Cruising Cuba!! First Stop: Havana

Denise and Don have finally made it to Cuba.  After 3 years of trying to get permission from the US Government, we were finally given  permission  for an extended 90 days!  We decided that 60 would be enough so we set sail in the early morning of April 23rd and arrived at Marina Hemingway, just outside of Havana, around 3:00 PM the same day.  Prior to our departure we were required by the US Treasury Department and our insurance company to identify and report where we were going to visit.

This map (below) shows our original plan.  The areas in red are where we intend to visit land and those in green are anchorages.

April 23, 2017.  Arriving in the channel that leads into Marina Hemingway (below).

The first stop in Cuba for every boat is with the Guarda Frontera (the Cuban Coast Guard).  Here we are required to have our vessel and ourselves inspected by several Cuban officials.  First, their Department of Health comes aboard: a nurse and a doctor, both dressed in medical whites.  They took our temperatures, asked us questions about our health and about places Blue Pearl has visited.   We were boarded by the Department of Agriculture.  These two gentlemen questioned us about our provisions and inspected some of our fruits, vegetables and storage areas.  They were friendly and also gave us an A+ for compliance.  Then we were boarded by the Guarda Frontera who sat with us in our salon filling out the Cuban government’s required paperwork.  They then did a cursory inspection of Blue Pearl and they too were satisfied that we were in compliance; not smuggling any weapons, satellite phones or other contraband into Cuba. The check in procedure actually went pretty quickly, considering that 17 other boats from The Ocean Reef Yacht Club arrived on the same day.  Because of poor weather, we were delayed from our original departure date so it was a coincidence  that so many of our friends were arriving at the same time, and it was great to be able to join them in some of their festivities.

Below: Don, with paperwork in hand, departing the Guarda Frontera office (below).

After checking in we were allowed to enter the marina.

This is our first view of Marina Hemingway (below).

The marina is made up of long channels where all docking is along concrete walls.  The walls are in pretty rough shape but the power we had to Blue Pearl was very good.  EVERYONE we met, whether they worked at the marina or were locals using the facilities, were very friendly and accommodating.  Security is very tight and many individuals are apparently working undercover for your protection, and theirs!

Our new home in Marina Hemingway for 4 nights (below).

While in Havana we decided to tour the city.  We hired two professional guides, Yannay  and Victor,  to show us around the city.  Yannay did the talking and Victor did the driving – in a very comfortable air conditioned van.  They were both very nice and very informative.  One of the first things Yannay told us is that they, like everyone in Cuba, work for and are paid by the Cuban government.

Yannay and Denise strolling with protection from the sun (below).

The Prado in Havana (below).  This is the first paved street in Havana and is the dividing line between central Havana and Old Havana.  This area is lined with hotels, cinemas and mansions; much fancier than anywhere else we visited in Cuba.

In addition to all the must-see places in Havana, like the Prado, our guide took us to see the unexpected in Havana, like a neighborhood called Fusterlandia where an artist named Fuster started tiling his buildings, and over time all the neighbors followed suit. Many of the individual tiles are each a small work of art or poetry.

Below: Fuster’s home in Fusterlandia. He still lives there but the house is open for tourists most days.

The sight of old American cars as the primary vehicles in Havana feels for a moment like you are catapulted back to 1958, and the sense of time warp is enhanced by both the Colonial buildings, people in costume for the tourists, and the most contemporary cosmopolitan Habaneros and visitors from all over the world.

Photos Below: sights in Old Havana

Education is free in Cuba, (all the way through University if one passes the entrance exams) and the literacy rate is a remarkable 99.8%!! The families need pay only for the uniforms which are relatively inexpensive.

Below: School girls

Below: A view of Havana from the Bell Tower at the Church of San Francisco

Below: The Malecon. The seawall that protects Havana is a popular place for people to stroll and look out to sea. Ernest Hemingway remains the most well-known of all Americans.  We paid a short visit to the town of Cojima, where Hemingway kept his boat Pilar. The townspeople pooled their resources and had a bronze bust of a laughing “Papa” Hemingway commissioned for their town square. We were immediately serenaded with a song about “Florida Y Cuba.” The old man did not speak but the younger said that he had known Hemingway.

At the Spanish fort in Cojima we also made the acquaintance of two ladies who were carrying a bucket of scrap food for their pigs. They were cheerful and laughed so easily. Guadelupe let me know that she needs new shoes and our feet are about the same size… “Que lastima” that I had only the pair of shoes on my feet, but she laughed at that too.

Yannay gave us an opportunity to see a tiny bit of how ordinary people live in Havana. In the old houses, often four generations live together.  Everyone is entitled to ration cards to meet their minimal needs, and every neighborhood has a Bodega where those tickets are exchanged for food, soap, etc.

Below: near  the Malecon the US Embassy is now open. Directly opposite the Embassy gates are huge billboards proclaiming Cuban revolutionary slogans.

Below:  a night at the Tropicana. Live orchestra and fabulous singers, countless gorgeous sinuous women dancers, and perfect athletic men — more extravagant than anything I’ve seen in Las Vegas! Our final throwback to the pre-revolution world of Havana.

We have left Havana for our cruise around Cuba.  Our route is counter-clockwise to the west.  Stay tuned!  We will post more of what we see!  However, one of our problems is internet connectivity.  The internet in Cuba is VERY slow and access to it can only be purchased in one or three hour increments.  It is interesting that internet time can only be purchased from government controlled kiosks and photo ID is required.  At this point in time, we have been cruising for 33 days and 27 of those have been on anchor, far from an internet site.  So when we get the time to organize our photos and thoughts beyond Havana and arrive at another place where we can connect to the internet we will post more.