This post is based on part of our (my 5-year old and I) 3-week trip to Cuba in October, 2016.   Our second stop during the adventure was a stay in Cienfuegos.

We took a nice 75-minute taxi (1952 chevy) ride for 30cuc from Santa Clara to Cienfuegos.  We had booked Casa Babi on Airbnb for less than $25 a night.  It was a great location right along the malecon (sea wall) and walking distance to all the major sites.  The manager Darien and his family were fantastic.  They have two beautiful, young girls and my daughter took to them immediately.  We had a nice room, private bath, mini fridge, A/C, fans and breakfast for 5cuc if wanted.

We headed right to the beach – a 15-minute taxi ride to Rancho Luna. It’s an ok beach – very coarse sand with rocks and clear, calm water.  There is a restaurant with beach front table service (they actually brought a table and chairs to our beach spot) where we had a good meal of chicken, rice, beans, cucumbers and slaw for 5 cuc.  They didn’t have lounge chairs but if you got food service you got to keep the upright chair the whole time.

The taxi charged one flat price for round-trip and I didn’t pay him (15cuc) until he came to get us on our agreed upon time.  Took shower (seemed to be cool only but ok because so hot outside).  I figured out later that many of the showers have a valve where you can turn the hot water up.

We took a nice bici-taxi tour around town for 10cuc (arranged by my host) – that took about 90 minutes.  Really nice as we could stop when want, get on-and-off, and our cyclist narrated the tour.  At the end of the malecon is a cute little beach area where people picnic, play music, swim and just hang out with family and friends.  Next time, we will go hang out there.

We stopped for a quick bite at place called rapido (not really fast).  They have wi-fi (which is very scarce), a kids play area and lots of tables where people also hang out to catch up with friends.  Lots of people also hang out on sea wall across street as wi-fi reaches there.

Next day we were going to the El Nicho waterfalls but I decided it was too much – that we would just stay in town.  There is a really nice swim club on the waterfront – Club Cienfuegos.  There’s an area with an outdoor swimming pool, poolside restaurant and bar, marina and some activities for kids.  The main building has a beautiful patio with a view and live music, a bar, a store and even a little high rooftop for photo ops or a romantic kiss.

I paid 10cuc and got entry to the pool and 7cuc worth of food and drink.  Beer is 1cuc and a really good meal was only 4.50cuc.  I ended up buying couple of beers for my friends.  My hosts came along and we had a fantastic afternoon playing with the kids and soaking up the sun. There were definitely a lot of locals.

We walked along the malecon and stopped to play at a little playground at the end (kind of sad) and I wouldn’t recommend going as grass was high (mosquitos) and most of playground was rusted or broken.  We had a good dinner (pork schnitzel and mashed plantains) prepared by the family then we all hung out along the malecon.  Ellie played with the girls while I got to know my host family and friends.  That really is the best part of travel – getting to know the locals and becoming fast friends.  It makes it feel like home.

Another fantastic stay in Cuba… stay tuned for more of our travels to Cuba.

 

 

We (my 5-year old Ellie and I) recently returned from a  trip to Cuba where we stayed in 6 cities over about 3 weeks.  Here is my review of Santa Clara, Cuba.

We arrived on Jet Blue at a tiny airport in the city of Santa Clara.  Santa Clara is smack dab in the center of the province of Santa Clara and almost exactly in the middle of the country.  It’s a great starting point to other must-see places in Cuba like Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Cayo Santa Maria.

It was by total chance that the flight I picked would bring us to the land of Che Guevara.  The town itself is not so striking – there’s a nice town square and several monuments to Che. He liberated the people here in 1958 and “he is everywhere”.

We chose a random Airbnb (not so random – I wanted kids in the host family, A/C, separate room and full bath) and ended up with the most amazing family in Casa Azul.  To me the best part of Santa Clara is the people.  ‘Our family’ consisted of a mother (Laura) and father (Julio) in their late 30’s I guess (both in computers), a daughter 14 and two sons 5 and 3.  Immediately we felt like old friends.  It helped that I speak Spanish but they are very open and kind so knowing the language was not totally necessary.

Our Airbnb house (Casa Azul) was an historic home passed down through the family.  Immediately I was drawn to the rocking chairs on the front porch where Cubans sit and people watch.  This house actually has a swimming pool – not very common in Cuba.  Our separate room also had a flat screen, mini-fridge, fans and two beds we pushed together to make a king. (All for $23 a night)

Santa Clara is famous for having the best rock festival in Cuba.  My hosts were actually big heavy metal fans.  Santa Clara is also know for being a trendy city – where the second best university in Cuba is located.  Our last night my hosts took me out to listen to music.  We had the BEST time in a little club called Cubo Arte.  A tiny club crammed with tables and chairs – Cubans listening intently to a local band playing local favorites.  I really felt like the only tourist in the place.  After the band, a DJ played and people danced and danced.  All this fun and we were ‘home’ by 9pm!  It was great fun – the best part of my stay in Santa Clara!

On two different Sundays, we visited the large outdoor market where EVERYONE goes to hang out, catch up with friends, and buy their fresh food for the week.  There are lots of vendors who mostly sell the same things – pork, bananas, pineapples, beans, rice and a few specialty items.  They also have a DJ playing loud music, pony rides and other amusements for kids, vendors selling street food and toys for kids.

It was very hot in October.  They say if you don’t like heat, don’t come in August for sure.  It was so hot my daughter cried and begged to go “home” during a tour of the city.  My hosts offered to watch Ellie while I did a tour of the city on a moto-scooter. Most people don’t have transportation and rely on horse-drawn carriages and motorcycle carts – you just stand in the street and wave one down.  There are some vintage cars but they are mostly for tourists and there aren’t as many as the big city of Havana.  Be sure to ride with a Cuban because they pay much less than tourists.

