CUBA

Country Updates

For those interested in traveling to Cuba by way of the Bahamas, I would really suggest using Majestic Travel. Other companies, such as Havantur and Innovative Travel and Tours require that you pay in advance through a wire transfer or certified check which has to be mailed. Oddly enough, these companies don't accept credit cards. However, with Majestic Travel you can make the (flight and/or hotel) reservation and guarantee it with a credit card. Once you get to the Bahamas you will find "Majestic Travel" vans at the airport which will take you directly to their office (free of charge) and you can buy your ticket. Once you buy the ticket, they will take you back to the airport (free of charge)
Call Majestic Travel @ 242-328-0908. They will make your reservation and fax you a confirmation a couple days later. The tickets only cost $208 roundtrip (*including tourist card). BTW, make sure that you schedule your trip to the Bahamas so that you arrive with enough time to go to the office, purchase your ticket and return back to the airport. The flights generally leave around 4.30 pm, so you should reach the Bahamas by about 12.00-1.00.
Diallo Hall (Sept 98)

The immigration offices listed under Vedado and Miramar do not renew tourist cards anymore. To renew a tourist card, all that is necessary is to go to the Hotel Havana Libre lobby and look for the immigration agent, who is posted with a tour company at the rear of the lobby, by the second row of couches. It is very easy. Knowing that in advance would have saved me a lot of sweat. Renewing the card costs $25, even if you are only staying one extra day. Also, the airport tax is now $20, up from $15.
Elizabeth Campisi (Aug 98)

I know that it's expressed quite clearly, but maybe it would be better to add that the maximum time you are allowed to stay with a tourist card is two months. And it is not as unimportant ("only a means of collecting money"), especially to the immigration officers, as it is described in the book.
Annika Goldenbaum - Germany (May 98)

My first comment may seem comic, but I had a problem in Cuba that actually caused me to have a bit of culture shock. There is hardly any toilet paper available in Cuba, even in the dollar stores. While I knew from my travels in Central America to carry it with me, I expected to be able to buy toilet paper in Cuban dollar stores. This was not the case, and I had a very hard time scrounging it up in scattered tourist stores. This became a nightmare when I came down with some stomach problems (the Cubans simply wash themselves with soap and water each time they go). Therefore, in the What To Bring section, please tell people to take an adequate supply of toilet paper with them if they are planning to go off the beaten track, and even if they are staying only in tourist areas, to carry a roll with them when walking around the city. You never know where you will be forced to look fora toilet.
Elizabeth Campisi (Aug 98)

I found myself swamped by panhandlers offering accommodation and found it difficult who to trust although eventually I found official Taxi drivers are useful as long as you stipulate central locations and no commission (the driver gets commission from house owner). A one dollar ride would take you to most locations if the central area of town was near to the terminal. Railway officials and bus station officials were usually OK too if you wanted to walk to the Casa Particular avoiding paying the Taxi fare.
Anthony Smith - UK (July 98)

Gifts: Soap is still popular but many younger people want English/Spanish dictionaries, also clothing-anything at all to wear.
Malcolm Andrews - UK (April 98)

The water in Sancti Spiritus apparently came from the river and so was filtered in each household (I escaped serious stomach upset). The power in Sancti Spiritus went off several times for 3-4 hours so my torches and nightlights came in very useful. There is a "Cuban Candle" made out of a toothpaste tube with a wick through it that burns oil. Ordinary candles require dollars.
David Aston - UK (March 98)

Many of the hotels will not give you a room even if one is empty because the booking is centralized in the hotel groups head office in Havana and they allocate rooms out as they receive reservations to various agencies. They do not allow any freedom to the hotel itself. With Cuba being so full of tourists, we wasted time finding a room and it would have been better to book in Havana before we left.
Niel Sebag-Montefiore - UK (April 98)

One piece of advice about hotels in Cuba, try to state how many nights you will be staying for and pay in advance. We had at least 2 experiences of telling reception we would be staying for 2/3 nights and paying for one. Next day on going past reception we were informed that we had to leave as the room was booked.
Balwant Singh - UK (Jan 98)

Firstly, there are both legal and illegal private lodging in Havana. If you want (for any reason) be sure of that you live in a legal house, just ask to see the permits, the legal renters pay a great deal of taxes and tend to keep their papers in order due to the enormous fines for cheaters. In Varadero, however, it's currently not legal to rent out rooms, the state prefers having the tourists at the expensive resorts. There are a number of illegal rooms from $10.
Andreas Nilsson (April 98)

Tourist Hotels: Often the cheaper hotels in large cities are full. Most of the hotel prices are about 15 or 20% higher than in the first edition.
Homestays: The price for a private room in an official home is 12 up to 15$. Since the law about room renting claims an incredibly high tax payment per rented room you will rarely find a cheaper room. There are houses without the official permission renting rooms for less money, but often these are rather shabby and also it isn't as safe as an authorized house. Sometimes it proves to be even cheaper asking around in the lower-class hotels. By now, there is an unfair competition between the houses renting rooms. Don't show anybody an address you already have. Sometimes hustlers offer to show the house, but either they take the tourists to wrong addresses (because the families are said to have moved or died) or they demand a commission.
Annika Goldenbaum - Germany (May 98)

