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'9&% 7M Despite a tourism ban, recent policy changes have made it easier than ever for Americans to travel to Cuba ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY JOHN ARUNDEL
J
ohn F. Kennedy’s press secretary, Pierre Salinger, once recalled that in February, 1962, months before the Cuban Missile Crisis, his boss summoned him to the Oval Office. “I really need some help,” Kennedy told him. “I need you to get your hands on 1,000 Cuban cigars.” By the next morning, Salinger had procured 1,200 Upmann Petits, JFK’s favorite. “Good,” Kennedy said before reaching for a pen to sign Proclamation 3447, an embargo that forbade all Cuban goods - including its world-famous cigars - from reaching U.S. shores. Fifty-three years later, with President Obama’s recent relaxation of the trade embargo and the easing of restrictions on American travel to Cuba, it’s suddenly a lot easier for American tourists to pick up and strike up a true Habana in Cuba. That is where I found myself in August, with five other journalists watching, as third generation tobacco farmer Luis Suarez handrolled Cohibas in Cuba’s abundantly fertile Viñales Valley. “We have some of the richest soil anywhere,” Suarez said, noting proudly that “additives are not permitted on any of the farms here.” As most everything in Cuba is owned or
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controlled by its Communist government, the country’s cultivadors de tabaco are permitted to sell 10 percent of their crops, and it was here that we purchased Cohibas and Montecristos for about $4 apiece. Under new customs rules, Americans may now carry $400 in Cuban goods back home – including $100 of those long sought-after cigars. This is a long-awaited break for Cubans, who, two weeks before our visit, converted their Interests Section in Washington into full embassy status, and then a week later watched as three former U.S. Marines, at the direction of Secretary of State John Kerry, hoisted the Stars and Stripes at the U.S. Embassy on Havana’s famed Malecon. One of the Americans present was former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, who had not been to Cuba since he was seven. “My trip to Havana exceeded all expectations,” Gutierrez said. “The city retains its beauty, the rich natural environment is stunning and the people are welcoming.” In March, Cuban President Raul Castro, former leader Fidel Castro’s brother, launched a Twitter account, with his first Tweets inviting Obama for a state visit. “In Cuba, change is already here,” said Potato Lopez, a former
Physics teacher who now works as a guide for Western tourists. “With the easing of travel restrictions in February, we’re seeing twice as many tourists coming from the United States.” To be sure, Cuba is still a country trapped in time, with its weathered buildings,and ’50s-era American cars still chugging down Havana’s dusty streets. While ultra-luxe beachfront hotels, new cars (the last dealership closed here in 1959), and modern conveniences still elude its grasp, Cuba is arguably one of the most culturallyrich and ruggedly charming places to visit on the planet right now. Cubans are unfailingly polite and helpful, and crime here is virtually non-existent. American tourists visiting Havana for the first time, will find a city steeped in history and Caribbean culture and enjoy a warm embrace of frozen rum drinks, cool ocean breezes and the ever-present soundtrack of jazz licks coming from bars and street corners. ATM’s, Internet and cellular service are tough to find, and credit cards are rarely accepted, so be sure to bring plenty of American dollars. We converted our U.S. curerency into
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Ernest Hemingway in Cuba
Hemingway still looms large over the Cuban literary and historical landscapes. Cubans virtually adopted the American writer in the two decades after he bought a home in 1940 in the small, working-class town of San Francisco de Paula, just south of Havana.
CUC’s (convertible pesos) on our first day after arriving from Miami on a 40-minute charter flight. In the one-room reception area at Jose Marti International Airport we were asked for for a ’70s-era customs form that curiously asked if we were carrying walkietalkies into the country and for paperwork showing why as Americans we should be allowed into Cuba. “U.S. tourism to Cuba is still technically illegal, although it still occurs,” said Tamar Lowell, CEO of Access Trips, which began guided culinary and cultural tours of Cuba last month. “So, all of our tours are operated as licensed “people to people” educational exchanges.” Piling into a ’57 Chevy station wagon (reconfigured with a new Mercedes Benz engine), we checked into our seaside villa reserved on Airbnb (which began operating here last Spring), and set out to discover culturally-rich Havana. We explored open-air art exhibits, organic city gardens and farm-to-table mercados, took salsa lessons and mojito classes and prowled the cobblestone streets of Old Havana, home to four city squares teeming with vibrant street life and color. On Havana’s streets you meet people who do their best with the status quo – the average Cuban earns $20 per month – making do while maintaining their passion and optimism.
Under socialism, Cubans have guaranteed health care and schooling and artistic freedom is encouraged - up to a point. In the old squares, we found street performers and pop-up art galleries, such as that of mixed media muralist and painter Salvador Gonzalez, who utilizes everything from bathtubs to car parts. Some of our best meals were found at paladares, or privately-owned restaurants, a concept that has allowed both average Cubans and culinary superstars to open their kitchens to tourists looking for something more palatable than the starchy fare served at government-owned eateries. We found some of the best via “finders” hawking menus on the street and then guiding us up rickety stairs for home-cooked meals. Try eclectic modern Mediterraneanstyle cuisine at Atelier or La Fontana for spiny lobster, whole octopus and ropa de vieja (traditional Cuban pulled pork).You’ll love an old favorite like the low-key Casa de Erasmo, owned by Fidel Castro’s former chef. As a sprawling, traffic-choked city of two million people, there are few beaches in Havana worthy of a swim. The best place for a beach break is an hour to the south, at Playas de Este, where the 80-degree, crystal clear waters feel like a warm, relaxing bath. Ahh, Cuba.
MUST STAY: Havana
A more authentic – and more affordable – lodging option is stay in a Cuban home, as Airbnb recently launched in Cuba and has 1,000 listings (www. airbnb.com). Otherwise, Cuba has more than 44,000 affordably-priced hotels. A few in Havana’s five-star luxury class include the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, the Melia Habana, Hotel Mercure Sevilla Havane and Hotel Saratoga
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The heads of prized African antelope still hang on the walls. In a writer’s studio overlooking the ocean, his Corona typewriter sits idle, having produced two of his most celebrated novels, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “The Old Man and the Sea.” Hemingway’s sport-fishing boat “Pilar” is docked near a pool where on warm Summer nights Papa and Fidel sat by the pool, smoking Cohiba Corona Especials.
Cuba’s Cigar Country
Two hours south of Havana lies Pinar del Río, Cuba’s “cigar country,” encircled by the stunning mountains and dense forests of Viñales National Park. It is worth the drive, as this is one of the lushest, most scenic parts of Cuba. We shared the road with horse-drawn buggies and farmers herding cattle before touring a tobacco plantation and small plants where laborers produce Cuba’s finest rums. With abundant hiking, rock climbing and spelunking, the Vinales Valley has become one of Cuba’s top destinations for ecotourism. We explored a massive cave which snaked under a mountain and into a clearing, where a local farmer was giving his water buffalo a warm Summer bath.
MUST DRINK Havana Best Places for a Cocktail
Havana is swelteringly hot and sticky humid on any given day of the year, but luckily has no shortage of watering holes to cool down.
In Plaza Vieja we found a private microbrewery serving beer mojitos and a roastery serving iced coffee. The Hotel Nacional has live music on its outdoor patio most nights, as do the Hotel Riviera, La Bodegita del Medio, the roofdeck of Dos Mundos or the pool area of Parque Central. Be sure to check out La Floridita, the watering hole of Ernest Hemingway and birthplace of the daiquiri.
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