What's interesting is that our first visit to the Caribbean was to Cuba. For most people, that's probably not the case. For years, we waited for the U.S. government to soften its outdated Cold War stance on this small island. A few years ago, it began to do just that. Americans could now travel independently to Cuba using the "people-to-people" visa category, rather than being restricted to tour group travel. Since we never do tour group travel, this was the change in policy that we needed, and we took advantage of it in early June.
To get there, first you have to fly to Los Angeles, then go to Universal Studios Hollywood, borrow Doc Brown's DeLorean, and travel back in time to before June 16th, when you could still go to Cuba independently as an American citizen. We both let out an exasperated sigh and shook our heads as this policy change was announced-- mere days after we had left Cuba! It's a shame, and I'll leave it at that.
Why bother? You can't go now anyway, unless you can afford the exorbitant costs and assured annoyances of group travel. And even if you do that, you won't be able to design your itinerary. Sorry for the sass, but I find the whole thing to be maddening.
To go back to Cuba itself, though: I'm so glad we got to go. Everyone was so nice. Every person we met was super excited to find out where we're from, and they all were eager to tell us about how many Americans they've been meeting now.
We read that the food wouldn't be very good. In a couple cases, this was true. We did find some great family-owned paladares, though, and had some great ropa vieja. Restaurant Van Van and Doña Eutimia were our favorites.
In terms of amenities, Cuba does not have all of the conveniences of a highly-developed country (i.e. brown-outs, not much air conditioning, very often no toilet paper in bathrooms, etc.). There are also some infrastructure issues-- for instance, when it rains, the streets flood very quickly. That was an annoyance that was exacerbated by the knowledge that there was poop in the streets from stray dogs. (It turns out I don't like walking in poop water.) But not one of those things is unique to Cuba by any means. In fact, compared to its Caribbean and Central American neighbors, Cuba's level of development is actually relatively high, measuring .775 on the Human Development Index of 2016. To put that into perspective, Cuba ranks #68 of 188 countries in the report, and the highest ranking state in that region is Barbados at #54, and Panama is #60. So Cuba has its struggles, but no more so than any of its neighbors. Crime is also really low, and that's due to social norms, not a military or police presence. I think we saw two police officers the entire time we were there-- and they were not walking around with machine guns like in some other countries.
So, did we like Cuba? Most definitely. Was it challenging? In some ways, yes. As soon as we left, we both wished we had just one more day, though, and I am sorry that we won't be able to go back-- at least not for a while.
This trip was during my last year of United Airlines flight benefits, and it had become a real challenge to get on any flight stand-by at that time. Going to Buenos Aires during the dead of their winter was the only way. Some days were gloomy and rainy, and it was much colder than expected (I actually bought a warmer coat while there!). The day we took the Buquebus to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay was pure sunshine, though! It was the highlight of the trip by far. We loved it so much that we tried to go back two days later, but the boats were canceled due to bad weather. Towards the end of our trip, I started to get sick, so we cut it short and flew back. Doing this, though, meant that we were flying through Washington D.C. just before the Fourth of July, and there wasn't a seat to be had on any flight. Instead of sticking around the airport all day trying stand-by, we decided to head into the city and spend a few nights there, too. If I were to return to Argentina, I would most assuredly do a side trip within the country, or to a neighboring country. I mean, if you're going all that way, you might as well.
Regarding the recommendations (or lack thereof) below, this is another page that I'm making in 2020, over a decade after we took this trip. I guess the lack of travel during the pandemic has given me time to catch up on my backlog. In looking back at our travel notes from this trip, here are my recommendations that still seem to be around and providing good service.