Cuba in ONE month: from Havana to Baracoa

On April 21, 2017, it is time to go to the famous Cuba

After staying 4 months in Mexico, we depart from the Cancun airport to Havana, the capital of Cuba.

Our idea is to spin it long and wide and get to the farthest point, Baracoa.

So we already knew about 2000km to see it all.

Only that .... We were not perfectly aware of what was waiting for us.

We like to know freely, with no schedules and special organizations, so we thought that the best solution for us was to rent a car ....

nothing... !!

No chance!

Rental cars were unavailable !!

There are very few and all have already booked months and months. No hope.

Okay! it does not matter ... let's say ... there are the means of transport ... VIAZUL the bus company used and recommended to tourists is present in the territory. We will use these means of transport.

But then we find that Viazul has to be booked in time, It costs a lot, does not have a lot of times of departures ...

Also we are NOT normal tourists !!! We are tourists for FAKE ..

We have expanding times, we want to enjoy each moment, and the technical times imposed by the "traditional" world are far from our philosophy of life.

We consider us "tourists for fake" and we love to know and discover the culture of the people, we want to do exactly what they do.

Eat like them, sleep like them, use their means of transport, in practice we love to integrate.

Only by doing so, we have discovered a people completely different from what the advertising world wants to make us understand.

The Cubans are not hospitable at all, the smile is not part of their DNA and they do everything to get you more money out of debt.

They do nothing to make you comfortable and they will not offer you any kind of help if you do not have to spend a lot of money for services that are dated.

Everyday we got to discuss with them, we felt only "chickens" to be pushed.

The same information we needed was indispensable to ask more people because the answer was constantly different.

Lies on lies ... continually.

So the period that we stay, was very complicated from a human point of view.

Obviously we must always be careful because we just distracted a little, ZAC ... the shifting of the turn.

When we understand that an average salary in Cuba is 12 Euro per MONTH, we said that because a country so poorly economically, not ready to welcome the tourist, it takes advantage of the tourist?

How many times did we hear this phrase: "But for you strangers, what we ask is little, because you are rich!"

We have tried many times to make it right that no matter which country the tourist arrives, which is richer than them, what counts is the value of their currency.

If a tourist chooses Cuba for purchasing power too, Cubans should not be interested and if a tourist in Cuba can spend less, surely maybe he will spend more because he is more tempted to do more things

Anything! We can not reason with them.

So let us put it in mind as a parameter, Cuban'salary is Euro 12 per month, because life in Cuba is really ECONOMIC if they make you live like a Cuban.

I repeat, IF YOU CAN live like a Cuban ..

The history of dual currency, the CUP and the CUC, creates astonishing misunderstandings.

The CUP is the current coin that Cubans use and virtually has little value.

The CUC is instead a coin created for TOURISTS which has an exaggeratedly high value.

The prices you see exposed around are CUP, but when they understand that you are a tourist that CUP becomes CUC

So you're paying 10 times more than any service.

Whoever visits a country locking up in villages or mega resort obviously will not notice anything about it.

But from our point of view, that kind of journey is not knowledge .. it's just pure comfort.

Knowledge stems from being part of a people and getting out of our way of thinking and living, immersing themselves in their reality.

Otherwise it's just a fairy tale ... then it was enough to stay in Italy that we have fabulous seats, with wonderful amenities, with competitive prices.

Did not need to come to Cuba ...

Obvious for some say Cuba makes COOL! It's the only thing that matters to them is to say I've been to Cuba.

But then they knows nothing about Cuba , only the mega resort and what makes him believe.

Anyway ... everybody lives his life in his own way ... maximum freedom of thought.

We have traveled a lot in recent years and definitely if we want to recommend a place to visit it is not for sure Cuba.

Well ... apart from the "Cubans", Cuba has also reserved wonderful scenarios and so ready with a lot of patience we turn to Cuba trying not to think about the Cubans and to live Cuba for what this extraordinary island has to offer.

Our 1 month journey starts here .. from the capital, Havana.

** Havana ** - Capital

With its 2,100,000 inhabitants it is today the largest Caribbean city and in 1607 it became the capital in place of Santiago De Cuba.

