A visit to Cuba has been on my wish list for some time and I’m delighted that I finally made the visit. It’s an exciting and vibrant place. Lots of history, lots of culture, lots of music and a country that has yet to lose its identity to the more commercial side of international tourism. In fact, it’s in a bit of a time warp. Smoking is still allowed indoors in public places. Credit cards are not universally accepted. The Internet is pay by card, by the hour. English is not always spoken or understood (no bad thing!) and some of the public facilities are still very much in the 20th if not the 19th century!
At first, I thought the locals were a little stand-offish but I concluded that some of them are just reserved in front of foreigners as, amongst themselves, they seem exuberant, happy and tactile. Lots of kissing and cuddling in public!
Although Cuba is, clearly, a low wage economy, unlike in Canada I saw no homeless, no obvious drug abuse. The 1959 communist revolution is claimed to have been good for the country and the locals appear proud of what has been achieved during Fidel Castro’s presidency although it is acknowledged that, during his time in office, Cuba was quite a repressed society. His brother who is now in charge has a more liberal attitude. So the country is opening up and tourism recognised as important to the future growth of the economy rather than as a necessary evil. Embracing mass tourism whilst at the same time retaining a national identity will not be easy for Cuba. Fingers crossed!
My last memory of Cuba will be of a not so philosophical discussion I had with a Cuban who seemed remarkably well informed about the dreaded Brexit. I was trying to explain to him that the fall In the value of the pund meant that everything on my travels was a lot more expensive than hitherto. “But the pound is the strongest currency in the world” he countered. “After all, the Cuban $ rate to the US$ is app 0.90, to the Euro is app 1.11 but to the pound is 1.17. So you see, it’s the strongest”. At this point I lost the will to live so had another beer!
The departure of my flight (via Panama City and San Pedro Sula, Honduras) was delayed for more than 1 hour because a tow truck to move the plane off the stand couldn’t be found! I’ve experienced delays caused by missing passengers, air traffic control problems and even technical issues but never, ever because of a missing tow truck! Anyway, we finally got going and, luckily, I just caught the connecting flight in Panama City – and so did my luggage which was a bit of a surprise.
Looking out of the plane’s window over Panama, I saw the most amazing sight. At one point, flying at 36,000 ft above sea level you can see both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans at the same time. Awesome! Panama is, for sure, a very thin country.
The last leg of my journey was a 35 minute hop to Roatan Island just off the coast of mainland Honduras. Some of you might know why this place is on my bucket list. The mother of a friend of ours lived here in the 1960s as a kind of female, treasure hunting Indiana Jones. She wrote a book (Roatan Odyssey) about her swashbuckling and pioneering adventures which, in part, I found quite spellbinding. So, as I was in the area (Cuba), I thought I would drop by and see the place for myself. It’s what you do when you are living the life of , as someone called me, Phileas Fairhurst!
This time I’ve shunned hotels and settled for a more Robinson Crusoe existence in a one bedroom ‘hut’ directly on the beach. I would show you a picture but, as ever, I have internet problems and can’t log onto my laptop where all my pics are stored. Hopefully, with Derek’s arms’ length help, this problem can be solved soon so I can share the atmosphere of this place with you more graphically.
Until then
Richard.
P.S. Another great win for Liverpool, I see!
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