Okay so now we're on to the fun part. Recommendations! Before we left we hit up all our friends who had been to Cuba. In addition to the great recommendations we received, we discovered some other amazing places via our trusty Lonely Planet guide as well as recommendations by people we met at restaurants and just wandering around.
We visited 4 areas of the island while on our trip. We traveled between each via bus - Note: the Cuban word for bus is wawa, no one understood what I was saying when I said autobús or bús. We discovered that much of the transport for locals is subsidized by the government, and it is illegal for tourists to take this transport. If the driver is caught with a tourist on-board, it is assumed that the driver is taking extra money for this from the tourist, and the driver can be fined. Therefore the government has a separate bus company for tourists to take - called
Viazul, which in effect is “public transport for tourists”. The Viazul buses are large modern buses and pretty reliable, but like most things in Cuba the system is a process! First you have to reserve a ticket at least a day before at the bus station. Even if you pay (which they don't always have you do) this does not guarantee your seat. You then need to check in at the station an hour before the bus departs to get a printed out voucher that then acts as your actual ticket. Seats aren't reserved so Timmy and I tried to arrive early to get a good seat. He would look at our route and make sure we sat on the side with the prettier views (much more attentive to those kind of things than I am).
Our schedule:
11/29-12/1 - Havana
12/2-12/4 - Viñales (4hr / $12CUC bus ride from Havana)
12/5-12/8 - Trinidad / Playa Ancón (9.5hr / $37CUC bus ride from Viñales)
12/9-12/10 - Varadero (6.5hr / $20CUC bus ride from Trinidad)
12/11 - Havana (3.5hr / $10CUC bus ride from Varadero)
Havana:
Restaurants/bars:
Paladar Los Mercaderes
(Mercaderes No. 207; corner of Lamparilla y Amargura; Habana Vieja)
This restaurant came highly recommended by my friend Jessie who said it was one of the best meal she had while in Havana. It did not disappoint! Upstairs overlooking a quaint street this restaurant had fabulous service and amazing food! We'd discussed coming back but ran out of time.
Paladar La Guardia Restaurant
(Calle Concordia No. 418; entre Gervasio y Escobar; Centro Habana)
You can tell by the wall of celebrity photos at the entrance that this is a place worth visiting. Up three long flights of poorly lit stairs in an old beauty of a building, this is one of the most famous Havana's paladares. The menu was quite diverse and the food good but maybe not worth the high prices. On your way to the bathroom, take a peak into the kitchen as it looks it could be straight out of a Michelin starred restaurant. Even if you don't plan to eat here, I would definitely put this on the list for drinks as there is a great rooftop bar with beautiful views (especially at sunset) of all the rooftops of Centro Havana.
El Chanchullero
(Teniente Rey No. 457 A bajos; entre Bernaza y El Cristo; Habana Vieja)
Suggested by a friend Gregory, who had lived in Havana for 6 months, this was a great lunch spot. It has a very casual with amazing food and great drinks! One of the best mojitos we had in all of Cuba. All the staff donned revolutionary shirts which lent to the hipster vibe of the place.
O'Riley 304
(O'Reilly No 304; Habana Vieja)
We happened upon this restaurant and it was such a great find! Note it is very hard to find as there is no real signage beyond a chalkboard outside. The name is quite literally the restaurant's address. Don’t be fooled by the O’Riley Café across the street a block down. This restaurant had such an incredible food and drink menu. And provided one of the most interesting experiences of the trip! The restaurant was busy when we arrived so we took an open seat at the bar. Personally this is my favorite, because you can interact with the bartenders, watch them interact with the staff and clientele as well as watch them make delicious drinks.
And that we did… It was kind of detrimental to our day as we ended up staying for a few more cocktails than intended. But we were on holiday after all! So, onto the good part… At one point early on, a man came in to the restaurant and took a bottle of Jack Daniel's out of his backpack. The bartender poured a shot (to see if it was real), tasted it, nodded, then handed the man some money and off he went. Timmy and I assumed it was a black market deal of an American product smuggled in. But as we sat there eating our lunch (and drinking our incredible cocktails) we witnessed more and more of these black market deals. The next one, quite possibly my favorite, was a lady who walked in and removed a full chicken out of her purse. The bartender (whom we presumed later to be the manager) smelled it, nodded and then handed her some money. In the few hours we sat there we witnessed additional trades with sugar, vodka, napkins and most randomly a lamp. It was so bizarre! I'm not sure how the subsidies work for the paladares, but it was clear that the people coming in were trading their personal subsidy for cash.
