Cuba, what will happen now, without Venezuela?
It is common knowledge that Cuba has suffered for a long time. I was there when the USA kidnapped Maduro, and this made the Cubans terrified. I was going to spend Christmas and New Year in this legendary country. It was already a controversial country when I was little. Like most countries in that part of the world, it has had a long and varied history. But they are still in the Revolution, which started in 1959.
A long-planned trip
I had wanted to visit Cuba for a long time, and I was going to spend three weeks on this wonderful island. It is not a huge country, but it is still quite a long distance from east to west. And I wanted to see everything from Viñales Valley in the west, to Santiago de Cuba in the south-east. I found out early that it was difficult to plan a bus trip to all the destinations I wanted within three weeks, especially around Christmas time. Even though they do not really celebrate Christmas, there are some changes in bus routes during this time.
Posts and plazes I visited
- Havana and surroundings
- Viñales Valley and Las Terrazas
- Cienfuegos
- Santa Clara
- Trinidad
- Camagüey
- Santiago de Cuba
Desition time
After trying to plan the trips on my own for a while, I realised I would have problems doing everything I wanted if I relied on buses. The buses did not run every day, and flying into Havana, I had to go both for several hours westward and even longer to Santiago. I have heard of this travel group, Young Pioneer Tours, before, but I have never used them. I know they do many of the same destinations as Against the Compass, my favourite company. However, I found that Young Pioneer Tours was offering a 10-day trip to Cuba that covered several of the places I wanted to see.
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A good combination
I had already booked my flights to Cuba, so I was lucky that they fitted well with the organised tour. It gave me four-five days on my own before it started. And I had six days afterwards to visit the last places that were not included in the trip. This made my trip exactly how I like it: some time on my own, some guided days with local guides, and with a group of travellers who are just as advanced as I am when it comes to picking travel destinations.
The terror
It was first at the end of my trip, when I had left the group, that the USA went to Venezuela and kidnapped President Maduro. And I could feel the tension in the people; they knew this was not good news for the Cubans. Trump did, at the same time, threaten, saying the government in Cuba should not feel safe. I do not think the young generation on the island is too worried about a change of government, but you never know what you get. Their immediate concern was the oil delivery. Venezuela has supplied Cuba with almost free oil for years.
A hard-pressed people
There were already several hours without electricity every day because of energie chortages. Most hotels and restaurants are using oil-powered generators to keep them running. This will now have to end. At the time of writing, I have heard that several countries are flying in to pick up their citizens, as normal flights into Cuba have to stop because they do not have fuel to fly back. I feel so sorry for these warm, friendly people who are stuck and just have to wait for what is coming to them. And, having a government that is completely incompetent.
Still, I hope you will follow my upcoming posts about a very diverse country. So beautiful, friendly people, and architecture that screams for renovation. It was not all miserable; I had a good time and learned so much.
