1. I was happy that I was able to find things to do, that directly supported the Cuban people.
2. I was happy to have booked an experience that surrounded itself around African decent ideals, beliefs, and religious practices, inserting more history about how slaves continued to practice their religion, in a secret form, and what it means today.
3. I was happy to be supporting a Brown girl and her business, in Cuba.
I found this tour through a travel group that I am part of on Facebook. You have to be invited and approved by the administrator. There, a young man posted about his week long trip to Cuba, and what he had scheduled each day, with links. This happened to be one of them and I hopped on immediately. I did so because the word "Afro" jumped right out at me. This was my opportunity to learn more about Afro-Cubans.
Adriana is ambitious, smart, funny, friendly, knowledgeable, and loves what she does. She is only 25, but, figured out how she can weekly, work at the University (for the government), and on weekends, continue to be an educator for visitors. She knows that most people are interested in visiting Havana, however, she wants you to learn about where she is from, a small town outside of Havana, called Guanabacoa. She wants you to learn more about how her people, Afro Cubans, have survived and thrived in Cuba, with the support of the original religious practices, that is known today as Santeria (Worship of Saints), to some. The other names that other may be familiar with include "Regla de Ochá", "La Regla de Ifá", "Lucumí". Originally, this religious practice was only practiced by African slaves and their descendants from Nigeria's Yoruba tribe. There came a time where people of European and Spanish decent, began to practice the religion as well. Africans allowed these people to be part of their "secret society". You can walk around Cuba currently, and see more Euro and Spanish descendants, practicing this religion. These people, do not see skin color, as some outsiders may say, since it originated with Africans. They allowed others "in". They see a spiritual practice that they believe will help them with their journey in life.
We met with Adriana at a coffee shop that was built out so nicely, and served us delicious coffee, or, what I had was coffee with a type of rum. I was the dare devil for this tour. Adriana created it. Before I knew it, I was sweating, while she was giving us background information about Santeria, what the tour consists of, and, how it is practiced.
With our transportation already waiting for us outside, we rode to her town, Guanabacoa, to begin our tour. Our 1st was stop at the museum dedicated to visitors who would like to learn more about the religious practice, how it originated, objects that are used, and the most recent Babalowo of the town (who passed recently).
Listening to all the information, I now learned more about this practice, which definitely knocked the negative stigma that is attached to it, via word of mouth, or concepts passed on from those who as well, did not know much about it. I loved it.
We proceed to walk the streets of Guanabacoa to our next stop. People are staring at us and wondering why we are there. Only a select few know about Adriana's tour, and welcome us to their town. In passing, we briefly spoke with a woman who has begun her Santeria transition (which is a one year process of renewal). who was happy that we were interested in learning more about this practice in her town. We continue to walk and end up, at the local outdoor bar :-). At this bar, we sit, have a beer, and later notice, the design of the bar consists of the Orisha's of the Santeria religion. Photos had to be taken!
My pants from the motherland :-) - Zanzibar
Orishas
We proceed down the road, passing many local homes and streets that you can clearly tell, assistance is needed. Some buildings just need a little outside work, whereas others, needs full repair. Most of the damage looks to be from the hurricanes that have passed over the island within the last year. Lack of funds has left most of these homes and streets in disrepair.
DOGGIE!!
We arrive at the newest Babalowo of the town, home.
Here, if you wanted to participate, you received a cleans, and was given a history of the practice. Please note, this guy is either in his late 20's or early 30's (can't quite remember). He ascended into this role at a young age, which is a huge responsibility for a young person. He is visited by many people!
After our cleanse, there was a surprise in the backyard. Home cooked food, stuff you were not going to get in the heart of Havana. MAN! I do not remember all of what each item was, but these puffs with a little drizzle of some honey, boy o boy! So good!
Our toast, was with Santero Rum, no chaser :-).
There was an additional surprise that I do not want to give away, as it is something that you need to see in and experience in person. To note, there were more locals who joined us, who were a delight to see. We ended with nice photos, enough rum in our system, and an experience that was unforgettable.
Our ride back to our apartment was outside ready to drop us off. We had to freshen up and start our search again for food.
If your interested in visiting any other parts of the world, and want to get booked (payment plan options available), along with further information, e-mail me at ChristinaCtravels@gmail.com
Our day started very early, roughly 7:30am. We scheduled a Havana Vintage Car Tour booked for 3 hours starting at 9, so we needed to make sure we had time available to find breakfast, without getting hustled, again!
Outside of our building, we met an Afro-Cuban man who was very nice to not only point us in the right direction (not hustling us), but walked and chatted with Guildia more about where she is from (Guatemala), where myself (New York) and Farah (Haiti) were from, and learning more about black people being in other countries. Nice gentleman, who realized after showing us available spots to eat, he had to go to continue with his day of selling whatever products he had for sale.