5 Esquinas Tratoria
(Habana No.104; esq. Cuarteles)
We ate breakfast before leaving Havana the first time and then returned for dinner on our last night at this delicious Trattoria. The restaurant is located at a unique intersection of 5 streets thus its name 5 Esquinas (which means corners in Spanish). They had very good full breakfasts for a decent price and the only good Italian food I found in Cuba throughout the trip (don't judge I tried to have pasta 4 times, like I said all the food was very similar and after a while it got old... But the pasta was always bad until this place). We also had an amazing banana daiquiri on our last night for “dessert”.
Daquiris at
El Floridita
(Obispo No. 557; esq. a Monserrate, Havana)
This was one of Ernest Hemingway's favorite haunts. With my love of Hemingway, we clearly needed to pop in for the drink named in his honor - the Papa Hemingway Special (a grapefruit-flavored daiquiri). It's a very touristy spot but definitely worth the visit. The drinks are pricey for Cuban standards (~$8CUC), but were quite good - which sadly isn't saying much for a country who has invented the mojito.
Drinks at
Hotel Nacional de Cuba
Drinks here are definitely way over priced and actually not that great, but again this is a must visit place. The Hotel Nacional de Cuba is a historic luxury hotel located in the middle of the Vedado district of Havana. Standing on a hill above the sea, we sat in the beautiful backyard overlooking the Malecón and listened to musicians play music. Afterwards we walked around inside the Hall of Fame taking in the feel of old Havana.
Touristy Activities:
Museo de la Revolución
(Refugio No. 1, Havana)
We spent 4 hours walking around this former presidential palace. The top level provides pre-revolutionary (1957) history, while the middle level exhibits were devoted to the post-revolution describing Cuba's transition to socialism and then communism. This floor was very interesting and gave good insight into the reasons behind what led to the current system. Behind the building on the ground level lies a display of various vehicles and tanks used in the revolution. The museum as a whole had a lot of information… in Spanish. If you can’t read Spanish it is a bit harder to get all the info as the English translations didn't really have in-depth descriptions. Regardless it was still very interesting. Timmy walked around without me translating and he was able to get the gist.
Hop-on/Hop-off Bus:
For those who know me, you know I LOVE taking the bus tour in any city I visit. The one in Havana is so/so. You don't get earphones, rather the tour guides repeats everything in Spanish and then English over a loud speaker. It is a nice way to go around the whole city and see everything but it doesn't give too much information. If you wanted to skip it, you wouldn't really be missing out.
Classic Car Taxi:
Rather than do the bus tour, I would recommend taking a tour in a classic car taxi. Alongside the Plaza Central are a whole selection of beautiful classic cars lines up for tourists. You can "rent" one of these old 1950s cars for $35CUC/hr. Along with the driver, you get a "tour guide" who will drive around with you and give interesting anecdotes of the various parts of town. This was a much more personal experience and there is nothing quite like pulling up to the Hotel Nacional in style.
Viñales:
With its gorgeous limestone cliffs (known as mogotes) set above red tobacco plantations, it is easy to see why Parque Nacional Viñales is one of Cuba's most magnificent natural settings. Unlike the bustling city of Havana, Viñales offers opportunities for hiking, rock climbing and horseback trekking. Despite being a major tourist destination, this small little town somehow manages to escape being too touristy. There is not much to the "town" really - just one main road with restaurants and bars, several streets filled with casas particulares and two nice hotels slightly out of town. The true draw to this place is the natural beauty.
Restaurants/Bars:
El Olivo
Timmy had read in Lonely Planet that this restaurant had tremendous lasagna and pasta dishes as well as it's specialty a rabbit with herbs in a dark chocolate sauce. Seeing as how we were a good week into me not having pasta, I was delighted to check this place out. I ordered a pasta and Timmy ordered the rabbit. I was very disappointed. I don't know what I should have expected from a Mediterranean/Italian restaurant in Cuba, but LP said this place was legit and that the chef had studied in Italy. It did not meet my expectations. Timmy enjoyed his dish, and they did have a good selection of wine and a delicious gazpacho! So I would still recommend the place as it was very cute... Just don't order the pasta.
