🇬🇧 Cuba in 2019

Another trip to Cuba behind me. And let me tell you one thing, more I travel to Cuba more I miss it. My last trips were much longer but since we are kind of settled in Poland now, with good jobs and everything, we decided to make a short 3 week trip. We stayed only in western part of Cuba.

I can see changes in Viñales everytime I go there. Some are really easy to see, some not.  So let me give you a short update on what´s going on in Cuba.

Young people are leaving more and more. We were laughing with Fidel, that there´s no one left there! Ok, it´s not that bad but there are at least 10 people we knew closely that had left in the past months. I think that´s quite a number in a small town like Viñales. And that’s only people I know that I am talking about!

I didn´t pay for the family Visa this time! Big one. I wrote a separate update on this one here. I know there are a lot of you in similar situation. Big plus. No more 40CUC fee for staying in my husband house. Yupi!

Viñales is changing. I am used to see cafes and restaurants on the main streets but now there are hundreds of them! And most of the places … are empty because I don´t think Viñales is getting that much tourist traffic to fill them all. I think soon some of those establishments will have to close. That´s how it goes. The good part of it is that a lot of old colonial buildings got renovated.

The shortages. As you all know there was no flour lately in Cuba. And no flour means no bread. There were mornings I had just coffee and fruit for breakfast, but since Viñales is so touristic and visitors shouldn´t know this stuff,  it wasn´t so bad. The fact is that when rice and chicken arrived to the shops, the police had to intervene. People in those extreme situations lose control.

The prices. I found the prices higher that before. The rum in the shops costs the same but some cosmetics, food and beer! got more expensive. I still remember having Cristal for 1CUC, now (if you find it!!) it´s 1.50CUC. Also my “trago” of rum for 1 peso got smaller than last year.

 

Our house is still far from finished but we have already slept in our room. It´s not painted yet and it doesn´t have the shower installed but it already gives me a sense of privacity. Even the nights we had our niece over 🙂

Apululu got really skinny after giving birth to 7 puppies. Dogs in Cuba don´t have easy life. Chains, small dog houses and homeless animals are something normal here. I bought some jamonada (weird Cuban jam) and was giving a part of meals to Apululu. She gained some weight after the 3 weeks we were there. I also found her happier 🙂