We arrived at Havana in Cuba 🇨🇺 and here it is another story 😂
Wow! We are discovering always different realities ❤️

Now my eyes try to photograph more than they can and when Wi-Fi is our friend we share 😜

"Claro" they say constantly

My first Cuban impact 😂

That cigar 💨 shocked me

Grandma 👵 very cool !!

Here at Havana in Cuba 🇨🇺 is a habit to live in the "particular houses"
Houses of ordinary people who rent their rooms and offer you everything 😂

This is our ❤️

** Valle del Viñales ** - a true natural paradise

Pinar del Rio Province, to the north and not far from Havana, the Valle del Viñales is a true natural paradise.

Declared UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is an ideal corner for all nature lovers and for those who want to take advantage of relaxed breaks only from bird singing.

We came here under a torrential water brought by the shared taxi departed from Havana.

When Mr. William came to pick us up with his old car and his cowboy boy I smiled thinking about how fun it is to travel and never understand anything about what's going to happen to us.

Beautiful the word of mouth that is created between particular houses
From Havana a tam tam between house friends made us here ❤️😂

Here we are at William'house in Viñale.

Our horses friends 🐴 * Moreno and * Negritos have accompanied us on this beautiful excursion to the Vinales valleys in Cuba..

A unique experience for me <3

And between a gallop and a trot, a stop to stretch our legs

In the middle of the Vinales hills, we stop listening to the story of tobacco production, while a plow with oxen goes back and forth to the field.

They offer us to try the cigar, strictly pulled into honey, as the Cuban tradition wants.

For a non-smoker like myself, I was limited to feeling the honey taste.

Our wonderful adventure through the valley of Vinales is documented in this video:

Here at Vinales it seems to be at my grandfather's time.

The most used means of transport are horses with a cart to carry people and animals.

There is someone who puts on clothes and who goes out to dry the tobacco 😂

These are the means we use for moving 🚌
Today 6 hours from Vinales to Cienfuegos 😂

On each trip we know new friends.

Cienfuegos

Founded by the French in 1819, Cienfuegos has become UNESCO heritage in 2005 for the beauty of its monuments of origin, of course, colonial.

This is our new house in Cienfuegos.
A wonderful home by Robert and Carlos

We decided to stay one night because in our opinion it did not offer much to see.

We left Cienfuegos and we are continuing to Trinidad with this spectacular collective taxi 😂 🚌

We really like Cuba !!!

Trinidad

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Trinidad is a small town where you can admire a perfectly conserved colonial city.

Walking through the cobbled streets of Trinidad seemed to live in a surreal country 😂
Time here has stopped.

Walking to the Trinidad Market in Cuba and chatting with the Cubans is spectacular.

The Trinidad market is full of craft banquets.
Women are very good embroiders.

We decide to poke around Trinidad shops.

In Trinidad there was a very strong sun 😂 and the heat was so exaggerated that the few photos we took were almost all in the shade where we were trying to hide ourselves.

In the background I photographed the church from a shadow crumb.

This is Trinidad Square, the main one, where there is the church.

The top view of the market.
With its small cobbled streets, Trinidad has conquered us.

This is a typical Cuban grower.
The wheelbarrow is his shop 🎉

At a Cuban language school.
Klarooo !! 😂

In this way we have breakfast in a house 🏡 'particular' in Cuba, they give us a lot of good things to start the day well.

Among the many things we could do in Trinidad, we chose to rent a bicycle and reach a popular beach: Playa Ancon, a not so touristy but extremely charming seaside resort.

After 12 km by bicycle 🚴 we reached under the hot sun the oasis
A dive takes us to lower the head temperature.

💦 crystal clear water in the Caribbean Sea ❤️

I ❤️ Cuba

More deserted than this ...
We 💑 and us

Walking on the beach we met this cute Cuban fisherman.

His fishing system 🎣 was original.
I made a movie.

And with this hot ... Mojito for everyone

And on the way back from the sea..

🌊 on bicycle 🚴, we stop making a domino game with them

it is cool 😂

It was almost dark now but we were so excited that we did not think about the way back.