La Cuenca
This appeared to be the new swanky restaurant in town. Decorated super modern in all black and white, I was skeptical to even look at the menu as it looked a bit cheesy. But after walking up and down the main road checking out places one night we decided to check it out. I had an immediate sense of deja vu. This menu looked familiar.... In fact it was the EXACT same menu as El Olivo.... Down to the random prices and all. Quite a trip. We ended up eating there as there were not too many other options. And you know what? The food was better! When I asked the waiter if they were at all affiliated with El Olivo he said no, and seemed quite confused as to why I would think that. Oh I don't know, maybe because you serve identical menus!
Balcón de Valle
This is a must go to for lunch!! With three wooden decks overhanging a panorama of tobacco fields, drying houses and mogotes, this aptly named restaurant (translation: Balcony of the Valley) has food that stands up to its sensational views. The unwritten menu gives a choice between chicken, pork, fish and lobster, all prepared country-style with various sides. It's A bit far to walk and u[p a steep hill, Timmy and I took the bus tour and had them drop us off in front of the Centro de Visitantes (which is an official stop - but not one that they usually make unless you ask). The restaurant is just up the path beyond this stop.
Touristy Activities:
Viñales valley is pretty flat, and a great place to cycle, if you want to get out into the countryside. On our first day in town Timmy and I rented bikes and explored. This was the night after our bottle of rum (see last entry), so needless to say I felt like crap. In fact, in the morning we went up a really big hill and I literally though I was going to die. Somehow at the end of the day, when we were coming back that hill must have disappeared as we never descended down a big hill :). By midday I was back to loving life. Best way to beat a hangover is to sweat out the booze! On the way back into town we stopped at the Cueva del Indo and took a tour of the cave. We walked along the small cavern for a bit and then took a 15 minute boat ride on the underground river. It was cool - but by no means the coolest cave I have been in. All in all we rode for 20 km (12 miles) and had a great day!
The next day it was raining but that was perfect for the activity we planned.... A Bus tour! I know I’m biased as I love bus tours, but honestly I would certainly recommend this as a very convenient and cheap way of seeing all that Viñales has to offer. The hop-on/hop-off Viñales Bus Tour is a minibus that runs nine times a day between all of the valley's main sites. Starting and finishing in the village's main plaza on Salvador Cisnero, the whole circuit takes an hour and ten minutes with the first bus leaving at 9 AM and the last at 7:10 PM. There are 18 stops along the route and all are clearly marked with route maps and timetables. Tickets ($5CUC) can be bought on the bus itself and are valid for the whole day.
The best views of the valley are obtained at Hotel Jazmines. No need to worry about missing this as there is about a 10-15 minute stop for everyone to take photos.
The bus also stops at the Mural de la Prehistorica, or what Timmy and I like to call one of the more ridiculous things we have ever seen. A 120m long painting on the side of a cliff. The huge snail, dinosaurs, sea monsters and humans symbolize the theory of evolution. Most of the people on our bus were impressed and were taking serious photos. There are other stops you can make along the route, but Timmy and I covered most on our bike trip the day before. We took the entire loop once, then rode it a second time until Centro de Visitantes where we jumped off for lunch at Balcón de Valle, and then jumped on it a third time to ride back down the hill to the center of town. At the end of the day we hopped on the bus one more time and rode it up to the Hotel Ermita where we grabbed drinks and watched the sunset by the pool. I think the bus driver thought we were insane. But really we were just resourceful in using the system.
Trinidad:
Where to stay:
Hostal "Nilda Ponce"
(Frank Pais #518 entre Piro Guinart y Fidel Claro, Trinidad)
(Ph:
(041) 998381 / Mobile:
(53) 52940809 /
edelponce71@yahoo.es)
Up until now I haven't really recommended places to stay. It's not that the other places we stayed were bad, it’s just they were nothing special. There are so many casa particulares in each city that it's easy to find a decent place. But in Trinidad you must try to stay at Hostal "Nilda Ponce"! This was by far the best casa we stayed at on our trip. Make sure to ask for an upstairs room as they come with balconies with rocking chairs overlooking the city. Also make sure to have dinner there at least once as she is a fabulous cook. We ate dinner here two times and both were absolutely delicious!!
