Cuba y/n?

October 5, 2023 1:57 PM

Should we go to Cuba this February?

We're planning our vacation. Thinking of Cuba, but I'm worried about 2 issues:

1) I've read that poverty has worsened a lot recently. I'm not scared, but it would feel shitty to be vacationing if people are starving around us (I avoid resorts so we wouldn't be 'insulated' (not that I'd want to (which is why I avoid resorts))).

2) Internet connection: I've heard that internet connections can be bad or non-existent. I don't need to be online all day, but I can't be unreachable for two weeks.

If we do go, anything special to recommend?

We're Chilean, speak Spanish, and fairly left-wing, FWIW.

posted by signal to Travel & Transportation around Cuba (6 answers total)

I went in January of this year. We stayed in casas particulares, no resorts. The casa owners are usually well-off compared to the average person in Cuba, due to their regular income of USD and EUR. From what I gathered (info can be scarce and contradictory), people who have no access to dollars or euros—which generally come from engaging with the tourist economy, or direct payments from family abroad—are doing extremely low-wage jobs paid in local currency, and thus only have access to rationed food and goods from the government. People in that situation are poor indeed, and life can be difficult.

Running water is not a service available even for the "richest" casa owners, who use systems involving tanks and water trucks instead. Electricity is not reliable (we did have good luck with this, as in the past few years they've been supplementing the grid with floating generator ships from Turkey that park off the coast). Hospitals for locals (which are separate from the hospitals for foreigners) struggle to keep medications in stock and supplement with donations. Things are tough. But we did notice that generally, there appears to be a strong sense of community, and people tend to be in good spirits, going about their day, conversing and singing in the streets. People know their neighbors, and they find creative ways to work around scarcity and solve problems.

Basically there is visible poverty. People are struggling. But unless you go looking for it, you won't personally encounter a lot of people who are literally dying of hunger. You will encounter many, many people begging and hustling, especially in Havana. You are going to look and feel like a rich tourist to basically everyone you meet, no way around that. Items like sunscreen and bug spray are rare luxuries (they just wear long sleeves and pants), and you even have access to foods they do not. How comfortable you are with that fact is up to you. I can say I was not entirely comfortable with it, but I felt like I learned from the experience and I do not regret it. You will be smacked in the face with your own privilege before, during, and after.

As for the internet, it is a pain in the ass for foreigners to access. I did without it for most of my trip. You can go to an ETECSA shop in person to buy little scratch-off cards with key codes to access public wi-fi hotspots (usually found in town squares and parks) a half hour a time. It works in a pinch, but I kind of hated the whole process. My Canadian cell provider also offered roaming data, but it cost $15 per day, so I left it off most of the time. When I did turn it on, it wasn't super reliable, occasionally getitnjust not working for an hour or two at a time. Locals tend to use their own cell plans for internet, which is a fairly recent development; there was basically no internet access at all domestically until the mid 2010s. Some restaurants and casas provide open wi-fi for tourists, but it's rare and presumably expensive for them. I think they need a special license.

Overall, I really enjoyed my trip, and would recommend it with those things in mind. It's a truly beautiful country full of great people who are in an unfortunate situation, geopolitically. As a native Spanish speaker, I think you'd have an even better time (I speak it like a toddler). Feel free to me-mail with any other questions or discussion as my comment is already getting way too long.
posted by Ryon at 3:02 PM on October 5, 2023 [7 favorites]

Echoing Ryon’s remarks about your poverty and internet access concerns. What I would say in Cuba’s favour is that it is a unique place to visit. The best tourist destinations, for me, are not those which are about checking off a list of must see attractions but rather places where the attitudes of the locals can teach us something. When I think back on my visit my strongest memory is of conversations with casa owners, business owners, taxi drivers: people show an amazing level of resilience and ingenuity in their everyday life. My impression is that tourism which avoids the big resorts, is a much appreciated benefit to such people.

Cuba is a big island- a 2 hour flight from Havana to Santiago- so we found it useful to plan an itinerary with an agency that specialises in it.
posted by rongorongo at 3:55 PM on October 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

In order to feel less bad about #1, when I go to Cuba I bring things to give people. Toiletries, cosmetics, that kind of thing. I also ask the people who I’m renting from if they need anything in particular.
posted by wheatlets at 4:27 PM on October 5, 2023

Depends on your definition of "should". Without exception, all tourism to Cuba supports the military.
posted by dobbs at 4:54 PM on October 5, 2023

I hear rumblings of another possible shift to the right in Chile.

Is there any chance having made a trip to Cuba could make you a target in the event of such a shift?
posted by jamjam at 5:22 PM on October 5, 2023

We went there in the spring on an educational tour. I would second all the suggestions above about taking anything you can possibly take to give away. Our tour group gave us a list of everyday things that people don’t have access to. We took an extra suitcase full of things like ibuprofen, tylenol, wipes, omeprazole, allergy meds—-they don’t have corner drug stores like in other countries. We also took suggested things for an orphans’ home. We also donated the suitcase before we left. Also, yes, the fact that we got nice food at restaurants was not comfortable for us, but we tipped local service people heavily whenever we got the chance. We went with US dollars, which are now widely accepted. We stayed in a private casa (airbnb) which had room air conditioners but no wi-fi. We contacted our phone provider to alter our plan so we could text locally but we didn’t make any international calls.
We found the locals to be welcoming and very appreciative of anything we did for them. They are a very gracious people.
posted by serendipityrules at 7:24 PM on October 5, 2023 [2 favorites]