Arrival in Havana

Jeff and I landed in Havana in the afternoon of October 7th. Many passengers cheered and clapped on landing. After clearing immigration and customs, we found an Intrepid rep waiting for us. She waited while we exchanged some currency. After that, we followed her to a yellow Hyundai taxi. Drats. I was hoping my first ride in Cuba would be in a vintage car. We drove for about 30 minutes to Old Havana, where the rep deposited us at a cute little guesthouse, known locally as casa particular.

At the guesthouse, we were reunited with Jeff's parents, and we also met the other three members of our group. I was relieved when I met this group; I’m a somewhat different breed of traveler from your typical package tourist, and I initially feared that there might be too much of a gulf in travel philosophies. I guess Intrepid attracts a different demographic.

Our guesthouse was a narrow house in the middle of a block. Our rooms were on the second floor. We had to climb a metal spiral staircase to get to the third floor which had more rooms and a small dining area.

At 6pm, our guide Tony came by, and he gave us a briefing before we all headed out to dinner nearby. Interestingly, when we asked our guide Tony about what he finds most difficult about American tourists, he replied without hesitation that he comes across Americans who aren’t used to group tours but who book tours to Cuba to stay in compliance with US law. He said that these travelers don’t always take well to group tours. I resolved to be mindful of the challenges Tony would face in herding us and to be a good team player.

https://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Cari…Read more