visiting Cuba, Marina Hemingway, and Havana

The great benefit in participating in the inaugural  Pensacola a La Habana Race was the ability to visit Cuba - legally!

First off, it was very apparent to me that many Americans ARE visiting Cuba without permission from the US.  The Cuban authorities were extremely polite, courteous, and professional, and will issue you a Cuban Visa upon entry at Marina Hemingway.  All you need is a passport.  and the visa is a separate document (not stamped into your passport).  So obviously, they are used to accommodating US boaters who do not want a permanent record of their visit stamped into their passport.  I am writing this blog on December 4, 2015.  I will state the date because I know that the US Law regarding visits to Cuba is changing significantly - literally by the day.  In fact, the permits that we needed for the race changed in September as we were applying for them (now considerably relaxed).

The Cuban people were very friendly and our hosts at Marina Hemingway and the Hemingway Yacht Club were just great.  Europeans have been visiting Cuba for some time now and we saw plenty of other tourists.  Also, the Cuban's have figured out that tourists can be a good source of revenue - so just be aware!  They will arrange for a cab, be your tour guide, sit and talk and drink and eat with you.  We had heard that the locals are generally very appreciative of small gifts - toiletries, small toys for their kids, ballpoint pens, a Coca-cola etc. While this is still true to a degree, there are others that just want cash tips, and have figured out that American's are more used to tipping generously when compared to Europeans.  On the topic of money, there are a few things to remember (again, current at the time of writing).  There are two currencies in Cuba - the CUC and the Cuban Peso.  CUCs are the main currency for tourists and at the time of writing a $1 was about 0.85 CUC.  My understanding on the Peso is that this is the currency Cubans are paid by their government, and can generally only be used in the State stores known as Bodega.  We visited one Bodega - it was very sparse and had only very basic foods - rice, beans, cooking oil etc
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Bodega in old Havana

our guide told us that food from the Bodega is rationed using a ration book, The prices are very cheap, but most families run out of "Bodega food" by the middle of the month and have to rely on food bought on the open market (using the CUC).

Visiting Havana was a strange and unique experience.  The city was much larger than I imagined and ranged from just derelict to beautiful - and all shades in between.  If you asked about any of the building in very poor state of repair, they were "under renovation" and people were still living in them.  The Cubans are very proud of the fact that nobody is homeless, and the Arts are huge.

Well - I am going to post this for now, and continue the thread in a few days!
 

 

 

Famous mural in Havana