A few weeks ago, a colleague went to Cuba. I was envious, because Cuba is on my bucket list and I know, as he knew, that since the American decision to drop sanctions on Havana, it’s only a matter of time before that destination will lose a lot of its unique identity.
Ideally, I’d like to get to Havana before the first McDonald’s or Starbucks, but since they are multinational corporations with more money than I can imagine, it’s not looking good.
I hope that the lot of the average Cuban will get better, although I am mindful that capitalism, like communism, doesn’t work for everybody.
It’s also a reminder of why we travel: to see destinations through the eyes of the people who live there. If they welcome the American dollar, then we should too on their behalf.
The video above is Los Paraguayos performing what is almost certainly the most famous Cuban song, Guantanamera.
We were there two weeks ago. Canadians have been going for decades and a couple of airlines – Transat, Westjet – have built good connections. We don’t usually use a travel agent but needed one for this trip. Tourism is not a mature industry in Cuba, nor very sophisticated.
There is already a severe under supply of rooms in Havana, and what’s called four-star there would be a three-star anywhere else. And you have to track down new-ish private restaurants if you want interesting food: hotel fare is dreary. That said, Havana is enormously interesting. So far one sees little evidence of American investment but it won’t be long now.