By Cindy Mullet
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
“Go now,” is the advice Joan “Mutt” Dickson gives to anyone interested in visiting Cuba.
Dickson recently returned from eight days of biking in central Cuba and an additional five days of scuba diving off the Cuban coast. Her “go now” advice comes because Raul Castro has said he will step down from office in 2018, making it the first time in 48 years that Cuba has had a leader other than a Castro, she explained.
In talking with Cubans, she heard some hoping that conditions will improve in Cuba after Castro steps down but also heard from others who fear that things may get worse. Right now, it’s easy to go and Americans are very welcome, she said.
Visas can be purchased at the airport on departure. Travelers are required to check a box explaining the purpose of their visit but that is basically a formality. No one checks to see that they follow through on their purpose, she said, noting that she was on a plane with college students planning to spend spring break on the beaches.
Dickson saw an ad for the bicycling tour and suggested to her sister that they go. She always wanted to visit Cuba and her sister likes bicycling so it seemed a good opportunity, especially since the tour included a support and gear wagon which picked up bicyclists who were tired of cycling and gave them and their bikes a ride to the next destination, she said.
In their case, the SAG wagon was a bus where the seats on one side had been removed to hold the bikes. Dickson cycled most of the time but on two days she got tired of pedaling up hills, stopped and waited on the side of the road for the bus to come along, loaded her bike in and rode the rest of the way in comfort, she said.
People along the way were very warm and friendly. The cyclists rode on roads with no shoulders but Cuban drivers are used to negotiating around ox carts and bicycles so no one was ever impatient with them. They would just slow down and wait until they could pass, she said.
While there was little traffic congestion, at one point they did have to get off their bikes and push them around crabs migrating across the road on their way from the mountains to the sea. At another place along the road they rode through a “crab massacre” where crabs had been flattened by passing cars, she said.
In the evenings they stayed at small hotels or “casas particulars,” the Cuban equivalents of Airbnbs. They were privately owned homes where the family rented out a room to travelers. Staying with families was a good experience, but she wishes she spoke Spanish so she could have communicated better with those who did not speak English, she said.
They quickly learned how to communicate with hand signals for simple things such as how they wanted eggs prepared for breakfast, she added.
Their Cuban tour leader was very good at answering questions and giving them history from a Cuban perspective. She had watched the video “Cuba Libre” before going and recommends it for anyone planning a visit. It details Cuban history and puts it into context, she said.
While they enjoyed the interaction with Cubans along the way and felt safe wherever they went, they also enjoyed getting to know other tour group members. The 18 cyclists came from various backgrounds but many were people “with a lot of worldly experience,” some high level corporate people. The oldest was a 73-year-old man who had a 28-year-old girlfriend, she said.
It is illegal to kill cows in Cuba so instead of eating hamburgers they had a daily lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches. Cows are saved for their milk. Those that were pasture fed were really scrawny as there was little grass for them, she said.
Since few people own cars, any government vehicle can be flagged down and must give a ride to someone who needs one, she noted.
They ended the cycling part of their Cuba visit with a classic car tour around Havana and then went to Mantanzas on the northern coast for scuba diving. Since they used a private club, they could not dive from a boat. The coast is so close to Florida that individuals are not allowed to own boats that might allow them to get to Florida, she said.
The coral they saw when they dived was colorful and very much alive, but they didn’t see any big fish. All of those had been caught and eaten, she said.
Internet access in Cuba was very limited. Cubans cannot have it in their houses, but the government provides WiFi in some public parks which can be accessed by buying a WiFi card for $2. This gives one hour of access. They quickly learned to use their cards early in the morning rather than compete with 500 Cubans for access to the park’s one router in the afternoon or evening, she said.
Access to the world outside of Cuba is tightly controlled. Cell phones are available, but no data is permitted. They didn’t see any McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants. There was one Sheraton Hotel. Life was very much like life in the United States in the 1960s, she said.
Before she left for Cuba, Dickson had collected donations from people around town to take with her for the people she met and those where very much appreciated. One waiter who spoke English asked if she had make up he could give his 17-year-old daughter, she said.
Dickson didn’t have make-up but asked him if he had a son who liked baseball. He told her he had a 5 year old who wanted to play catch with him every night but they didn’t have a ball so used rocks. The next day she gave him a baseball glove and a ball for his son. When she gave him the gifts, he started crying. He was so happy he had a gift for his son, she said.
The state provides ration cards so every day people stand in line for bread, rice, beans and powdered milk. No one starves. No one has more than anyone else. There is no affluence. The government also provides housing. A few people own their own houses but no one owns land, she said, adding that most Cubans seemed generally content and happy.
While taxis were relatively expensive, a ride on a local bus cost two cents. Buses didn’t seem to run regular routes so when she took one, she rode it until it turned a direction she didn’t want to go, then got off and waited for another, she said.
Changing American dollars is expensive. Because of the embargo Cubans are not able to use dollars so add a 10 percent surcharge to the regular exchange rate. US credit cards cannot be used. Dickson advises anyone traveling to Cuba to take Canadian money which can be exchanged easily.
The Cuban experience was a really good one and Dickson encourages anyone with an interest to visit now.
“Go before the unknown happens,” she advised.
Reach Cindy Mullet at crmullet@midrivers.com.