CARIBBEAN HAVANA DESTINATIONS Havana David Whitley explores the gateway to Cuba
Havana will undoubtedly change as Cuba opens up, but perhaps not as rapidly as many think
I
t doesn’t take long to realise that the Cuban capital is unique. At first it’s the idiosyncrasies that strike you – the vintage 1950s cars dominating the streets, the complete lack of advertising billboards and the absence of recognisable brand names. But then the character takes
over. Every bar and restaurant seems to have a live band playing, people think nothing of getting up to dance in the potholed streets, and the gloriously restored architectural mishmash of colonial buildings sit alongside near-ruins. Havana has evolved differently
to just about every other city in the Americas, and its flaws are part of what makes it so fascinating. It will undoubtedly change as Cuba opens up to tourism from the US, but perhaps not as rapidly as many think. The US airlines will eventually open up indirect routes from the UK into Havana. But for now, Virgin Atlantic’s direct flights from Gatwick are the best way to a city that can be a destination in its own right and a stepping stone to the Caribbean’s largest island.
w WHAT TO DO Intrepid Travel’s offshoot Urban Adventures offers a handful of
good introductory tours to the city, both of which are made more interesting by the chance to talk to ordinary Cubans about life. The first is a $52 walking tour of Habana Vieja – the old town – which takes in the main squares, explains the stories behind odd statues and reveals little tales about the city’s history. Also $52, the second goes
farther afield, taking in Havana’s highlights inside one of those gorgeous vintage cars that Cubans have nursed through the decades. This tour visits the ludicrous monuments of Plaza de la Revolucion and idyllic riverside spots beloved by locals, before finishing with a cocktail at the Hotel Nacional. The wind-in-the- hair experience of cruising through town is more important than the specific photo stops, though. A third option, the $38 Afro-
good time
Cuban religion tour, delves into a highly unusual niche. Starting at the Callejon de Hamel, an alleyway turned into a giant art project, it explores Santería. Billed as a Cuban religion with African roots, it is widely practised on the island and matches up traditional African deities to Catholic saints. The tour involves an explanation and a visit to a house where oracle readers are in action. Outside the tours, the Museo
de la Revolucion is worth visiting for a hilariously biased take on Cuba’s history, and a closer look at figures such as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Take it at face value and you’ll come out knowing that everything the Cuban government has done since the 1959 revolution has been good and all bad things to befall the country are a result of CIA meddling. The two forts across the bay –
El Morro and Fortaleza San Carlos de la Cabana – are marvellously atmospheric too. The latter is a small town in itself, packed with curious little exhibitions and offering superlative views back over the city. The Museo del Ron in Habana
Vieja is effectively a clever marketing gambit for Havana Club rum, but the tour guides
10 September 2015
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