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Cuba reviews

Click here to write your own review on Cuba Anonymous - toronto - Visited on 12 January 2004 Club amigo was very rustic.. i enjoyed the staff and the fact that the public beach was nearby, you were able to mingle with the locals and ... Anonymous - yvonne@accessibletravel.co.uk - Gloucester, UK - Visited on 10 October 2003 I Have just returned from a 2 week holiday at Sandals Royal Hicacos, Varadero, and all I can say, is that their motto of ' Love is all you n... Anonymous - Toronto - Visited on 30 August 2003 My boyfriend and I just returned from a week at the Sandals Royal Hicacos. We visited the week of August 30th-Sept. 6th and can truly recomm... Anonymous - USA - Visited on 04 August 2003 We just arrived back from Brisas Del Caribe, where I went with my family, (my mum, my two 16 year old sisters, my 11 yera old brother and my... Write a review on Cuba

Cuba

Tourists from Canada and Europe are continuing to arrive in Cuba in greater numbers every year, and new hotels are going up every day to house this influx of visitors. Yet in a sense, even these visitors are in a state of limbo: Although they can lounge on lovely beaches or take a look at Hemingway's haunts around Havana, most won't be able to interact with everyday Cuban people. Despite relinquishing some control in recent years, the Cuban government still does its best to separate its visitors from its citizens.

That's a shame, because to us, the greatest draw of this island nation is its people. Whether you troll for tuna with a local fisherman, watch a baseball game in the park or banter with a shopkeeper, it's the Cuban people, passionate, vivacious and welcoming, that are the most potentially rewarding part of a visit to the island.

Those travelers who go to Cuba will find a beautiful island whose people reflect a blend of Carib Indian, African and Spanish heritage. It's the largest of the Caribbean islands—780 mi/1,250 km long. The topography ranges from excellent beaches to rugged mountain ranges. Valleys, lakes, wetlands and rivers give variety to the land. Industry and agriculture are more intensive than on most Caribbean islands, though empty factories and overgrown fields have become a common site since the Soviet-bloc subsidies ended.

Of course, a big part of the Cuban waiting game involves U.S. citizens. They are not forbidden to set foot on Cuban soil, but the U.S. government continues to restrict its citizenry from spending money in the Communist country, as it has since 1961. This has proven an effective deterrent to the development of large-scale tourism from the U.S., though individuals have quietly been visiting Cuba (via third countries) for years. While it's possible for some people from the U.S. to visit the island legally, large numbers of U.S. visitors will not return until the restrictions are eased.

One looming question is just how popular Cuba would be with U.S. travelers should they have easy access to the island. For many, Cuba is attractive because of images associated with its past: Papa Hemingway, deep-sea fishing and gamblers rolling dice to a mambo beat. In other words, a paradise for carefree travelers. But the Cuba that would open to U.S. citizens is quite a different place. Its infrastructure has visibly deteriorated over the past 30 years. The economy is in shambles. Shortages of fuel, transportation, food, electricity and water are widespread. Many of the hardships are caused by the loss of annual subsidies that used to come from the old Warsaw Pact countries. Conditions have been made worse by controversial U.S. economic sanctions that have remained in place since the Soviet bloc disintegrated in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Also, Cuba is not an inexpensive country to visit, or at least it hasn't been in recent years. Food, hotels and transportation costs are similar to, and sometimes more expensive than, those in other destinations in the Caribbean.

Cuba's current struggles with its powerful northern neighbor aren't a new phenomenon: The two territories have been closely entwined since the 1800s, when the U.S. became the biggest consumer of Cuban sugar. Attracted by the island's raw materials, the U.S. tried to buy Cuba from Spain but was refused. Meanwhile, an independence movement gained strength in Cuba, and two wars resulted. In the first, the Spanish were able to retain control of the island. The second, led by Cuban hero Jose Marti, became a bitter struggle that was eventually determined by the intervention of the U.S. in 1898. Using the mysterious sinking of a U.S. battleship as a pretext, U.S. forces invaded Cuba and quickly defeated the Spanish.

The island became a sovereign nation in 1902, but independence was only allowed on the condition that U.S. forces could intervene in Cuba when necessary. They found it necessary several times in ensuing decades. The U.S. Navy was also allowed to establish a base at Guantanamo Bay, which it continues to hold.

A series of weak and corrupt governments ruled Cuba through the 1950s. U.S. companies came to own much of the country's farmland and mines, and casinos controlled by organized crime interests in the U.S. helped make the island a playground for tourists. In 1953, Castro began his rebellion by attacking the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. It was a failed mission that landed Castro in prison, though he was later given his freedom. On 1 January 1959, his forces succeeded in overthrowing the military dictator, Fulgencio Batista.

Castro's government soon showed that it intended to make big changes in Cuba. It took possession of lands and facilities previously owned by U.S. companies, straining relations with Washington. Meanwhile, many Cubans who opposed Castro left the island and settled in the Miami area. Some of them became involved in anti-Castro actions sponsored by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, including the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

As relations with the U.S. worsened, Castro's Cuba aligned itself with the Soviet Union and became aggressively socialist. When it was discovered that Soviet missiles were being installed in Cuba in 1962, President Kennedy ordered Soviet ships to be stopped and searched, initiating the Cuban Missile Crisis that brought the two superpowers close to war. The Soviets eventually agreed to remove the missiles, but Castro remained a part of the Soviet bloc until it came apart. Today, Cuba remains one of the few Communist countries in the world.