Growler's Cuban Diary

The beautiful, ex-Spanish, Caribbean island of Cuba is full of life and energy. The birthplace of Salsa dancing and also has breathtaking scenery.

Here follows a personal account of my first trip there for a mate’s wedding.

Rawle Austin presents…

All-inclusive, baby!

Wednesday 3rd December. Arrived at London Gatwick for my first flight using this airport at approximately 6.45am (about an hours drive from Streatham) on a very British foggy morning with my two brothers. They dropped me off and I walked into the building. I checked in early and waited for the rest of the party (about twenty of us) to arrive. They started to trickle in soon afterwards. When most of us had arrived we had a full English breakfast in a bar at the upstairs Gatwick Village.

After eating I went to check on the rest of the group.

They had arrived save three and I was summarily enlisted to go on a frantic search to find somewhere to warm a baby’s bottle of milk and eventually resorted to using the hot tap in the baby changing rooms.

We went to the departure lounge and the Boarding Gate 28 and still no sign.

Time wasn’t stopping and we entered the plane. After we got our seats they arrived on the plane and all was well.

Until it was announced the flight would be delayed for an hour due to heavy fog. This was going to be a week to remember.

We eventually took off at 11.45, my first flight since a lung operation last year so this was a barrier that had to be broken. Pretty smooth take off, the plane an Airbus A330 was slightly cramped for my long frame so nine and a half hours was going to be quite a challenge. Read The Guardian newspaper to get the last piece of English news I'd get for a week. We soon encountered some nasty turbulence which turned out to be an unexpected storm. Talk about rollercoaster ride! This is the worst bit about flying for me and my heart jumped quite a bit let me tell you and at one point I swear the plane must of dropped a little. Anyway. It eventually calmed down and as turbulence goes it wasn’t as bad as a trip to New York in 1993. This was the second worst for me.

A slight mix up with the tickets meant that we almost weren’t going to get fed for the whole flight.

Some deft negotiations ensued and the matter was soon rectified. Good thing too cause starving for nine hours would of been no joke!

A second bout of turbulence followed a little while later which killed any further attempts to read or sleep.

The flight was long enough to watch three movies out of a choice of six.

Not that I did mind you but just thought I'd tell you.

Watched a Thomas Cook video about the touristy bits of Cuba as we approached our destination. Nice. Finally landed at Cayo Coco airport and a quite sigh of relief for me to reach land. Let the holiday commence! First impressions of Cuba, good to get the heat and not as hot as Guyana. This was their wintertime, December, after all and a cool breeze hung in the air. It got dark about 6pm. Got a coach to the hotel, can't believe it, we're here in Cuba!

The hotel was classy with beautiful décor and features. Very up market. Two computers in the lobby for guests to email was very handy.

I was sharing a double en suite room with the groom’s mate and was amused to discover that only a single king-size bed was provided.

Another bed was to be provided the following day so I had to use a different room for the first night.

The rooms were very pleasant. The TV had a range of American (including CNN, MTV and a movie channel), Spanish and Cuban channels. Had this credit card sized key card to open the front door of the room.

The first dinner there that evening was tasty with a wide selection of food. All-inclusive, baby! Slept soundly that night. The first language of Cuba is Spanish and the hotel staff are fairly fluent in other languages including English. The majority of tourists come from Britain and Canada. The population is about 11 million and consists of Spanish and African descendants but the majority are mixed between the two.

It was a former Spanish colony, which imported African slaves to work the land until slavery was abolished.

The local money is the Peso but the currency used is the US Dollar. The main music is salsa, which is a mixture of Latin beats and African drums sprinkled with a Caribbean flavour.

The next day had a nice breakfast then hit the beach. Two minutes from the hotel.

Couldn’t believe the beauty of it. Crystal clear waters with looked turquoise in the sun, deep blue sky.

There was a pier with gave the most amazing views. The resort also had an open air jacuzzi and swimming pool.

Later it became cooler, a bit cloudy with some heavy rain. That evening, after the nightly cabaret show we played football at 11.30pm then watched a match between our hotel and the neighbouring one. We got beat 7-1 thanks to a Del Piero (famous Spanish footballer) clone. After the game a group of us went to the Maribar with some of the hotel staff.

This was a traditional Cuban pub on the end of a pier. Pubs and restaurants at the end of piers are a very common in Cuba.

It was a kind of stag night.

What an atmosphere! I decided to give the old lungs a whirl with renditions of Lady in Red and 'I want it that way' by the Backstreet boys. Karaoke in the house!

We sang for ages and eventually got back to the hotel at 3am. Beautiful.

The following day was the wedding day. By far the best day so far in terms of weather. Totally dry and hot, almost like it was planned…

Preparations started early as the groom slept in our room. We got changed pretty early for a 1.30pm kick off. After some battles with shirts, cravat ties, and pins, the groom, and the ushers were ready. I went early with the groom to the circular gazebo, which was draped in white, to inspect the setting and was stunned by the idyllic nature of the whole piece.

The resident live band was present, warming up and a crowd was gathering of fellow tourists who had come to witness the occasion.

The guests soon took their places and then came the procession of bridesmaids followed by the bride. A truly fairytale moment.

The service was done Cuban style with a local judge doing the necessary in Spanish with a translator present.

All the while being serenaded by the band. The groom sang to his new bride, which was a memorable highlight of the day.