Restaurants/Bars:
Casa de los Conspiradores
(Cristo No. 38, Esquina la Escalinata, Trinidad)
We noticed this restaurant while walking around town on our first night. It seemed quite cute, with its wooden balcony overlooking the Plaza Mayor and the main stairs in town. I know you shouldn't judge a book but its cover, but it was so cute we decided to dine there the following night. Timmy and I sat at the table in the corner of the balcony. It was such a tight fit, that each of us had to enter through separate doors as the table literally touched the wall and the railing. The food was pretty good and the scenery / vantage point could not be beat.
Vista Gourmet
I highly advise that you DO NO go to this place. It came highly recommended by Lonely Planet so we decided to check it out on the first night. The top floor of the restaurant had gorgeous views of the city, so I will give it that, but that's all. The food was disgusting and there was the most cheese-ball dance show that we had to both endure and then pay tips for! Stay away!
Casa de la Música
One of Trinidad's most classic venues, this casa is an alfresco music venue situated on Calle Cristo in a plaza half-way up the main staircase off Plaza Mayor. Each night there is a salsa show at 10pm. While obviously catering to the tourists, there was a really good mix of locals tearing up the dance floor with their amazing salsa as well. We dropped by two nights to have a drink and watch the performances. By this stage of the trip we were quite rummed-out and discovered that a double shot of Johnnie Walker Black Label was only $3CUC here.
Las Ruinas de Segarte
(Calle Alameda, Trinidad)
Timmy and I accidentally stumbled across this amazing venue one night. On our way to dinner, we walked past what we assumed was a completely empty restaurant. We felt very sad for the man inside as there was not a single person in the place. After dinner we walked by again to find the place completely full! Turns out this was not a restaurant at all, but rather a bar and live music venue. Filled with mainly locals, this place was quite the gem! We stayed for a few hours watching the various bands perform in the open air courtyard.
Touristy Activities:
Declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1988, Trinidad is a one-of-a-kind perfectly preserved Spanish colonial settlement. Lonely Planet describes the vibe as "the clocks sopped ticking in 1850 and - apart from the tourists - have yet to restart." This sleepy town is any photographers dream and Timmy and I spent many evenings walking around the beautiful cobble-stoned streets taking pictures of the old buildings and parks.
Most of our days were spent on the platinum-blond beaches of
Playa Ancón, which lies twelve kilometers to the south. Trinidad has a hop-on/hop-off mini bus (all-day tickets are $2CUC) that essentially takes tourists from town to the outlying beach towns. It runs four times a day in both directions with the first bus leaving Trinidad (in front of the Cubatur office on Antonio Maceo) at 9 AM with the last bus leaving Playa Ancón at 6 PM.
We were lucky to have a picture perfect day on our first trip to the beach as it rained a bit the other two days. We spent hours walking up and down the beach, laying out and going swimming. One word of advice though, is to leave before sunset as the sand fleas come out with a vengeance! We read this in Lonely Planet but didn't really pay attention. After my horrific experiences with sand fleas in Central America, I probably should have taken the warning a little more seriously! Like clockwork the minute the sun began to go down the fleas began to bite. Timmy was set on capturing pictures of the beautiful sunset (possibly the best of the trip) but it definitely came at a cost!
After getting what he wanted (and then snapping a few requisite couple-selfies of course!) we ran to the bus stop where we encountered another nightmare.... hoards of mosquitos! The scene when we arrived was quite hysterical, as there were groups of tourists, standing at the bus stop doing a sort of dance swatting away mosquitos with their hands, sarongs, bags, etc...whilst dancing to music playing out of a taxi cab. The cabbies, knowing that the mosquitos are a nuisance, sit at the bus station and try to get tourists to abandon waiting for the bus and head back to town right away for just $10CUC! Few took the offer, and when the bus arrives it was packed! That was the only day we stayed at the beach until 6 PM.
The next two days we returned to Playa Ancón to scuba dive. The only time I’ve gone scuba diving was when Laura and I were in Honduras/Belize in 2011. While Timmy had gone many more times than me, it had been nearly 15 years since his last time. So we decided to take a refresher course.
There is only one dive shop there,
Cayo Blanco International Dive Center, located at the end of the beach alongside the Hotel Club Amigo (Note: Lonely Planet says they are located in the marina but this is incorrect... we spent a good 30 minutes walking around trying to find it).