I treated the whole family (11) to lunch at El Molina, one of the nicest restaurants around.  It was a “nice” buffet for about $6 adults.  The kids love it because there are many animals in cages in the back of the restaurant – all kinds of birds and some other animals.  They also had a trampoline and a playground for small children.  This is typical of a lot of Caribbean countries.

We also spent some time in the town square – that’s where people of all ages go to hang out.  At night people rent out electric cars and bikes for kids to ride.  Ellie loved it.

I felt very safe in Santa Clara (Cuba) – just be careful as the sidewalks and roads are not intact.  You are more likely to twist an ankle or hit a pothole more than anything.  If you need a place to stay where you will get a taste of the Cuban life with really kind and welcoming Cubans – look no further than Casa Azul.  Sometimes travel can bring you to foreign lands but the people of Cuba are just like you and me in many ways.

As you may know we returned last week from an almost 3-week stay in Cuba.  My five-year old and I went officially (with visas from the US Govt).  I found a round-trip on Jet Blue from Fort Lauderdale to Santa Clara for $99 each way (now there’s an airfare war and you can fly for even much less).

We arrived in Santa Clara in less than an hour on Jet Blue (good airline).  It’s a very small airport and easy to navigate.  We were through customs and immigration in no time.  There is one money exchange outside – I exchanged $800US for 697 cuc.  There are 2 currencies in Cuba – one for Cubans (Cuban Peso – cup) and one for others (Peso Convertible – cuc).  The exchange rate is not very good for Americans.

We took a taxi to our Airbnb Casa Azul for 20cuc.  There are many houses with rooms to rent called casa particulares.  The average rate is about 18-30 cuc per night, with breakfast for about 5 cuc.  I think the best way is to book Airbnb so you can use a credit card and get credit card points.

It was a nice, big, old house close to the center of town.  The separate room had a full bed, a twin bed, mini-frig with drinks for sale, a TV, A/C and an ensuite full bath.  They even have a little swimming pool – perfect for kids in the hot Cuban sun.

Our hosts Laura and Julio were amazing.  They have three kids and my daughter loved playing with them and splashing around in the pool. We shared lots of stories about life and being Airbnb hosts.

We all went into town to the town square – we took a moto bike – here the cheapest ways to travel are by horse cart or motorcycle cart.  Taxis are expensive and best for longer distances.  We sat in the town square where our kids played – they  have little cars you can rent cheaply for a spin.

They showed me how to buy a wifi card – 3 cuc (1 hr of time) from men or 2 cuc in store (the store was closed) .  Internet is usually only available in town squares here. Sometimes too many people can’t get on and it is always very slow – don’t expect to download anything except maybe email.

I bought a data plan from AT&T as I usually do for other countries but couldn’t get it to work.

They took us to a restaurant and it was really good – Ellie had pasta with queso and I had grilled pork with rice and beans, a few green beans and potato chips – fantastic.  I thought would be too hot in the restaurant but they have fans everywhere.  They say it is best to drink bottled water but if you use ice then that kind of defeats the purpose.  We had lots of good food for about 13 cuc.

We walked back to the house, maybe a 10 minute walk.  Be careful – streets and sidewalks are not perfect and street lighting is bad, but hosts say its very safe.

Sat 8 Oct.
Our host offered breakfast for added cost – 5 cuc.  I brought some gluten free cereal so I ate that.  Ellie had a blast playing with their kids.

We arranged for a day tour of Santa Clara  – personal guide on a motor taxi (for 10 cuc) to take us around.  It was so hot – they say it is even hotter in August (don’t come in August 😳)  It was so hot Ellie cried – we took her back and asked if Ellie could play with her kids for a couple hours. Much more fun for her.

I went off with the guide.  Che Guevara is famous here so he took me all around to monuments and memorials to Che. I bought a few handmade crafts (dominos are a great locally made gift) and the guide took me to a restaurant El Molino . It’s a fantastic place for food and for families — and a good price at 6 cuc for a buffet of paradilla, meats, salads, fruits, desserts, etc.  They have fun things for kids – a bouncy house, a little playground and many animals (like a little zoo in back).

Ellie had the best time with the family.  We relaxed on the front porch – again learning about the Cuban people and our hosts in particular.  They prepared a great meal – two kinds of pork (most popular meat here)… platanos, beans and rice and fresh avocado from their tree.  Sooo delicious!!!

A very strong storm came through and the thunder was so loud, Ellie and I were scared.  They said it was typical 😳 – glad we weren’t here for the hurricane.

We had a good night’s sleep with air conditioning – don’t get a house without A/C.

Sun 9 Oct.
Our hosts invited us to join them at the market. Everyone goes to the market on Sunday morning to buy food for the week. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s next to the baseball stadium in Santa Clara.  Vendors from all over bring their vegetables, meats and fruits for sale. There was even someone selling furniture.

They had lots of activities for children – pony rides, little amusement park rides and lots of treats for sale – all at a minimal cost (especially if a Cuban is paying – with my money).

Everything a Cuban needs is cheap, especially food. Typical local foods – all kinds of pork, rice, beans, fried plantains, guava, papaya – all so fresh!  If you are in Santa Clara on a Sunday, I think the best thing to see is the market – don’t miss it!  And if you want a great place to stay (with great Cuban people) stay at Casa Azul with Julio and Laura!

Get to Cuba now and don’t forget to read my travel tips article before you go!