Vaivén is a government owned minbus service only recently established and, in April, not well publicized. It does a city bus tour which takes in all of coastal Havana, east to Moro, west to Palacio de las Convenciones. It operates between 9am and 9pm. there are three buses so that it is possible to get off at any of the designated stops and wait for another bus. The ticket, valid for one day, is US$ 4 and an excellent map of the route is US$ 1.
I was suprised it was not in the weekly sheet available at hotels; also that I had to give the map and description to the overnment tourist office in Old Havana- it seemed that "red tap" had so far prevented brochures being available in their office.
Nan Gallagher (98)

In my opinion the best way to travel in Cuba now is not by train but by air-conditioned bus, which is now available between the main towns, eg Santiago to Trinidad $28, 10 hrs; Trinidad-Havana, $25, 5 hrs.
Aulerey Kee -Ireland (Aug 98)

Regarding going to Cuba via the Bahamas, all of the phone numbers for Cubana in the Bahamas are incorrect. The Cubana office in Montreal gave me the number of a Bahamian company that books Cubana flights, called Innovative Travel & Tours. Phone: (242)325-0042; (242)325-3337. Fax (242)325-3339. Ken Collins is the president, and you should speak to him. Since reservations cannot be booked by credit card from the US, the procedure is a bit complicated. First you call Mr. Collins to see if the dates you want to travel are available. Then you wire him a deposit for the ticket through Western Union, and send him a fax telling him the wire tranfer number and reconfirming the dates you want to travel. You will receive a fax with your reservation shortly thereafter. The whole thing seemed fishy to me, but it worked, and Mr. Collins hmself was at the airport counter when I checked in. The cost of the ticket, without the $25 tourist card, which Mr. Collins will sell you at the ticket counter, is $192 for up to 30 days, and $30 extra for an open-ended ticket.
Elizabeth Campisi (Aug 98)

Driving anywhere took three to four times as long as you might expect from the distance. The surface of the main roads was not too bad but were still slow because you could get caught behind a heavy lorry going uphill at 10 mph or less. The "B" roads wound up the hill sides and were full of potholes. It was a tiring business as you could not take your eyes off the road for one moment.
M. Freeman - UK (March 98)

Airport departure tax has been increased to $20.
John Graham (Jan 98)

Fuel shortages continue and although timetables are printed to see at train/bus stations many fail to run without prior notice which leads to many hours being wasted waiting around. Therefore shared taxis could work out cheaper especially as foreigners have to pay the peso fare in US$ making the fare 20x higher than those printed.
SR Walker - UK (April 98)

The new French style railway station in Santiago is now in use. In February one had to buy the ladis ticket between 8h30 and 9h00 in the morning in the main hall of the station. The new station is located more north, opposite to the Bacardi Rum Factory.
Andreas Balmer - Switzerland (April 98)

You should be aware that the reports that Cuba is a safe place to visit are most emphatically not true. I was robbed at around 1 pm. outside the Capitolio in Havana in what was clearly an organized scam-luckily I only lost my camera, but at the airport I met a couple who had lost everything (passports, tickets, money...) in Havana, and had suffered several other incidents in their three week stay on the island. Their visit to the UK Embassy to sort all this out made them aware their experiences were not at all unusual. It would seem that Havana is almost a no go area after dark.
Ann Priestley - UK (April 98)

Around San Diego de los Banos: Officially Las Cabaûas Los Pinos have been closed in 1997, but there is something of a crew on guard. The men will allow you to pitch a tent or give you a cabana, but there is only one central tap on the ground and no electricity. Tourists who sleep there usually leave a small amount for the crew. If you plan to stay you should bring plenty of food.
Annika Goldenbaum - Germany (May 98)

Gran Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra: Just wanted to give a quick update to the Pico Turquino trek from Bayamo to Las Cuevas, or vice versa. We attempted this trip in December and ran into some problems. First of all, it is absolutely necessary to get an authorization from the School of Science (I think Science) at the Universidad del Habana. I was also told by the authorities that the same permit is available in Santiago de Cuba and/or Bayamo though I was a bit skeptical about that possibility. Santiago, sure, but Bayamo? Anyway, your best bet is to get the authorization when you fly into La Habana. According to a local in Las Cuevas (part time guide, as are probably most of the men in the area)-apparently some years ago a European tourist did the trek and introduced some sort of virus to the coffee crop in the mountains. Ever since that incident (if it occurred) the government requires all foreigners to obtain said authorization. Penalties for attempting it include: immediate removal from the area, fines (numbers ranged from $100 to $1000 dollars depending on who you talk to ) and possible expulsion from the country. They are very serious about this.
Noel Aflague (May 98)

The road up to Villa Santo Domingo is very, very steep. Also, you should warn visitors that you can only go beyond the villa with a permit (obtainable at the villa), and the rangers will not let you further even with a permit when it is raining or if there is the threat of rain. So we missed out on a much looked-forward-to visit to the Comandancia de la Plata. The rangers recommended early morning visits before the clouds gather.
Roger Lowry - UK (April 98)