After a few days of fishing, our road trip to Havana took us about 3 hours along the seashore, and obviously that included stopping for mojitos😁. My favorite thing about traveling abroad is learning the history of a country, experiencing the culture firsthand and getting to know the people. I truly believe it’s the most educational way to allow your children to experience and understand how the rest of the world actually lives …and have them realize how fortunate they are to be an American.

When we arrived in Havana, we met up with more members of our group, at our hosts’ home. Leo, along with Melton and Daisy made our stay PERFECT. Prior to the trip, we had all agreed to each bring a 50 lb bag of items like toothbrushes, colors, baseballs, candy, etc to distribute to the people on the streets, AND to fill Leo’s personal needs that he cannot buy locally, including a 30 lb bag of cat food. BUT unfortunately …Dallas, who was traveling from Tahoe, got caught up in customs for 5 hours…as they proceeded to confiscate over 1/2 the gifts and goodies he had packed. All the rest of us sailed thru customs.

Havana is the capital city and houses over 2 million of the islands 11 million people. There’s NO doubt, the Cuban people are suffering…yet their undying spirit still rings throughout the city. Live music blares at every turn. The laughter of children playing in the parks keep the atmosphere joyful. The classic cars serve as taxis and give the city a special time warped effect. Back in the “old” days, prior to the 60s, when the Communist government took over, Havana was like Las Vegas…full of hundreds of swanky expensive hotels, each with its own casino, run by the mob. It was the vacation spot of the rich and famous. Now days, you see lots of crumbling buildings… some sitting next to an occasional building that has been restored. The contrast is shocking. Most of the city streets are full of trash and in disrepair. You will see dozens of people waiting in line to spend their government allotted pesos for a loaf of bread or other necessities. Each day brings a different shortage of food or personal items..for example, one morning for breakfast the butter was limited to a couple of small squares for the nine of us. Leo could not buy butter in the government store that morning due to a shortage on the island. There was also a shortage of chicken and eggs while we were there. Alot of the restaurants would tell us many things on the menu were not available, BUT when we did get our food, it was simply delicious!!! Lobster and octopus were my main courses almost every day, with the cost of a HUGE lobster usually $12-$15, versus $30- $90 or more in the US for a small tail.

It was muggy HOT! There was not a single day that we didn’t sweat our “tails” off while walking over 10,000 steps and up numerous flights of stairs… but this was just part of the overall experience. We took “regular” stops in the local cafes and bars to sip on a frozen mojito or daiquiri, pretending to be Earnest Hemingway😜 and cool down. Nobel Prize-winning writer Ernest Hemingway lived for 20 years in Cuba. We visited the famous El Floridita where he hung out in Old Havana to drink mojitos, and the 1920s Hotel Ambos Mundos where he started writing For Whom the Bell Tolls in room 511, which still houses the typewriter he used, as well as other artefacts. He inhabited this hotel with the 3rd of his 4 wives in the 1930s, and he was staying here when he snuck up to the mountains to visit Castro. Stories say he stayed drunk must of the time, and finally returned to Idaho in the 60s when the Communists took over the island. That was where he committed suicide shortly thereafter.

Our “rides” to dinner each night were a green 50 Dodge & a black & white 56 Chevy. The drivers were great guys and patient with our often chaotic group.

To be continued…..with profiles of the Cuban people

Some photos by Rick Minchew