By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
Growing up in the US I never imagined Cuba as a travel destination that I would have the opportunity to explore. In adulthood I developed a need to explore my Chilean roots in more depth, I ended up returning to my father's home country. While living in Chile I ended up getting Chilean citizenship, which provided me with a golden ticket: a second passport. When my partner at the time proposed that we do a 3 week backpacking trip to Cuba, I jumped at the opportunity. We spent the first few days exploring La Havana, hopped an overnight bus to cross the entire island, bound for Santiago de Cuba, and began to work our way back through little towns along the way. We enjoyed beautiful cobblestone streets, colorful old cars, salsa music, cuban rum and real mojitos, breath taking beaches, and we soaked in the history of the nation. What I took away from the trip that will stay with me forever are the loving, kind people who took us into their homes and shared with us their individual and unique views of living in Cuba. Staying in "Casas Particulares" is hands down the best way to truly experience Cuba. This is a network of homes which receive visitors in an extra room of the house, often you are lucky enough to share a meal or a drink with the family, which is a perfect opportunity to learn about them and about life in Cuba. We found homes available in each city we visited, in fact we landed in Havana with no pre-booked accommodations, and were quickly found a home to stay in that night. When it was time to leave, home owners were kind enough to recommend a casa of a friend or relative in the next city we were heading to, if we arrived and there was no available space, that person could almost always recommend another casa in town. About 2/3 of the way through our trip we began to realize that the cash we brought with us was starting to get low. Around 10 pm and already dark in Santa Clara, we unsuccessfully attempted to get cash from several ATMs in town. We decided that it was too late and we would have better luck if we tried again the following day. The next day the problem persisted and we came to the scary realization that despite carrying bank cards from Chile, these banks were linked to US institutions and we were going to be unable to access our money while in Cuba. The next few days were spent trying desperately to contact family in the US and Chile in an attempt to have money sent to us, which turned out to be an impossible task. As we pinched our pennies and made them as far as they would, surviving off of cheap cookies and fruit, we made it to a casa particular in Varadero. The owner had a happy personality, a big heart and a love for cooking. He was proud that his home offered home cooked dinner for a small additional charge and insisted that we join his family to eat one night. Full of embarrassment and regret we had to inform him that due to our current financial predicament, we would be unable to accept his offer. The kind and generous man told us that no one who stayed in his home was going to miss dinner and insisted on cooking for us despite our inability to pay. That night he cooked us the best and most beautiful meal we had eaten in the entire trip (lobsters!) and provided us with incredible company. For the first time in several days, we were able to relax and enjoy our time. Eventually we did make it out of Cuba, and a year later when a friend was traveling to Varadero, I was able to send our lovely host a letter of thanks and nice bottle of Chilean wine. While I will never be able to fully pay him back for the kindness he showed to us in a time of need, my heart was happy to be able to offer this small gesture of gratitude.