A world of contrast between Cuba and the Caymans. We tend to think of ourselves as not being very materialistic. Especially after the fire our material possessions being limited to what you can fit on a boat. However we fell on the Caymanian supermarkets and shopping centres with little cries of joy. Not to mention clean bathrooms complete with the necessary paper products. The Caymans is just like a hotter, more low lying version of Queenstown NZ. There are the tourists, the traffic, the prices, the friendly locals and the gorgeous water.
Cuba was a delight in so many ways but if you are not going into a resort and are trying to live like a Cuban it can be a challenging place to visit. Over our two months there we experienced the cities, rural villages and sea side resorts. In the hotels and resorts the equipment is fairly modern and you could be anywhere in the world. Step outside the gates of the resort/Marina and you get a glimpse of the day to day life of the people. They have a lot to be proud of. Free education and health care. Their produce is wonderful, honey, coffee, rum, tomatoes and mangos just to name a few are full of flavour and incredibly cheap. Family is important and there is a lot of laughter. The Cubans really know how to throw a party. Apart from Cienfuegos disco music (which started at 10pm and finished at 2pm) Cuba seems to have very little noise pollution. Being used to the modern world of planes, trains and lawn mowers everywhere we really noticed the quiet, especially in the rural areas.
The other side of the coin is the shortages. Often completely random shortages, even if basics like water and flour. Curiously we never saw any shortage of cheap beer and rum. The authorities were, by and large, helpful and pleasant and we only had two negative experiences. They did serve to remind us that we were in a totalitarian regime which brooks no opposition and there is no 'wriggle' room with the rules. Cuba is changing, hopefully these changes will make daily life easier for them and they will not lose the things that make visiting Cuba special.
One point to fellow Mariners, be very careful with your navigation in Cuba. A Australian catamaran we met in Santiago de Cuba came to grief on the reef outside Cabo Cruz. They mistook the lights for the channel into the town inside the reef for the entry markers for outside entrance. Even in daylight we had to look twice to work out which set of markers were the right ones. Also another Spanish boat hit an object in 2,000 ft of water off Cayo Largo and sank within 30 minutes. Fortunately the lovely harbour officials at Cayo Largo were able to reach them as they only had time to get into their dinghy before the boat disappeared. The whole community of Cayo Largo rallied round to help them out.
