Our last major stop before moving to Canada. We were excited to get to Canada, but right then, I was definitely more excited to visit Cuba. A few months prior we had signed up to do an 8 day G Adventures tour through Cuba. This gave us something to look forward to: both in terms of a tour (therefore zero planning by yours truly) and meeting some new people. We met a bunch of really great people and had a really insightful week. Being in Cuba was like stepping back in time.
My blog posts:
- Arriving in Cuba
- Havana, Cuba
- Three must dos in Vinales
- The day I got sick
- Trinidad
- Must knows before visiting Cuba
- Video: Cuba
- Capital: Havana
- Population: 11.2 million
- Currency: Cuban pesos – ironically there are two currencies: one for tourists and one for locals.
- Language: Spanish
- Highlights:
- Habana Vieja: a beautiful 8km sea drive starting from Havana.
- Swimming and snorkeling at Bahia de Cochinos
- Checking out the amazing wildlife at Cienaga de Zapata
- Trinidad: a sleepy town near to Cienfuegos – which is fondly known as the pearl of the south.
- Did you know?
- There are over 200 bays and 250 beaches.
- Dominoes is the national game of Cuba.
- Cuba has one of the highest literacy rates in the world: 99% of Cubans can read and write.
- There are only two countries in the world which don’t sell Coca-Cola. One is Cuba, the other is North Korea.
- Useful tips:
- Need to acquire a tourist card before arriving in Cuba – this is often included in airline fares. If coming from the USA will get a different one than if coming from anywhere else – and of course, the USA is more expensive.
- Take cash – not USD but pounds or Euros. There are two currencies: one for locals and one for tourists.
- The internet is hard to come by! So it is ideal to pre-book as much as possible.
