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Day 10-11: Mambo de la Luna, thoughts from the road
Snake eyes on the paradise, and we’ve got to go today. These are just road thoughts, a further attempt to pull together what I’ve experienced over the last 10 days. That sort or piece where any better writer would be able to neatly wrap things up in a paragraph, or an Anthony Bourdain show could sum things up well in a couple of lines and a decent final shot. Cuba has been challenging, that’s for sure. All travel is challenging, or at least it should be: there is no point going around the world just to experience what you have at home everywhere you go. For Cuba, some of the…
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Day 10: Mambo de la Luna: Trinidad, Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Havana
Our last full day in Cuba. Another wonderful breakfast at the casa before we hit the road. I don’t think I’ve described the breakfasts we’ve been getting, which have all been both substantial and great quality. The usual starter is a bowl or plate of fruit, which has consistently featured mango but can also have guava, pineapple, rock melon, orange, or banana. I’ve been loving the fresh fruit. Then comes some eggs, any way we like, but omelette has been a consistent choice, as we’ve also been given plates of cheese and ham. There’s also usually bread, and today we also had sweet, jam-filled biscuits that looked like dumplings or…
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Mambo de la Luna Day 4+: Havana still
Today was the big Havana tour day, taking in the old and the new cuidad. The old cuidad is UNESCO recognised, free from cars, and quite beautiful in an under restoration kind of way. So after meeting our trusty Beberli, it was off to stroll around basically where I’ve strolled around for the last couple of days, but this time with someone to explain what I’ve been seeing. I could go into great detail boring you about all the things about the history of Havana, but suggest you’re better off reading Wikipedia or something. Basically, in very condensed form, Havana is a semi-strategic isthmus with water on three sides, making…
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Mambo de la Luna Day 3+: Havana still
Today the tour started. Part of the deal for transiting through the US was the requirement to show that my time in Cuba was to support the Cuban people, i.e. getting out each day with an itinerary and not just sipping mojitos in a resort. Today’s mission involved a tour of the Havana Club rum museum, just around the corner from our Casa. So we met our guide for the tour, Beberli, and went for a walk. Cuba and rum go back a long way, as the first things the european colonists did was wipe out the local indigenous population, chop down the trees, and plant sugarcane. As with all…
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Mambo de la Luna: day 2+, Habana
I think it’s technically day 4, but I get confused from all the crossing of date lines, and with my body clock otherwise a bit messed around. My phone thinks it’s Saturday 6 July, my laptop thinks it’s Sunday 7 July, and my brain thinks that it’s hard to be in Havana and not drink. But before I get to today, I should probably cover yesterday, but not the way the band at the lunch restaurant covered “Yesterday”. The ultra long haul Singapore to Ewok, sorry, Newark (airport code EWK) was overall pretty good. I made sure to drink lots of water, so I hit the ground well hydrated if…
