Cuba Timeline

Bleary eyed since touching down at Gatwick on Tuesday morning I am conscious that I have not described our wonderful Cuban adventure. It is a fascinating country which we journeyed through in a small group of 12. Our companions were similar to ourselves, for the most part early retirees determined to spend their retirement years travelling and learning. Cuba gave us all the opportunity for endless conversations about its architecture, politics, people, history, music, food, vehicles, rum and cigars.

I cannot do it justice in a blog entry and can only recommend that, if at all possible you visit before it gradually emerges into the 21st century and begins to replicate life in the western world as we know it. For the time being, however, its buildings and agriculture are locked in a time warp along with its 1950's motor cars. The people are good humoured and benefit from free education until 18 and beyond, together with free health care with a ratio of doctors to patients that should be the envy of the UK.

There is no doubt however that the country is governed by a socialist regime with a one party communist system. There are evident shortages of many items that we take for granted and although mobile phones and the internet have recently been introduced, smart phones and wifi have not and computers are essentially accessed at libraries and other hubs.

The people work long hours and in the fields the techniques used are invariably those from a bygone age with ploughs pulled by oxen, tilling undertaken by hand, and horse and carts used for transportation.

There are no shortages of posters and, where we might be accustomed to marketing slogans, in Cuba they instead exhort the workers to remember that the revolution continues. Indeed Fidel Castro is accredited as pointing out after his 1959 victory that the real revolution had only just begun. 

We stayed and ate in government run hotels and restaurants. The menu was limited and invariably offered two or three of pork, chicken, pulled beef or fish all served with boiled rice and black beans. It was nevertheless most edible but when we arrived at a joint venture hotel by the beach to relax before returning home were spoiled by a large array at every mealtime of cosmopolitan food reflecting most parts of the globe.

Cuban music is a melodic fusion of African and Spanish sounds, giving rise of course to so many Latin American dances and it was not unusual to hear a band play and then intuitively people start to salsa. Indeed a celebration of the landing of the revolutionary leaders in The Granma Yacht on 2nd December 1956 coincided with our visit to Santa Clara when the square was taken over by couples dancing.

The whole country is a mass of colour from the painted houses to the lush green countryside which stretches between white sand beaches to lush tropical rainforest. There are humming birds and the tocororo, the country's national bird, has feathers that reflect the blue, white and red of the Cuban flag.

The best known exports are cigars which we saw being made by hand and rum which we tried on a daily basis (just to ensure that standards were being maintained you understand) in the most popular cocktails all invented in Cuba: the Mojito, Daiquiri and Cuba Libre.

UNESCO supports many projects there with the cities we visited boasting world heritage sites whilst areas of the countryside have been declared biospheres.

All in all it was a stimulating, thought provoking and inspiring journey made all the better by a helpful and knowledgeable local guide who accompanied us throughout and answered even our most difficult questions.