Live every time that happens on our way.

Typical garlic seller 😂
Here they invent everything to sell.

Looking for pampering ❤️
It only has 40 days

Awakening in Trinidad in our new home of Mrs. Georgina ❤️
Very pampered

After 12 km of intense riding under the sun ☀️ we arrived at the playa Ancon.
And what a beach !!

We got it done !!
Klarooo !! ❤️

How many ideas go head to head when you feel you are alone with a fantastic world around you.

I was alone, but at the same time united to a universe that always spoke to me.

Sancti Spiritus

Sancti Spiritus is located in the heart of Cuba and has about 100,000 inhabitants.

We are knowing a less touristy Cuba.

Here we are at Sancti Spiritus and we discover a small city with a lifestyle away from any western imagery.

We are getting more and more in touch with Cuban reality.

Here at Sancti Spiritus time slows down ..

The color of the church is lost in the sky.

We decide to stop here just 1 night and our adventurous journey .. continue towards Ciego de Avila

Cuban means of transport are too cool 🙈😂

2 adrenaline hours 😂 full of adventure 🙈

Ciego de Avila

The city of Ciego de Avila does not really have anything interesting that deserves to be stopped and photographed, so we spend a night at a particular house and the next morning we leave for Camaguey

Camaguey

We arrived in this nice Cuban town called Camaguey, a real maze created specifically to dissipate the foe.

Here we are in the square of Church'Carmen, where artist 👨🎤 Marta Jemenez has his gallery.

Here she exhibited splendid works of art, where the figure of the woman is represented wonderfully.

Good morning from our new home in Camaguey.

It seems that only garlic is sold here.
Heavy breath ... 🙈

Walking to the Food Market of Camaguey ❤️
Only tourists for fake.

Here are ... the bananas that we eat in Italy.

(

We love to get involved in the culture of the peoples we meet in our travels.

The market is the ideal place.

Santiago de Cuba

And coach after coach we arrived in the deep south of Cuba: Santiago de Cuba.

It's a wonderful city where I met the Cuban "true" ❤️

Here you can dance in every corner of the road 💃🏻

This is the cathedral.

Here they are ... music 🎶 in their hands

Dance lessons in the street.
Simplicity and rhythm in the veins.

Spectacular concert for the first May here in Santiago De Cuba.

The legs were impossible to keep them.
I could feel the rhythm of the drums on my skin.

Here everybody wants to sell something ❤️ 😂

There are very few tourists and in every way we go, we find the same Cuban who comes out and proposes to buy.

Fishmonger 🎣 do-it-yourself 😂

They celebrate very much on May 1 in Santiago de Cuba.

Today we are walking for Santiago de Cuba escorted by 2 Cubans because we decide to go to the "Santuario del Cobre"

From Santiago, crashed vans arrive every day - or "almendrón" - overflowing with sunflowers.

Everyone wants to bring a sunflower to the Madonna. People associate the yellow on the golden mantle of the "Cachita"

We are approaching the sanctuary of Our Lady of Cobre ❤️ Here is the "Santuario del Cobre" ❤️ in all its splendor.

Our guide told us about everything ...

3 pontiff came to visit the Virgin of Charity.
There was a wonderful peace ❤️ in that sanctuary.

I closed my eyes and prayed 🙏 and around me I felt I was not alone.

(

Our Cuban bodyguards talk to us continually.

One of the most spectacular Cuban and Caribbean monuments is Castillo del Morro of Santiago de Cuba.

An ancient fortress then became a prison 🙈

From here we see a visual of the Castle of the "Morro".

This fortress has defended the city from the numerous attacks by French, Dutch and English pirates for 150 years thanks to its extraordinary battery of 12 cannons bearing the name of the 12 apostles.

A pretty prison I would say ...

From the Morro Castle we are going down to take a dip.

Landddddd ....

We want to stay at the Castle of Morro.

We like it.

These modern machines ...
Animate our days ...

Baracoa

After nearly 1000 km we have reached the deep south of Cuba: Baracoa, the oldest city in Cuba.

