After three weeks in the car and more than 3,200 kilometres on Cuba’s pothole-riddled roads from east to west, we’re back in Havana, relieved – only one flat tyre spoiled things along the way. What do you write at the end of a travel blog after weeks like these? We had already seen the sights at the start, so we simply enjoyed the last days: bought souvenirs for friends and family, strolled through the lanes and drank the odd mojito.
Salsa after nine days of national mourning
What stays with me is the Monday after nine days of national mourning. For the first time there was live music again, people gathered in front of the bars, danced and laughed to salsa – as if someone had turned the sound back on. It was a special time: with Fidel’s death a figure of identification disappeared, and many older people were visibly grieving. Our road trip by rental car from east to west was still the highlight, above all in the rural east with its “original” Cuba. People were friendly and happy to be photographed, except perhaps in Havana.
Practical tips for Cuba
A rental car is worth it if you have time. We stayed in local casas – nicer and cheaper than the overpriced state hotels. Back then we booked them through Airbnb, using a VPN because the site was blocked in Cuba. Alongside the tourist currency CUC, a few CUP came in handy, as change from local shops or from the exchange office (the dual currency has been abolished since 2021). The Stefan Loose guidebook was as recommendable as ever, and the offline maps from maps.me had surprisingly accurate hiking trails, for example to the abandoned coffee fincas in Las Terrazas or to the nuclear power plant near Cienfuegos.
Camera equipment and a final word
To the frequent questions about equipment: I travel with small cameras, not with a DSLR. Usually with the Sony A7 series – but shortly before Cuba I fulfilled a dream: the Leica M-D with the 35 mm Summicron, with which most of the pictures in this blog were taken. Without a display that was a challenge; in the first weeks I spent my evenings cursing botched shots. At some point the feel for shooting blind came. I can’t think of any more tips right now – if you have questions, feel free to write to me via the contact form.
Looking up into a narrow lane, an old restaurant sign hanging across it.Bonnet ornament, badge and profile of a turquoise classic car.A book stall with old magazines and its seller.Chess in the shade of the park.Tail fin and grille of American classic cars.A face with beret and star on the wall.The Cuban flag on the balcony of an old house.A turquoise classic car and a cyclist on the square in front of the church.Small shops and colourful doorways.A red classic car outside a café beneath old façades.A crumbling colonial façade with balconies and laundry.Cyclists on the Malecón and people by the sea.Sunset glow over the Malecón and the skyline.Evening football on a pitch between the houses.A lit street with old houses at night.People behind a barred window and a street at night.A big fish painted on the old wall.A red classic car in a lane of colourful houses.The magnificent façade of the Gran Teatro de La Habana in the evening light.The dome of the Capitolio in the warm evening light.A pale blue classic car in front of the Payret cinema.A green classic car in front of arcades and colourful façades.Colourful rows of houses and a pink façade with balconies.Arcades with colourful doors, passers-by in front.A lantern beneath the arcade, the Capitolio behind.A red classic car in front of a long arcade.Old façades with balconies against a blue sky.Dodge in chrome above the number plate of a red classic car.A classic car on the street of colonnades.An older man holding the Tribuna newspaper among classic cars.An old green wooden door and a Cuban flag at the book stall.A man photographing old books at a stall.Old banknotes and book stalls under parasols.A woman with flowers in her hair, painted on the wall.Weathered blue and a chrome emblem.A man in a yellow shirt at his table behind the open door.A dark doorway with a crumbling stairwell.Street signs on weathered corners.Passers-by and classic cars in front of a blue arcade.A classic car in a narrow lane.A yellow-and-white classic car in front of a crumbling arcaded house.Small fishing boats on the water off Havana.A crumbling colonial house under grey clouds.A blue classic car in front of weathered façades on the Malecón.A black classic car in front of a crumbling façade.An empty street of colourful old houses.A yellow taxi and children playing in Centro Habana.Boot open, tools out – a roadside repair.A red classic car with a cover over the windscreen.A rusty red classic car – amazing that they still run.Mosaic and house number beside a blue door.The chrome grille of a classic car in the dark.A glowing taxi sign and a classic car under arcades at night.A classic car in a pool of light on a dark street.A dark passage with a grille and an arch in the old town.Anglers on the wall of the Malecón.El Morro and its lighthouse above the harbour entrance in the evening light.Houses reflected in a puddle.Crumbling façades, twice.A green classic car on a street of old houses.A painted face on the brick wall and a man at the corner.Old tiles with a flower pattern on a weathered wall.A green classic car and a bicycle rickshaw in the lane.A shirt with a star and a number plate with the Cuban flag.A bicycle taxi with little Cuban flags.A little boy in the red doorway.Blue shutters on a shop.A turquoise window grille in a crumbling yellow wall.An older man pointing, a city bus behind him.Two portraits in a cap, one with a cigar.Saxophone and guitar – after nine days of state mourning, live music plays again.A cigar in the bar.A saxophonist and the Bar Monserrate.Old cars behind a chain-link fence.A conversation outside the house, one person seated on a chair.A mural of Chávez and Che and bananas on a cart.A workshop yard with old car parts and wooden crates.A blue classic car and a bicycle taxi in front of turquoise arcades.Two men sitting in front of an old wooden door.Bicycle taxi drivers waiting in the shade.A pale blue classic estate car in front of turquoise arcades.Round tail lights of a white classic car.Musicians in a crumbling courtyard in the evening.A trumpeter in a rehearsal room and a crumbling wall.Trumpet and keyboard – a band rehearsing in the backyard.People on the Malecón before the skyline at sunset.A fiery red sky over Havana – farewell after three weeks in Cuba.
