Whatshot

For anyone who has visited Cuba, the title of our story will not surprise them. Cuba is the most surreal place we have ever visited and somehow it has topped our list as one of the most beautiful islands we ever had the chance to explore.

From the moment you touch down at Aeropuerto Jose Marti, you start feeling the serious vibe that will accompany you throughout your journey. Government officials are considered to be very important and are stern in their manner, giving the new arrivals to Cuba an air of superiority and utter authority whatever you do, you want to make sure that you do not break the law here because if you do, you will regret ever coming to this Godforsaken place.

It has been a dream of ours for many years to visit Cuba. So much has been written about it and history is filled with revolutionary events that have taken Cuba from a small Spanish colony into an international whirlwind of American Mafia kingpins and rogue leadership. When Fidel Castro landed on the shores of Playa Giron in 1956, in an old ship named Grandma, he had on board a man who was destined to change the corrupt imperial state into a socialist haven. Che Guevara was and still is and will always be, one of the most important people in the history of the Cuban revolution.

So with a strong dictatorship and Che Guevara's ideological dream of a united South America and countries of the world previously colonised by oppressive imperialist pigs, Cuba has remained a closely guarded socialist state for nearly sixty years. Cubanos are stuck in a time warp that is very hard to explain on the one hand they are happy and content as bread and milk are freely available and beans and rice are grossly subsidised. No one is hungry and everyone has a roof over their heads. Add to that the constant beat of musical Salsa, cigars and Cheap Rum and life is very rosy indeed don't take our word for it ask any Cubano.

Look, we did not go to Cuba to analyse the government or the socialist state that Cuba is so famously known for we went to find beautiful beaches and to discover the Caribbean dream. Oh and did we find beautiful beaches! My-oh-my we found paradise on earth, still pretty undiscovered and sparsely populated; we were spoilt by having entire beaches to ourselves and the water was the perfect temperature and that crystal clear turquois blue that could only be equated to celestial presence - to die for!

Once you look past the sad realities of the tourist scams that exist in Cuba, you are going to enjoy some of the best hospitalities known to mankind. Once you free yourself from the tourist sharks and start navigating the island on your own, you will discover a nation that is humble and rich in generosity and kindness. Even though communicating presented some challenges for us, we soon got the hang of it and were able to say the basics using our hands and feet and off-line Google translator.

We found it hard to believe but most Cubanos have no access to Wi-Fi, they rely on a card system that buys them one hour of Internet for 1 CUC (CUC is equivalent to US$) but you can only connect in central parks. It is amazing how quickly we stopped missing the constant pings, rings and cellular interruptions. To be honest; the lack of Internet was a contributing factor to our full appreciation of our holiday and we fully recommend adding a cellular detox, the next time you go on holiday.

So here we are, it has been a week since our return, leaving Havana, the goodbye was tough, as we knew we would possibly never return to see the progress and the changes time has in store for this Island nation. And change will come, its inevitable, Raul Castro is old and there are not many revolutionaries left to push socialism forward in this world.

The question remains; is there space for socialism in this new world order Hopefully the people of Cuba will be given a chance to decide what they want their Island to be. The sad reality is that as much as the Cubanos abhor the Yankees, they also can't wait to be like the Yankees - its reflected in their mannerisms and the fact that they believe that America is still the land of opportunities. A little Stockholm syndrome kind of thing.

So our advise to you reading this piece, is, don't delay, visit Cuba before MacDonald's gets there, before the Yankees make an amusement park out of it. Book today and let our friend Yash Ar help you plan a cool adventure. We don't recommend planned tours, as you will be living in substandard hotels/resorts with other tourists without really getting to see the island and its people. Use the Cassa Particular system, we did, it was amazing, no pun intended.

Trust us, you want to travel to Cuba and experience the culture, visit the pristine beaches, eat the food and savour the Cubano way of life and Yash is your man in Cuba, he can help you with all your ground bookings and advise. Yash Ar has a Facebook site called Lets go Cuba and you can whatsapp him on +14165770766.

Next week we travel to Rancho Luna but before we leave Havana we have to share some of our experiences from one of the most intriguing places on earth.

In our happy place.

Cuba is one big movie set.

Life in Havana.

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