American Solo in CUBA

                                            

How to Travel Cuba without a Headache:
With vacation days set in place I booked the cheapest flight abroad out of Washington D.C.; to my surprise it was to Havana, Cuba. This 7-day solo adventure will be one I cherish for a lifetime. Everything about Cuba left an imprint on my heart and became a place I will never forget. However, being a solo female from America traveling to Cuba on a whim was hard. I compiled a list of things I learned along the way so hopefully you won't encounter some of the same problems I did.

1. Cuban Visa
Probably the biggest thing for us Americans to be concerned about at the start. There is no way around the visa process, but there are a few ways to obtain one:
- If you are flying Delta you can purchase the Visa at the departure gate at the New York-JFK, Atlanta, and Miami airports for 50$. Delta Cuba Travel Rules
- If flying Southwest Airlines you can purchase the visa at the CTS ticket counter in the Ft. Lauderale or Tampa airport Southwest Cuba Travel Rules
- Another alternative is purchasing the visa at the Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C. for 50$ and extra 20$ if having it mailed to you.
- If you are wanting the visa beforehand and not trusting obtaining one at the airport, you can do what I did and have it mailed to you in advance. However, this did cost 85$ Cuba Visa Travel Service

2. OFAC Travel Categories

This is a topic I will briefly touch on even though it is something that you NEED to research thoroughly. If you are American and traveling to Cuba you can "only" enter the country if your reasoning for travel fits one of the 12 OFAC Categories. "During the time of travel I was in journalism covering a story of Cuban history, therefore I enrolled myself in the Journalism category to obtain my visa" you can question the legitimacy of that statement, but it is possible to obtain a visa. Do your research!

**  If you do not feel comfortable with this method you can always enter the country via a third country. A lot of Americans I met came to Cuba through Mexico. 

3. MONEY! MONEY! MONEY!

Well, here is another difficult part that us Americans have to hurdle around during our travel in Cuba. If not the most difficult. The ATM machines do not accept American debit cards in Cuba. So what does that mean? You guessed it! All of the money you are wanting to spend on your trip has to be brought with you in cash. And to make matters worse, the transfer from USD to CUC is taxed 20%. Suggestions to make this process smoother listed below:

- Exchange USD to CAD or EURO (whichever has best exchange rate both ways at time of travel)

- Buy hotels, hostels, and airbnbs in advance to take away some of the pocket cash you are having to carry. Also keep in mind that most of these sites are blocked while in country so book before you leave the US. 

- You also lose money when exchanging back from Cuban CUC, so exchange your currency slowly  and not all at once. You want to leave Cuba with as little of their currency as possible. 

Money exchanges in Cuba can be found at the airport, hotels, and banks. However, the exchange rate is highest at the airport and hotels. I solved this by waking up early, running the Melecon, and then going to the bank 15min before opening to exchange money. Be aware the lines to exchange money at the banks are long and last all day, try to beat the lines by getting there early. Also, don't be a rookie like I was the first time and forget your passport at the hostel, they will turn you away.

**SCAM: Sometimes vendors will give you the CUP back for change instead of CUC. In Cuba there are two types of currency, the CUC is for travelers, and the CUP is for locals (reference photo above.) The CUP is worth significantly less than the CUC. So keep an eye out on your currency and know how to spot the basic differences of the two.**

4. Hostels

What made my experience in Cuba so great is highly accredited to all of the amazing/diverse people I met. Being a female traveler alone in a foreign country is scary, but meeting other travelers soon takes that feeling away and turns it into an adventure. For my trip accommodations I only booked a stay for my first two nights. I stayed on the immediate outskirts of the city center in Havana at an all girls hostel called Luis's Hostel. It is roughly 5 blocks from the city center of Old Havana and three blocks up from the Melecon. For 10$ a night it was great! Luis was extremely helpful and spoke great English.

5. Casa de Particulars

I would highly recommend staying in a casa de particular for a few nights during your stay. Its Cubas equivalent of renting private rooms on Airbnb. Locals open their doors to travelers and rent out rooms for cheap. I had my casa de particular experience in Trinidad, Cuba. I got off the bus from Havana in the city center of Trinidad, told a shop owner I was looking for a room. He then ran down the block to tell a woman who opened her doors to me. I woke up to breakfast, lobster tail for lunch, and sat through riveting conversation at night about the Cuban culture. It really was an experience of a lifetime and a great way to truly dive into the culture Cuba has to offer from the perspective of a local.

** I would like to caveat this by stating not to judge the hostels or casa de particulars on the outside appearance of the homes. One of the problems in Cuba is their lack of building materials. Thus, maintaining the appearance of these beautiful buildings is not feasible. Though, the rustic appearance does add to their charm.**

6. Cigars

My dad is an avid cigar smoker so I knew I would be taking a trip to one of the shops while here. However, the way I arrived at one was better than I could have imagined. Transportation is expensive in Cuba, so to save money I approached two English gentlemen outside the airport and asked if they wanted to share a cab into town. Turns out they were only in Cuba for 24hrs with the sole purpose to load up on cigars for their at home walk-in humidors. They offered me a ride and an invite to their sea-side lunch that I couldn't refuse. After, they took me to the finest cigar shop Havana has to offer. Here I learned all about Romeo y Julieta's, Montecristo's, Ramon Allones, Partagas, and many many more. 

I could go on about this topic for awhile but to keep it short ONLY BUY cigars at certified cigar shops, nothing from restaurants or street vendors. Most will have the words "del Habano" in its name.  

A few of those quality shops are listed below:

- Casa del Habano in Hotel Mena 

- Tienda del Habano on Mercaderes st Vieja Habana

- Casa del Tabaco in Hotel Comodoro, Havana

- La Casa del Habano 5th and 16 Av 5 y Calle 16, Miramar (The one I visited)

**Check out this blog on: Havana Cigar Shops**

7. Getting Around

My Spanish, or lack there of, is as gringa as it gets. Cuba is a predominately Spanish speaking country with locals knowing very few English phrases. However, they definitely know how to cat call ha. Thankfully before leaving America I downloaded Guru Maps. This app allows you to view maps offline, but it gets even better, you can pre-download country maps and have every hotel, bar, historic location, grocery story, etc. loaded onto the map. It also geolocates you as you move and places your position on the map so its easy to direct yourself to your desired location. This became a lifesaver while in Cuba because Wi-Fi in this country is extremely hard to come by. In order to obtain it you have to find certain hot-spots throughout the city that even locals have to use and try to login with internet cards. Download this app, it will come in handy!

All the tips listed above I suggest all Americans take into account while arranging travel to Cuba. It is a very beautiful place that has so much to offer once all of the technical travel is dealt with. If you can get over the hassles of being an American trying to travel through Cuba, I promise you will have the trip of a lifetime. This is part 1, eventually I will get to all of the cool things I got to experience.