We end up getting the basic breakfast sandwich, where the bread itself is flat on the bottom, round on the top, and shaped in a circle. We each had ours cooked with an egg, with what ever toppings we liked. For all 3, we paid 5CUC. We were too hyped about finding this deal. Felt like we hit the jackpot as well as, the information my brother told me prior about affordable food, was finally found (he was in Cuba in November and speaks fluent Spanish). Looking at the pricing on the board, we actually pulled out all this cash, and she only took 5CUC. I’ll explain in my next post, what was really going on. We were also fortunate to get an egg on our sandwhich's, as there was a mandatory rule put in place by the government that restricted/limited the sale of chicken and eggs due to the damage done by Hurricane Irma. To get the supply back up, more chickens needed to be hatched, to create more chicken and eggs for consumption. Kinda scary!
When we returned to our building to wait to be picked up, our tour guide was already there! Early no less. His name was Ernesto and he was only 29 I believe. His driver did not speak English, so luckily he had Ernesto to translate everything for him. We set out on our tour!
How close I had my GoPro to my forehead cracks me up everytime! Sigh!
Now, solely because I cannot remember the name of the location for most of the places we visited, enjoy the photos taken 😂. Those I can remember, have a caption attached. So much to take in!
There is so much history in Cuba. I mean from its origin, to its capture and release, to how it became a Latin island, to the beef they had with the US, to seeing parts of history that were kept on display to let visitors know that if they “don’t start none, wont be none”, to hearing stories about the famous figures that once lived on the island. Fascinating. Please note, that is just the history that is in Havana alone. Can you imagine the other parts of Cuba?
We stopped by the Havana Rainforest. It is not what we would call a rainforest however, this is how its referred to. It is more of a park, however, not a place where you can easily walk through and sit and relax. As beautiful as it may appear, sadly it has been polluted. The river that runs through, used to be a source of drinking water however, due pollution by the local people, the water is not even safe to be in. The scenery however, is beautiful.
We continued our drive and we managed to pass a massive building. This building was huge, probably bigger, rather long and wide, compaired to the others that seemed like top secret, parliament esq type of buildings. It was the US Embassy.
We were informed that there are only 6 staffers who actually work within the building. CRAZY! So if we really needed some type of assistance, that may be close to impossible as a US Citizen. It is now just sitting there, most times with no occupants in it.
We headed towards Chinatown, where there were not many Chinese people, and were told if we did see a few, more than likely they were tourists.
Chinatown was followed by where Barcardi Buidling. My favorite rum originated in Santiago, Cuba, with a building located in Havana. I was excited. It is the only rum that I drink when at home, on a flight, at a friends house, and how the Mojito is made in the states, if you get the shelf liquor at the bar. OOOHHHHH! We also managed to see 3 famous people in passing 😂. They had some fellas with them too!
We suddenly make a stop, no idea where we were going. We enter inside and I was in my happy place again!
I was on a mission in particular, to get THE rum of Cuba, Santiago! WWHOOOO BABY! Apparently this rum has been the talk of every travel group I was apart of online, and even talked heavily by our tour guide. Unfortunately, there was none available. We later find out upon leaving Cuba, the liquor is in low supply, as the factory had not been producing as much. No one had it in stock😞. On the other side of the room, CIGARS!
From top to bottom, smoked by Fidel, Winston Churchill, Robina?, and Che Chavez.
Cuba has THE BEST Cigars, as word on the street says. Sadly, I cannot smoke on any, as I am Asthmatic.
We were pooped. We needed to freshen up, upload what pictures we had to our clouds with the apartments WiFi, and head back out. It was only 1pm, we hadn’t eaten, and we decided to find food. We continued to walk through the neighborhood blocks, trying to find the spot that was suggested to us by our tour guide, named Adriana, where the locals go to eat and prices were super low. His directions were terrible and, as mentioned by previous visitors, most Cubans do not know where things are, or at least that’s the game played. There are no real street signs so, you have no idea where the hell you are! But we discovered an awesome hidden gem 5 blocks from our apartment, that clearly looked like it did not belong and was more of our style.
Vitola was the name and we were hoping the food would be good. Their was a Spanish flag outside next to a Cuban flag, so we assumed it was a restaurant that was a collaboration. Upon entry, the look captures your attention, as well as the air conditioning. Glory to God, because we were burning up! Their Sangria had a unique twist in ingredients.
Their food was not only lower in price, affordable for even local Cubans, it was SO GOOD! I ordered a chicken that was topped with some type of cheese, ham, and bacon. A combo I was familiar with but, it tasted great! The girls both had a steamed fish with veggies, cooked and seasoned to perfection. Morro was THE rice, since we were over having the usual yellow or white rice.
For what we received, it was a definite that we would return again. The service was phenomenal, and the Executive Chef himself came out to greet us as we were eating. A definite spot to visit again!
We end up going over our limited time, because we had to have at least 2 Sangria’s before our Drink Tour 😌. If you are with me, it’s only right! We headed to Old Havana, to meet our host for our 1st Airbnb Experience.
Andy
Andy met us by the Capital Building near some of the big hotels, which are also on the edge of Old Havana. He began the tour giving us a history lesson about the building, the meaning of each statue in front of it, and the surrounding area. What I realized was, the car tour drove us pass and around some of these places, and with Andy, we were now going to be IN some of these places, getting more detailed information. Please note, the price of this tour includes the drinks!
Our first stop, the famous Floridita which is known for it's Daiquiri.