After a 6 hour trip with 2 coaches change, we received a stunning welcome from the Baracoa residents.

Let's immediately make friends with our cuban friend Marlon and with him we find home 🏡

He takes us to the particular house of his grandmother, who considers us as his children ❤️

The next day we go with Marlon to discover cocoa plantations ❤️

We sat here waiting to explain the process of cocoa processing.

Luca is waiting for the taste 🙈😂

Very very good !!!! ❤️

Surrounded in and out of the cocoa perfume ❤️

Luca has 3 chocolate sticks in his mouth 🙈
Greedy ...

Here we are at the "El Guirito"'plant of Cacao in Baracoa (Cuba) and we are listening to this interesting explanation on cocoa processing.

I did a reportage:

Marlon, our Cuban friend is making us discover the corners of paradise here in Baracoa.

Here he brought us to see a Fisherman's Village ❤️ in Guantanamo.

We were literally surrounded by the people who wanted to sell us all ❤️

Here is the Rio seen from above ❤️

Spectacular our guide.

Women try to sell us everything.
They never left us ❤️

Wonderful women who live togheter with 2 hurricanes every year, who destroy their homes 🏡

It was complicated to explain to them that in our backpack we can not put so many things.

Among the many people we met, today I was excited ❤️ thanks to this grandmother sitting alone in front of the sea asked us to sit with her to chat a little

"No one talks to me," she tolds us

What a tenderness ❤️
She asked us a kiss 💋

Her eyes will be in my heart ❤️

Bathing in the Rio Miel with Marlon, our Cuban guide to Baracoa.

The beach 'Yumuri' in Baracoa, wild as i like.

We dived into the Rio Toa to look for a bit of refrigeration and instead ..
We knew it was the HOT HOT river in Baracoa

Our great idea today was to bathe in the longest and warm Rio: Rio Toa

Guardalavacca

Our tour for Cuba continues UNSTOPPABLE .. 😂
Arrived at Guardalavaca, we were overwhelmed by an expanse of white sand and a sea of thousand colors.

A panorama of natural beauty in Guardalavacca Bay in Cuba

Holguin

When we arrived at Holguín, we were catapulted at the Festival.

We met people dressed in white and asked to understand that they were the "Yoruba", that they met for their religious function.

So we were immediately welcomed by a group of Cubans who made us known about their religion: Yoruba

We share the African recall of the Cuban melodies that stems from the one liturgy called Regla de Ocha.

Between 1850 and 1860, 34% of Cuban slaves were of Yoruba or Lucumì religion (because of their greeting meaning "my friend").

During these festivals everyone is thrown into dances and music.

Orishas are offered a great deal of food and drink and celebrations are accompanied by true trance episodes, in which, at the pace of the sacred drums Batà, the Babalawos and Santeros, incarnate the saint by receiving messages and advice.

And through these messages the adepts try to solve their spiritual and material problems!

In each country we go we feel part of them ❤️

Living in the world with the cultures of the world.

Santa Clara

Bus 🚎 after bus 🚎 we arrived in Santa Clara, a city that passed through history, because it was the scene of the last battle between the dictator Batista's military and the third column of rebels, commanded by Ernesto Che Guevara.

Here he is!

Wandering around Santa Clara we came across one of the most popular places in the whole city of Santa Clara.

Mejunje, in Spanish means 'blend' and this place is a mixture of styles, tastes and people.

In the rich weekly program there is room for traditional Cuban music and dance, salsa, theater, poetry, and the performance of local rock groups.

An elderly gentleman, former professor of philosophy, told us the story of this place.

Wonderful murals in Santa Clara: browsing the world

Santa Clara continues to discover a discovery ...
A museum in a bar 👍
A bar / museum

This wall murals in Santa Clara speak alone

At Santa Clara you could not miss a visit to the monument of the armored train.

It's a part of the train that was blown by Ernesto Che Guevara and that determined the shot decisive for the victory of revolutionaries in what is remembered as the Battle of Santa Clara.

Break study

We miss the Cuban train experience

Remedios

Left Santa Clara after finally knowing which means will take us to Remedios, we arrive after about 1 hour in this ancient town of Cuba.

