Kiteboarding Cuba - Hasta La Victoria Siempre
19 January 2007 dans Kite Surfing Cuba
Kiteboarding Cuba - Hasta La Victoria Siempre:
Cuba a small, communist-dictator-and-his-military run island just 90 miles south of Florida. So close, but yet so far. The paradox of it’s geographic location should not be lost: Cuba is, both literally and figuratively, between two seas: The north shore touches the waters of the Atlantic, while the south shore enjoys the Caribbean. The island is gorgeous and tropical and verdant and wild and full of potential. The �new� and mostly modern Cuba that most tourists see contrasts sharply with the 1950�s Buicks, Russian 2-strokes and ox-driven carriages on the highways and by-ways. Do not be fooled, Cuba is also an island with amazing people of great beauty and spirit, a rich cultural history, great possibilities and… incredible kiteboarding!
Cuba remains full of mystery and intrigue, largely due to the few Americans who venture there. Since President Kennedy severed diplomatic relations in 1961, US citizens have been prohibited from general touristic travel to the island. Most notably, in 2004 President Bush tightened further the restrictions, making it virtually impossible for the curious traveler to journey to Cuba. (The embargo and its rules/regulations/enforcement is handled by the Treasury Department�s Office of Foreign Assets Control. For details regarding the embargo, please visit, www.ustreas.gov.) It should be noted that the Cuban government welcomes everybody, regardless of nationality.
Any good trip to Cuba begins in Havana!! Old Havana (Habana Vieja) was founded in 1514 and is one of the oldest settlements in the Americas. It is absolutely charming and beautiful and romantic, with hidden treasures found on every street and in every narrow passageway. Churches, museums, galleries, cafes, open plazas, inner courtyards adorned with fresh flowers. Habana Vieja defies your expectations of Cuba and entices you with thoughts of classic European cities mingled with a bit of Spanish Colonialism, tropical air and a bit of any Hemingway novel you have ever read � or wished to read! Here, you will find a fantastic spirit and joie-de-vivre: People sitting for hours in cafes; local Cubans chatting on about something or nothing at all; passionate musicians entertaining passersby with jazz, salsa or an original rendition of an old classic; and old man completely intrigued by his smoking cigar, and young children playing makeshift baseball with a serendipitously found 2×4.
Days in Habana Vieja are best spent strolling the streets and alleyways, popping in to get a closer look at an artisan’s wares or a beautiful courtyard, and stopping at your leisure to enjoy a drink- or, better yet, a coffee � at any number of restaurants or cafes. The food is excellent (as is the coffee!) and you can find anything from a simple cheese sandwich to a full meal with �moros y cristianos�, Cuba�s black beans and rice.
Nightime, Habana Vieja comes alive with the hustle and bustle of people and music. The bars at some of the more popular tourist hotels are the center of action, and you can venture out, too, to one of many clubs, where interactive entertainment shows share the evening with dancing and music. Many clubs have dress codes, so check before you go. If you want to just walk and hang-out, well, that�s good, too! And a great way to get an idea of what �daily life� is all about.
An excellent and easy day trip from Havana will take you to the Playas del Este (Beaches of the east), just 15k east from Havana. They are: Playa Bacuranao, Playa Tarara, Playa El Megano, Playa Santa Maria del Mar, Playa Boca Ciega and Playa Guanabo, from east to west, and run for about 12 kilometres! Intermittently you will find a hotel or palapa, so there is plenty of room to rig and ride. In winter time, the winds are predominantly NE, which provides for very nice side-on conditions. The beaches are beautiful, with soft, white sand, and the water unbelieveably clean and clear � perfect!
There are all-inclusive hotels in the Playas del Este, but to get the �real� Cuba experience, choose, rather, to stay in a Casa Particular. These are rooms, in private homes, that are legally available to rent on a nightly basis. (Do make sure that they have the official sign posted, however; staying illegally may get you awakened and booted at any hour of the night, as every neighborhood has government �spies� that make the rounds and check to see that everyone and everything is as it should be.) Prices vary according to type of room (some have shared baths, some private; some come with kitchens and sitting rooms), but range between 20-30 CUC per room/ per night*. This is a wonderful way to see how the locals live, and to get a chance to speak with them directly!
(*Currently, the exchange rate is about US$1 = CUC 80. However, there is a surcharge of 10% to exchange US Dollars.)
In 1994, the Cuban government declared legal some self-employed businesses, and in 1997, the Casas Particulares became a possibility for foreign travelers. The home owners must pay 50 CUC�s a month for the �official sign�, and an additional 100-250 CUC�s per month �tax�, regardless of the actual number of guests. Considering that the average Cuban worker makes only 15 CUC�s a month, this is a significant venture!
Another fantastic opportunity for foreign visitors is the �Para-Dar�, a small restaurant operated out of a private home. Owners are restricted to 12 chairs, and they, too, must pay a �tax� to the State. Here you will find friendly owners offering a fantastic selection of fruits, vegetables, meats, chicken, fish, coffee… and another opportunity to chat with the locals. Fantastic!
You will notice that the rooms in a Casa Particular and the meals at a Paradar are offered to foreign travelers; Cuban citizens are not allowed to partake of these services.
140 kilometres east from Havana is the very popular peninsula commonly referred to as, Varadero, Cuba�s premier beach resort! Here, you have more than 20 kilometres of gorgeous, white sandy beach, and can find all sorts of beach and touristic activities � from scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing and kayaking to jet-ski and even helicopter tours!