Ernest Hemingway, Lover of the Daquiri
So fun fact, there is one in Harlem, NY. I am usually there for Mojitos. The owner I believe is Cuban, but the food has a more Dominican flare. Prior to the location it is at now, it used to be on 125th and Broadway. Back in that day, the food was the BOMB! Tasted like genuine Cuban food! No liquor was served however, their fresh squeezed juices, and Garlic chicken was to die for! At Floridita in Cuba, we were going to learn about the origination of the Daquiri, which was created in Daquiri, Cuba, a small village outside of Santiago, Cuba.
Got a little brain freeze but it was so good. What we get in the states, is not the same. This had almost all original ingredients of the original Daiquiri (difference being the type of ice).
Yes, it is served in a Martini glass (for us in the US)
Obispo Street
We proceed to exit Floridita and enter deeper into Old Havana. Right when we reach the very beginning of it, guess who we saw? Our bff, the lying scheming escort, George. This was possibly my best chance to kick him in the knee cap. I was just waiting for the signal from one of the girls so we all could’ve confronted him for that bad ass food from La Familia. I said “Yo G, look at the liar right there”, pointing right at him. He notices us and says “Oh hey, family!”. All 3 of us replied “Nah yo, we ain’t yo family”. 🙃. Faces of disgust on all of us.
Our next stop was for the famous, my fave fave FAAAVVVEEEE, Mojito. Chile! Even though we had this drink at another restaurant the night before, we did not get a history lesson. La Bodegita del Medio is packed, but we managed to get a small table on rooftop floor.
The energy was nice, or at least because I was already feeling nice😎 . Then a performance started.
Unlike the crappy one we got the night before (yup, still a hater and mad), this performance with this mans voice was phenomenal, no mic needed. The video I have, I wasn't close enough to capture the rich tone of his voice, that was loud and full, however, he sounded so good and had his CD for sale!
After this drink, I felt cooler than Cucumber to say the least LOL.
We pass more historical sites in Old Havana, where one set of buildings were from the 15th, 17th, 16th, and 18th Century!
Of course with some upkeep, still standing! We get more of a history lesson on the surrounding area. Cuba is a place you have to see in person! My photos and lack of description, does not do it any justice.
We finally make it to our last stop, Dos Hermanos, and have our last drink, the famous Cuba Libre (Rum and Coke). Yes, this originated in Cuba, as well. We learn the origination of the drink, and how Coca Cola was later incorporated in the original beverage and its special ingredient. This spot was quiet and perfect for a wind down, since we had been moving all day, literally. This is also where we found out that Andy, does not drink! MAN! We were lit, and he was just smiling at how giggly we were, how Farah and I finished Guildia's drink, how we at this point, didn't care. We definitely enjoyed this tour.
We try to find a taxi leaving the bar, but that was a little tough. Then a man, with a woman in this sorta beat up work truck that may have been owned by a hotel in the past, asked us if we needed a ride. We told him where, asked how much, and in that moment we realized, we were risking it all for this ride for only 5CUC. HAHA! We got home safe.
After again, checking in, resting up at the apartment for a little, it is now time for dinner. We remembered the name of a second restaurant Ernesto referred to us. We had bike taxi's owned by a few Afro-Cuban fellas outside who, were helpful with since our arrival, so we said, lets support and take one. Yet again, we risk it all LOL. Once we arrive, Jose made it very clear, we were to not take another taxi back, he would be back for us in 1.5 hours.
La Flor de Loto (Havana) had a very organized waiting area. Plush seats to sit while waiting, clean walkway, and the entrance made you feel like you were entering a hidden mob restaurant. You could not see through the door. Definitely delivered that privacy factor. You could not walk-in, everyone is to wait outside.
We decide to continue to drink, of course! These Pina Coladas were scrumptuos.
There was just the right amount of sweetness, with real coconut flavor. It was kinda made like a smoothie in a sense. The texture just appeared that way. However, we could not taste the liquor. With just that simple statement, the waiter came back with the bottle of Havana Club 3 anos, and poured roughly, 8 oz more of rum in the drink. WINNING! Quick stir, and now, your girl is feeling nice, again.
I ordered the Garlic Chicken with Morro. Sadly, moving too fast and trying to upload pictures from my phone to my cloud, the pictures I had of my meal, were deleted by accident. SO MAD! Just know, all three of us, while eating, were all saying "mmmm, mmm, MMMMM". This food was so good. Flavorful, with plenty left over to enjoy again, at home. Their prices are really low and the portions are family style. We saw everyone leaving with to-go boxes.
The look of the restaurant was very clean, with an upscale feel in this part of Havana that again, had a run down look on the exterior. Wonderful place to eat, a definite must to return to. Please note, staff speaks limited English.
We exit and Jose and his boy were there waiting for us!
The plan was to nap and then go out to party. However, our nap, turned into deep sleep, with Guildia waking up at 2am realizing it's too late to go out. Before we knew it, it was time to wake up for our Afro-Cuban Religious tour.
If your interested in visiting any other parts of the world, and want to get booked (payment plan options available), along with further information, e-mail me at ChristinaCtravels@gmail.com