We had a great instructor Igor who gave us a quick refresher in the morning, before taking us on a dive in the afternoon. The following day we did two dives. Neither Timmy nor I would say it was the best diving we have done. As there is only one dive center, the reef is well preserved and that was really nice to see. The visibility was amazing and there was really pretty corals, but the fish and other sea life weren't as varied as we have experienced in other parts of the world. But it was a good experience to get reacquainted to scuba diving and now we can continue to find amazing locations throughout our travels! (see future blog posts)
Varadero:
We splashed out on the last stop of our tour de Cuba and stayed at an all-inclusive resort called the
Hotel Melia Peninsula Varadero. Varadero is the largest resort town in the Caribbean, and with a 20km stretch of uninterrupted sand, has undoubtedly some of the best beaches. While this large, mega-resort town may be great for the tourist industry, it offers little true Cuban experiences for those who visit. Sadly, most of the people at our hotel didn't seem to care. The resort was full of people (mainly from Canada, Russia and Europe) who seemed content to stay for a week or two enjoying the all-inclusiveness the resort had to offer. I doubt many of them left the resort at all; those who did maybe took a day trip to say they saw the "real Cuba". Being there was such a trip for Timmy and me. It was much more expensive than our $25CUC /night accommodations we had been accustomed to over the past two weeks, but once we got there we did not need to spend a cent (unless we wanted to splurge on fancy wine at dinner). Everything was free, including top shelf alcohol at the lobby bar. The pool and beach bar only served beer and sugary cocktails but those sufficed during the day. The buffet was decent, but after 2 days I was ready to leave. Not sure how people could eat there for a week or two. And trust me these people ate! The amount of food that was piled on each person's plate was comical. In addition to the main buffet there were six a la carte restaurants in which you needed to book a reservation at least the day before. We ate at the Japanese one (when in Cuba right?) which was like a Benihana. It was actually quite good! The chef tried his best to do some slick culinary tricks but kind of failed miserably. Both nights after dinner, Timmy and I checked out the resort's "disco" aka bar with a dance floor that played horrific music. It was still fun to dance and great for people watching.
Even though this wasn't the Cuba we went to experience, these two days were a great way to end our trip.
BUT the rain the next day was INTENSE! At one point during our braai it began to rain so hard (200ml in one hour) that we all had to go inside. It was so fun watching the mountains across our cottage turn into a massive flash flood. Their next day Claire and Andrew went to check out the tent and discovered that the rain had completely broken off the legs and punctured a hole into the roof. Additionally there were many large pockets of water in the roof. Had it rained that hard the night before we could have been killed! Obviously the gods were shining down on them and #DrewandDuswedding went off without a hitch!
We stayed at the Pumba Msenge bush lodge which was absolutely INCREDIBLE! Our room was made of all windows and had a balcony with a pool that literally sat on the bush. On our last day as we were eating breakfast on the patio, the area was full of giraffes, baboons, warthogs and impalas all grazing nearby. It was quite magical! In addition to our lodge, the game drives were a major highlight. We saw all of the Big 5 (elephants, lions, rhinos, buffalos and leopards) as well as many other animals (giraffes, hippos, nyalas, impalas, monkeys, etc.). 
The second time our car got a flat tire was during a rain storm. Again we had to get out of the vehicle, which was not so fun in the rain. But again, we experienced an incredible sighting during this mishap - a group of about 20 elephants bathing in a river less than 10 meters (30 feet) away from us. We sat there for about 30 minutes watching the elephants play. It was so cool that in then end we didn't mind at all that we were sitting in the rain. After two flat tires in a row I could tell that our guide Justin was a little embarrassed. But the rest of the trip went off without a hitch and he provided an amazing experience showing us all the animals and telling us hilarious stories about his years of working in game reserves.
Luckily Timmy and I came back about a month later to visit his bother Topher, sister-in-law Clara and their son Sunji who live in Plettenberg Bay. There we spent our days hiking through waterfalls down to the beaches in Kranshoek and exploring the lagoons of Nature's Valley. This was a great trip, both because we were in such beautiful surroundings and because it was so great spending quality time getting to know Timmy's brother and family. They are very spiritual people who are very in tune with nature and their bodies. We ate vegan food the whole time we were there and spent the our time just talking and enjoying each other's company. 