The kiteboarding possibilities in Varadero are amazing. The water is breathtakingly beautiful, and the many hues of blue and green make for an incredible sight. The beach is comfortably wide, and, towards the eastern end of the peninsula takes a slight turn towards the east and opens up to about 50-60 metres wide! The shape of the peninsula makes a N wind side-on, so you can ride the north side of the island on any wind from WSW to ENE. For E and ESE wind, head to the Marina Palace Beach, towards the aforementioned east end. As you can imagine, downwinders can be fantastic! 20k of coastline from end to end � just organize you pick-up with a taxi or a tour operator, and you�re good to go!
There is a small, intermediate launch on the south side called, 36th street. (image 570) It�s more of a cove, and the safest way to launch is to walk out in the shallow water, getting as close to the �mouth� as possible, then heading to the open water.
No matter where you choose to ride, no doubt you will attract lots of attention! Kiteboarding and kiteboarders are not completely unknown, but are a rarity, so expect lots of curious and friendly inquiries.
Accommodation choices in Varadero are vast. (No legal Casas Particulares, though.) The eastern half of the island is where you�ll find the large, popular all-inclusive resorts. Cuba began marketing itself as a tourist destination in the mid-80�s, and European and Canadian charters bring millions of tourists here per year. You�ll certainly recognize the names of the all-inclusives: Barcelo, Melia, Sandals� They have a partnership agreement with the Cuban government, in which Cuba maintains 51% ownership and the foreign entity 49%; or, Cuba may own the property outright, hiring the �name� company to provide the name and management. The staff at each of the hotels is very friendly, and most speak fluently two, three or four languages! Those having one-to-one contact with guests probably studied tourism, knowing that the best money to be made comes from being in this industry. (Some hotel employees are former doctors or professors.) The monthly salary they receive pales in comparison to the tips that many tourists leave. It is not uncommon, in any part of Cuba, for foreigners to �leave behind� the change, understanding the economic situation of most natives.
(There are those Cubans, though, who know well how to guardedly navigate the sea in which they find themselves: There is a huge, active black market in Cuba, and it offers anything and everything you can � and even cannot � imagine. From yogurt and milk to cement and seafood, the Black Market drives an underground economy that is not insignificant. The penalties for dealing on the Black Market, though, are! Everything is �owned� by the government, so, in essence, Black Market items are stolen property of the government. The penalty for selling chewing gum may be a fine, while the penalty for slaughtering a cow and selling the meat may be execution.)
There are many fantastic small hotels in Varadero, as well. Beginning in the middle of the island, around 53rd street, are those with 15-30 rooms; most include breakfast, and prices are significantly less than an all-inclusive. A triple room, for example, may run about 75 CUC per night. These small hotels are very well located- one to two blocks from the beach and right in the middle of town, providing easy walking access to shops, restaurants, bars (with fun, lively dancing after-hours!) and art bazaars. (Art/craft bazaars rotate their artists daily, so you�re likely to find something different on any given day! Artists are considered �self-employed�, and they, too, pay a tax to the State, You can negotiate prices, but you may not want to.)
Evenings in Varadero are as much fun as the days! The restaurants along the beach and main road are excellent, and there are over 100 bars and nightclubs, for your post-dining pleasure! �Espectaculares� (crude translation: Big Evening Spectaculars!) are the popular Cuban shows, and most clubs have two or three performances a night, usually beginning around 11pm. Music and dance are as much a part of the Cuban culture as coffee and cigars, so you will have no problem dancing the night away!
Varadero Beach is a must for any trip- especially a kiteboarding holiday!- to Cuba! It is, �espactacular�!
Getting around Cuba:; You will find many interesting means of transportation, not all of which you will want to experience first hand! The State-owned and run taxis are, of course, clean and abundant, and are the easiest and safest way of getting around. The large tour agencies operate buses, which are also clean and efficient, and easy to access. What you will also find are: horse-driven and ox-driven carts and carriages, which are used not only for local transportation, but for intra-island transport, as well! (The well-maintained national highway provides two lanes for motorized vehicles, and one for non-motorized!). Cuba also has a most interesting �vehicle�, which can best be described as a carnival �whirly-gig� taken from the fair and put on the road! These operate as private vehicles and as legal taxis. Rental cars are also available. Navigating around the island (or, for example, the drive from Havana to Varadero) is quite easy, as there is one �carretera central� that runs the length of the island. If you rent a car, take note: Cuba is very strict regarding rules of the road, and there are Policia just about every 500 metres! They are very quick and very random in pulling over vehicles, so make sure that you and your papers are all in order.
Public transportation comes in many forms, one of which is the �camello�, named for its visual likeness to the two humps on a Bactrian camel. These �camellos� are basically two old double-decker train cars that pack �em in like a can of King Edwards ready for export! (Note to the curious traveler: When cosidering a camello as a means of transportation, please refer to sentence #1 under, �Getting around Cuba:�.)
In Varadero, you may want to consider renting a moto! The roads are very safe, relatively speaking, and it�s a great way to head out and explore.
Solicitation of transportation is strictly forbidden, so be very wary of offers.
Internet and telephones: Many of the larger hotels purport to have internet available, but the service is rather questionable. The best bet for tourists is to find an Internet/Phone Box, scattered infrequently in Havana, but easily found in Varadero. These are air-conditioned, free standing �boxes� that offer internet and phone use. Internet service is very good, and costs about 3 CUC�s per 15 minutes. Phone calls are VERY expesive, running about 2.50 CUC�s per minute!
Electricity: Both 110 and 220 are available, sometimes in the same hotel room.
Food and Water: The food in Cuba is delicious! Menus are extensive and fish and seafood are specialties! Foreigners, though, are discouraged from eating at the very, very local �holes in the wall�, as the food may be more suitable for the locals� digestive system. Water is best enjoyed out of the bottle. Coffee is abundant and some of the best in the world, so enjoy it!
Cuba is at once interesting, beautiful, eye-opening, thought-provoking and challenging; if you keep your eyes and ears and mind open, you will be rewarded with an experience unlike any other.