Fear and loathing in Cuba

Back from Cuba 2 days now.... very strange and twisted. My wife decided on one of thoese last minute on-line trips, booked through a Canadian comany here at home, Conquest Vacations. All was well, arrived on 13 April in the evening, boarded a Chinese made bus with air conditioning set to flash freeze. After a half hour of waiting we were on our way to Varadero with perhaps the strangest onboard hostess on the island. Really weird sense of humour that no one on the bus appreciated, dead silence is pretty tough on any comedian.

Finally got into our room at 10PM, unpacked and relaxed. Next day met with ground rep from company, he was late, of course, but we sorted our selves out. Booked a trip into Havana.

Next day, into Havana. A good day, 85f and 85% humidity, my trusty Sony PMW-EX1 did a great job. I shot perhaps 140 clips in the city itself. A long day in the heat but worth every minute of it. I kept a low profile shooting, doing me best to look like a turista.

Back at the hotel, we were greeted with a letter advising us that our tour company, Conquest, was bankrupt and we would have to pay for our complete stay in Cuba. For the next 2 days we were in meetings trying to sort out the costs and issues for the 30+ Canadians staying in our hotel. What a painful process that was. The Cuban government loves to tack on all sorts of charges, 11% fee for using your credit card. But you can't use Amex or any card with US connections. Good thing we didn't, some folks were screwed. They had to get family back home to pay via long distance.

Phone calls were hyper expensive too, $65 for less than ten minutes. Internet? Hah!! 3 CUC Pesos per minute for what could possibly be the world's slowest dial up.

I've been to Cuba before, but things are getting worse, much worse. Hotels are foregoing repairs as the military, which owns most hotels, simply pocket the profits. Sigh.

We had only a few hours a day we could relax, the rest of the time was spent on the phone with our embassy or confirming our flights home.

By week's end we were happy to just get home. Suffice to say, we're not going back. Too many other places to visit.


cheers,
Francois

Sounds like a fun trip.

Oh... I forgot the part about the Canjet aircraft hijacked in Jamaica the day of our departure. Canjet was also flying us home. They deadheaded down a 737 just for 125 of us Conquest passengers... weird ending to a weird trip.

wow had a few people from work off last week on vacations but luckily they weren't on conquest, really sucks how they leave everyone hanging and stranded. They obviously knew before they flew you there that they wouldn't fly you home, can't believe the ethics of some companies. Hope you charged your trip on your credit card, (the first payment) if you did contact your credit card company or tico ( http://www.tico.on.ca/ only for trips booked in ontario) they will repay your initial fees paid (at least that is what they are saying on the news)

With the way they are talking about air canada, I'm not sure I'd fly with them either.

Thanks Frenchtoast,

Yeah, I've already been in touch with TICO, our credit card, etc. I'm pretty sure we'll get most of our money back. Meanwhile, I'll keep travelling, not going to let that stop me, heck I've been in worse jams during deployments to the Balkans... hehehehe... but those are stories for another time. Westjet is on very good financial ground and flies pretty much everywhere I need to get around here. As for overseas, British Airways, Luthansa and others are great too. I already have about 80 clips on line, just approved 20 minutes ago, I still have another big batch to process, will take a couple of weeks.

Francois

Did you walk with a tripod through havanna ?

Yes, I use a Manfrotto 701 head 745 legs set for gigs like this. When I don't have to worry about drawing attention I use my trusty Miller 50 with carbon fibre legs, bigger but much more solid. The trick is to blend in. I strip my XDCam right down: no outboard mic or rycote, no matte box, no wireless mic. no Gucci whatsoever. I keep a UV filter on and that's it. Walk around like a tourist and smile, good karma is... well... good!

Francois

Francois,

It is really fun to read your story. We had been educated how romantic about Havana through music (Bella Vista !!) and nostalgic architecture and autos etc. And now we know the other side of the story.

I had ripe off stories of Morocco too. I really not happy with that.

Let´s go to friendly country, like Canada.... Red maple leaves... Please let us know what will happen in Canada so we foreigner can prepare.

Pat

Pat,

I should be clear, there are some wonderful things about Cuba that I do like, however, the political climate is somewhat challenging to the tourist. Havana is indeed nothing short of amazing. But it has it's moments as well. Perhaps what makes it so difficult is also part of it's charm.

No country is perfect, even my own country has it's not so nice sides.

Sounds a bit like a "suboptimal" travel experience Francois. I really hope you can get your money back, at least a good part of it, and then keep just the good memories. Congratulations for that many good insights of the city in such a short time! I am wondering though how you managed to look like a turista with an EX1? Most people there couldn´t afford it even if they saved up their whole life. What I liked about Havana though is the fact that it´s surely one of the safest mayor latin american cities.

I have only spent a night and a day there about 7 years ago, on the way back from South America to Europe. Three hours of that time at a police station for filming a ministers´s car without knowing... (I also got to know the gorgeous daughter of a diplomat and had to escape from her family´s flat like a spy the next morning :).

As for the costs: The so called "cheap countries" are often only cheap at first sight. If there is a high rate of poverty and even the middle class is struggling with covering its basic needs, there is always a high tendency towards getting the money from those who have it: Tourists and more or less wealthy locals who are charged, sometimes heavily, for whatever goes beyond normal standards (and the definition of "normal" is quite different). Cuba, admittedly, seems to be very extreme in this respect.

Well, lot´s of clips and another story to tell. Your next trip will surely be more pleasing.

Cheers,
Stefan