Carriacou Regatta Festival 2007 - Caribbean Compass

—Continued from previous page
I must add that everyone here, unlike all other countries where we’d been boarded by
officialdom, took off their shoes and walked our decks barefooted (except for one who
donned cotton operating theatre shoes over his old boots). On and on they came, all
delightful people, doing the job as best they could, apologizing for the intrusion, then sitting
and sipping the cool drinks we offered before inviting us to their houses or offering
advice on what to do and where to go in their district. Some boaties whine and say they
keep losing days because of the authorities, but we enjoyed them.
Santiago de Cuba was our major check-in port. At other stops, the officials would
Above: Some ‘luxury items’ may be in short supply in Cuba, but not cigars
Right: At some stops, officials would row out to us in a fisherman’s dinghy to check
passports and visas. I offered to tow them back to shore but this was forbidden
row out to us in a fisherman’s dinghy to check passports and visas. Again, they were
always polite. In one case, they told us we could not come ashore directly, but suggested
we go to a port of entry 40 miles away then come to their village by hire car
to see the magnificent lighthouse. I offered to tow them the mile or so back to shore
(so I could photograph this structure) but my devious plan was foiled as this was forbidden,
and they paddled away in the overloaded dinghy, bailing as they went.
The currency the tourist uses, and Cubans use for all luxury items, is “CUC” —
convertible pesos. Luxury items include soap, shampoo and clothing for example.
The CUC shops were stocked with goods ranging from refrigerators and TVs (both
seemed subsidized) to toys and foods considered luxury, such as pasta and tinned
foods. One CUC equals one US dollar, or currently 24 Cuban pesos. Soap costs one
CUC, so a Cuban must take 24 Cuban pesos (eight percent of an average monthly
salary) to a government money changer to get the CUC to buy soap. In one of the
tiny villages we anchored off, a woman burst into tears after we gave her a cake of
soap. She was a fisherperson and traded her catch for stuff she needed: pork, vegetables,
etcetera, and had not seen a CUC for years. “Soap is the most wonderful gift
you could have given me,” she cried as she showered us with coffee, cake and fish.
You can buy CUC from the money changers, but if you tender US dollars, they are
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when changed.
At Santiago de Cuba, after all the authorities had inspected us, our vegetables, our
tinned food, our music CDs, the inside of each drawer and cupboard, we were free
to enjoy Cuba. We walked to the bus stop, where a horse and cart awaited. We were
armed with some Cuban pesos someone gave us in Colombia. “One CUC,” the man
holding the reins asked.
“But that lady paid five centavos; why should we pay 120 times as much?”
“The fare for foreigners is one CUC, while the fare for Cubans is five centavos. If I
am inspected, as I often am, and cannot show CUC when I have foreigners aboard
this government-owned transport, I will be put in jail.”
We explained we had no other money as we had just arrived and were heading to
a bank. He told us to hold the money until we were getting off and hopefully at that
time no one would see us and ask him to show CUC, as he had none. A woman
aboard saved the day by asking for 26 pesos for the CUC she offered. All aboard
chastised her for asking too much and we were ordered by those gathered to give her
50, as she passed two CUC to the man at the reins. This was a lesson in Cuban sociology,
as no one complained while this ten-minute transaction and discussion took
place — they just waited. Public transport is very unreliable, except for buses that
carry tourists. Often on the country roads, we saw hundreds of people waiting for a
bus that did not come. Private transport is uncommon in the Cuban countryside.
When we had a hire car, people waved CUC as we passed, trying to get a lift.
Clipping and clopping towards the town centre was an adventure in itself as we talked
to the six other passengers about markets and moneychangers. When I produced my
camera, they ordered the cart stopped while I alighted to photograph the waving passengers.
The town was clean and had a wide pedestrian street crowded with shoppers
and controlled groups of tourists. Ice cream, at five Cuban pesos, was my first purchase.
The line was long, as the chocolate ice on a stick had just arrived. We learnt to
buy what we saw when we saw it. No point coming back later, as it would be sold out.
We found a travel agency and Yvonne, a bird-watcher, organized a car and driver
to take us to her beloved birds. This was expensive and in CUC, but anything for
tourists is not cheap by our standards. A guide was compulsory and ours held a doctorate
in biology, and several other degrees. We soon learnt that many highly qualified
people turn to tourism as a guide or taxi driver, because a US$5 tip is half a
month’s salary. Our guide was exceptional and found a Bee Hummingbird for us to
see, the smallest bird in the world. Cuba has many endemic species and Yvonne was
delighted with each birding expedition.
—Continued on page 37
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SEPTEMBER 2007 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 23