From there, a young tree of love was planted in the surrounding gardens. We retired for a while before the evening meal which was attended by a couple of Canadian guests of honour (hi Pam!) and disco afterwards.

Slept at 2am. A truly fantastic day and a wedding to remember. The day after the wedding was just relaxing. Woke up 12-ish with a mad headache so missed breakfast. Chatted with some of the hotel staff about life in general. Very interesting. We’re hiring some cars and going on a trip tomorrow to Moron City. To see the real Cuba. The following is taken (roughly) from a booklet in the hotel room describing the local area. ‘The area surrounding the Melia Cayo Guillermo Hotel is known as the Sabana Camaguey Archipelago.

With more than 400 keys (small islands) covered by green vegetation and one of the most beautiful, white sandy beaches swept by turqoise, transparent waters, this area left their conqueror Diego Velazquez astonished.

The inspirational beauty caused him to baptize the area as the Jardines des Rey (the King’s gardens) to honour the Spanish monarch Fernando VII.

Cayo Guillermo almost uninhabited, still reflects the legends of pirates from 1555.

Legends of ladies taken from Santa Maria del Puerto del Principe by Jacques de Sore and the terrible attacks carried out by Henry Morgan.

In later years this geography also inspired the writer Ernest Hemingway.

The hotel on the island of Cayo Guillermo is 50km from the next island Cayo Coco and 105km from Moron City on the mainland (the largest island). There are roads joining all mentioned islands.' Moron City. Real Cuba here we come! We hired 4 cars and they were all pretty recent and sturdy. Perfect for the lengthy journey there and back. It’s left hand drive over there. We got some directions and were going to meet some people in the city to show us around and hopefully get some cheap souvenirs.

We set off early Sunday morning and the first thing that struck me was the lack of traffic and the lush vegetation of the area.

The plants and trees, Mangroves, looked vaguely European as opposed to the rampant palm trees of Guyana, South America but I guess this was due to the much cooler climate of Cuba.

Maybe.

We picked up a hitchhiker also going to the city. Reaching Cayo Coco, to get to Moron City we had to take a man made road across the waters to the mainland. A toll had to be paid.

This road was just wide enough to take two cars passing either way and had no barriers so you could literally drive into the sea!

The sight was stunning though as I’ve never seen anything like it. Real beauty.

Approaching the city, after an hour and a half journey, we picked up our guide and dropped off our hitchhiker. We reached the city and were met with, well, real Cuba. Some of the buildings were like flats or mini estates, which kind of reminded me of downtown Beijing in China. The heart of the city was full of 1920’s colonial Spanish architecture with fading colours and a sense of disrepair. The economy isn’t that great.

Between all this, people were busy going about their daily lives and we got more than a few passing stares.

The traffic wasn’t very heavy and consisted of mainly 1950’s style cars, horse carts, mopeds and bicycles. This area is definitely off the beaten track and not too touristy.

It has a quaint charm about it.

The people we encountered were warm and friendly with a pride about them. Mainly Spanish speaking so our guide doubled as a translator.

After a walkabout we picked up another guide and went off to have lunch at a local restaurant a short drive away. There was a cool lighthouse nearby which gave some magnificent views which more than compensated for my fear of heights. The restaurant was at the end of a pier and also had a resident live band present. We chose to eat outside and bravely fought the biting wind as we ate and had fun. Though I initially had some doubts, on the way home, a couple of us decided to stay overnight in Moron while the rest of the party drove back to the hotel. This was done to experience the real Cuba in full and I’m glad I did. We kept one of the cars and found a place to stay.

We had the pleasure to enjoy authentic Cuban hospitality with home made cooking, guitar playing ,singing and dancing. Local Cuban TV has two channels, no overseas. An unforgettable experience.

That night which just happened to be the coldest night of the week so far.

We went to a local outdoor club which was the main attraction of the city so it was pretty packed. We got someone to watch the car and paid them afterwards.

The vibe was very cool and friendly with the main music being, salsa, ragga, RnB and hip-hop. A very mixed crowd and everyone was dancing hard. Very Caribbean.

I volunteered to take part in a game of pass the ice cube through the trousers by a female partner chosen from the audience. From one foot to the other. Nice. Had a great time.

Drove back to where we were staying at about 1am and I have to say that along, with a few noticeable crumbling buildings, the place looked like a ghost town. No one was on the streets, no cars, nothing. After a nice sleep we got up around 7-ish, had an espresso coffee and prepared for the drive back to the hotel. All in all it was a humbling experience and one that had to be seen to provide a contrast with the relative luxury of the hotel.

The city in the morning was nice to observe. Life goes on wherever you are.

The tourism industry is the biggest money earner in the country and people strive to get in that field. We drove back to the hotel and rested up.

The rest of the week went nicely, meeting loads of people, forging friendships and enjoying a last session at the Maribar which ended with a walk on the beach at 4.30 am and crawling into bed at 5.45 in the morning.

The last day Wednesday 10th December was spent saying goodbye to all the kind souls we met and taking contact details.

Will definitely return to Cuba someday and will try to see Havana (La Habana) and other places but my heart will always pull me back to Cayo Guillermo and Moron City.

We reluctantly left with the coach to the airport and after a short stopover in Holguin, also in Cuba, we flew on to London Gatwick.

Landed 9.30am Thursday morning and was met by my brother. With the cold air on my skin I was missing the Caribbean already.

Viva Cuba!

See the pictures!

Check out the hotel where I stayed.

Learn more about Cuba>

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