January, February 2012
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The Kite Runners of Santiago
Santiago de Cuba
Wednesday 1
February 2012
This is just like the Kite Runners.
There is a young man on the room of the house across the street from us
directing his homemade kite to do battle with another kite. There are
similar scenes being played out from the roof tops of houses all around
our neighbourhood. We were seated at a table on the roof terrace at our
Casa Particular in Santiago and had just started our pre-dinner game of
Farkle when I noticed all the activity in the sky. Below us women are
gossiping on the street, but the young people are flying kites. Our
neighbour tangled with a friends kite and both kites tumbled to the
street. The reeled in, retrieved their kites and started the game again.
Several more kites looked ready to challenge our neighbour but no one
else was successful tonight. We will have to wait for the next inning
tomorrow.
We left Camagüey a day later than we had expected. Both
of us came down with stomach flu. I woke up early our last day at Playa
Santa Lucia with a sore stomach. I ate very little for the rest of the
day and managed to survive our ride back to our Casa Particular in
Camagüey after lunch. Ray started to feel ill about dinner time so we
both skipped the evening meal and stayed in. That didn’t work. Ray was
violently ill later that evening. I was getting better the next day but
Ray was very tired and still not feeling 100%. It must have been
something we ate or drank at Playa Santa Lucia but who knows. It seems
lots of Cuban resort guests have had problems this year. At least we
didn’t have to endure a plane trip back to Canada being violently ill.
We decided a 7-8 hour ride in a bus was not a good idea and
rescheduled for the following day. We spent Sunday taking a few more
photos around Camagüey and just reading and resting. Ray was well enough
Monday to brave the bus, so off we went. It was a long but relatively
comfortable ride, arriving in Santiago de Cuba about 8:30 PM. A taxi
driver from our chosen Casa was waiting for us in his ancient red jeep
and the soup served us by our Host Jesus and his wife Marisol was just
what we needed.
Lonely Planet said Canadians get a Visa for up
to three months but we were told in Cancun when we flew to Cuba that we
only had 30 days and would have to renew in Cuba. Most tourists don’t
stay longer than 30 days in Cuba so are never bothered with renewals of
Visas. One Canadian couple we met at the beach told us they stay for two
months every year, never renew their Visa and have had no problems
leaving Cuba. No one could confirm if this was true or not so we decided
not to take a chance. According to what was written on the back of our
Visa card, we had to renew before The 2nd of February.
Jose, our
taxi driver was ready for us at 9 AM the next morning to make the Visa
run. The instructions were to buy stamps at a particular Bank for $25
CUC each and bring them to the immigration office. That part was easy.
The line up wasn’t even very long. Next, Jose drove us to the
immigration office listed in Lonely Planet, in the suburbs of Santiago.
That wasn’t the correct office. The helpful clerk wrote out the correct
office and located it for us on our map of Santiago. Back we went to the
center of town and to an office near the port. We got talking to another
couple from Fredericton NB in line to renew their Visas. They were
accompanied by a Cuban friend who was helping with any language
problems. They took their turn with the immigration officer just before
us. They were told they didn’t need to renew at all! We didn’t either!
We had both spent $50 CUC for nothing. The stamps are not refundable so
we are out money unless we can sell them to a non-Canadian tourist who
needs to renew. Welcome to confusing Cuba.
Anyway, we are still
taking it easy. I am recovered but Ray needs another day before we
tackle anything more challenging.
Santiago Wanderings
Santiago de Cuba
Thursday 02
February 2012
You
take the good with the bad in Santiago. The good side includes many
historical buildings to visit and friendly, helpful people. We walked
our feet off discovering more and more places to visit. The bad includes
more pollution from motorcycles and black-smoke-belching ancient buses
and trucks, too many derelict buildings next to freshly renovated ones,
and too many touts, especially in the main tourist areas, offering their
taxi, guide services, selling souvenirs or just looking for a handout.
We walked the relatively vehicle free back streets to avoid the worst
pollution and politely refused all entreaties for services or money,
although our smiles got a little strained at times. Our strolls down the
quieter residential streets taught us that behind most of even the
shabbier houses lived a family ready with a friendly Hola and coping as
best they could in a country where the basic necessities we expect are
not always available.
The loosening of regulations regarding
private enterprise is making a difference. Even the permission to
operate a small produce stand has meant an increase in personal income.
At least one house on every block has a booth in their doorway offering
slices of pizza or ice cream. You can always pick out the Casa
Particulars on a street. They are the house with a fresh coat of paint
and repairs to the exterior. The right to own their own homes means that
instead of waiting for the government to fix their houses, those who can
afford to buy their residence can start repairs themselves, and they are
doing just that.
One of our walks took us past large plazas
crowded with people merely sitting, chatting with neighbours and
enjoying the scene. We walked into several of the galleries showcasing
local talent and had a personal tour given by the caretaker of the
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asuncíon, which is undergoing a massive
five year restoration. We found our way to the Cuartel Moncado, once
Military Barracks and the site of a disastrous July 26, 1953 attack by
Fidel Castro and his troops attempting to oust the hated Batista. The
complex is now a school with a small museum detailing the details of the
failed attack and its aftermath.
Food is always on our minds.
Lunch is usually a ham sandwich in a small restaurant, as the snack
choice is not very large. Dinner is another matter. We usually have at
least one dinner at our Casa Particular and the meal is always
excellent. We also like to sample the local restaurants and often follow
the recommendations of the Lonely Planet. They are usually reliable. We
had one very good meal at El Barracón, a restaurant featuring food
flavoured by the Afro-culture influence. Another night we arranged to
have dinner at another Casa Particular noted for its food. We were not
disappointed. Our fish in a tasty tomato and pepper sauce was one of the
best we have eaten so far.
At the entrance to Santiago Harbour stands San Pedro Fort, AKA Castillo
de San Pedro de la Roca del Morro, AKA Castillo El Morro. Pirates were
continually attacking Santiago when the same architect who built two of
the forts at the mouth of Havana harbour was commissioned in 1587 to
build another fort to protect Santiago. Money was tight and work didn’t
start on the new fort until 17 years after the architect’s death and it
took 60 years for the project to finish. By that time the pirate threat
had abated and the fortifications never had to withstand serious
attacks. Instead, it was used as a notorious military prison from the
1800s until the late 1960s, when restoration of the original building
began. Today the large stone structure perched on a 60 M high cliff has
Unesco status and houses a museum highlighting its association with the
Pirates of the Caribbean and Cuba’s role in the 1898
Spanish-Cuban-American War.
We hired Jesus Jr., from our Casa,
to drive us out to the fort, 10 km from the center of Santiago. Did you
know that James Hawkins, an English pirate, was marooned on one of the
Antilles islands for almost four years after being banished by his
captain and was the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe? It was the most
interesting fort we have visited so far in Cuba. We spent almost two
hours visiting the exhibitions and roaming the many levels of terraces,
each with its own view of the seas and the harbour.
On a good
note, we found two non-Canadian tourists who needed to extend their visa
and were more than happy to buy our stamps from us. They don’t need to
line up to get the stamps in the bank and we got our $50 CUC back. All’s
well that ends well.
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trips to Cuba
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Introduction