It dates back to 1523 ❤️

Behind we can see the Church of San Juan Bautista with the splendid altar of all gold.

Cayo Santa Maria

From Remedios we went out to explore the Caribbean beaches of Cayo Santa Maria

One hour drive from the village of Remedios is one of the island's beautiful islands, reachable by car 🚗

The government has built a road that flows in the middle of the ocean and unites mainland and island.

Off the north coast of Cuba, overlooking the Bahamas, a thin sloping landline emerges from the blue of the Atlantic Ocean.

Cayo Santa Maria Island is one of the jewels of the Rey Jardines - an archipelago of more than 2,500 cayos long, just over 13 km long and less than 2 km wide.

Discovering Cayo Santa Maria, marvel ❤️ of Cuba 🇨🇺

White beach and crystal clear water.

Enchanted by the colors of the Caribbean Sea
Cayo Santa Maria is SPECTACULAR

WONDERFUL beach Cayo Santa Maria

We have seen marvelous seas ❤️ turning the world 🌎

Cayo Santa Maria is wonderfull !!!

We are trying to figure out how to sail around the globe.

Wow ❤️ ❤️
I miss the Cuban spouses 💍 🎉 ❤️

Here we ended up on Playa Gaviotas, the wildest beach in Cayo Santa Maria ❤️

White beach and crystal clear sea.

We ❤️ and the wonderful nature that the universe has given us.

Deserted beaches are really there.
Wonderful Cayo Santa Maria ❤️

Playa Las Gaviotas welcomed us like this

Cuba also moves with these means.

Varadero

We arrived in Varadero after 6 hours of travel, we went to see the famous beach 🌊 and met this original fisherman

In Varadero a fisherman in action

We confirm that in Varadero water is crystal clear and the wine-colored sand ❤️

The dazzling white sand, the cool tropical breeze and the calm and transparent sea are the distinctive signs of Varadero.

A dip at the bottom of the sea

Havana

Last Cubana stop, the legendary Havana ❤️, closing the circle of our tour.

We left Havana and closed with Havana.

I think we're exaggerating 😂
After a month of Cuba 🇨🇺 we are all together with the mojito in the mythical Boteghita of the Middle

We decide to give you an exciting evening ❤️ at the Havana Tropicana Club to see the famous cabaret show.

The show was beautiful, I will stay in my heart

"Tropicana Club" under the stars

In Cuba you do not walk ... you dance !!

Tropicana: It is a major cabaret show of great tradition, not easily unequivocal.

The Tropicana Cabaret and its ballet are internationally renowned and constitute one of the major attractions of the Cuban capital.

The most famous open air cabaret in the world is the famous TROPICANA of Avana, where every day 200 people work by dancers, singers, artists and technicians: the scenery is the wood under the stars, called Bajo las Estrellas.

This venue was inaugurated in 1940 by its inventor, the Italian impresario Vittorio Costa.

You can not go to Havana without attending a Tropicana show.

Turning to the center of Havana, we went to see the famous "El Floridita" bar, one of the favorite venues by Ernest Hemingway ❤️

Here was invented the "Daiquiri", a cocktail of white rum, lime juice and cane sugar.

Could not miss on our tour a visit to Capitolio Nacional de Cuba is one of the most emblematic buildings in the city of Havana.

And we do not even miss the political heart of Cuba's Plaza de la Revolución

Life slide in this way in Havana ... slow!

And that, do not we drink the last mojito by the Boteguita of the Middle? ❤️

Havana Vieja is the most representative neighborhood in Havana ❤️ and we have enjoyed it in all its facets.

We were very in touch with the Cubans because there was the curiosity to observe with our eyes and to know as much as possible about this people.

I find myself fortunate because I have been able to relate to the locals and to speak very much with the locals.

I tried to dissociate my occidental mind and try to understand this people who face their difficulties at the pace of sauce and rumba.

On May 19, 2017, we leave the island of Cuba with a new thrilling destination: Belize

Landing in Cancun take a bus that will take us straight to Belize Center and here ... begins a new adventure!

See you on the other side :-)

Elisa & Luca