Tim has had a run of great cycling holidays. This time, he and his wife explored the island
of Cuba in a small group of 4, with guide, with Exodus Travel.
His trip report:
Another year, another country to explore. This time it was Cuba -a twelve day cycling tour
that took in most areas of the island, albeit with some fairly long bus transfers. It’s a big
island, 750 miles east to west although only around 60 miles wide.
It’s always a bit of pot luck regarding the group size, but it turned out there were only four
of us. Luckily everyone got on and we were all of similar ability. Our local guide, Harley,
spoke excellent English and was a lot of fun, as was our bus driver.
We started out in Havana where we were united with our bikes followed by a cycling/sight
seeing tour of the city. It’s a fascinating city. Lots of beautiful old colonial architecture but a
lot of it gently crumbling away in decay. Lots of street art and music and fun just to people
watch. It was interesting to learn about the history too from a Cuban point of view. First the
war of independence in 1898 when the Spanish were kicked out and then of course the
more recent revolution in 1959. Later on we got to visit some of the sites of noteworthy
battles, also the house where Fidel Castro grew up and a massive monument to Che
Guevara.
From Havana we headed east, staying on the north side of the island passing through
Santa Clara and Remedios. Then down the centre through Camaguey, looping north again
to Holguin and then down to Santiago de Cuba. This was as far east as we got and then it
was back west, this time sticking to the south side of the island except for a repeated
section on the bus up through Camaguey.
The roads are generally a bit rough but very little traffic, so there was lots of scope for
picking your route through the potholes. One of my prevailing memories though will be the
amount of horse drawn transport that’s still in use. Not only agricultural but also little
buggies carrying six to eight people being used as buses.The centre of the island is pretty
flat with long straight roads bordered by farmland or scrub, a lot of mango trees loaded
with fruit too. We did have some hillier sections as we skirted the coastal mountain regions
but nothing too serious. Probably just as well as the temperature was 40° in the sun, so
lots of water was the order of the day. Most days the rides were around 30 to 40 miles,
with a couple of longer ones of around 57 miles. Also two much shorter rides, the first
around Havana on day 1 and then on day 9 when we had a day off and just cycled to the
beach! The longest ride was around the infamous Bay of Pigs. It could have equally been
named the Bay of Crabs as for around 20 miles the road was paved with squashed crabs,
a bit smelly but beautiful azure blue water when you saw it through the trees.
We stayed each night in what are known as Casas Particulares, small family run B&Bs.
They were generally really lovely. Very clean with en-suite facilities and usually access to a
roof terrace or a courtyard. All the owners were very welcoming and we got to see a whole
range of different properties, it was much nicer than staying in a hotel. Beware though,
there were some very steep and narrow stairs in some places so don’t pack too heavy! A
few words of Spanish would be useful, as few owners spoke English. My O-level Spanish
from 50 years ago proved to be very elusive when I tried to dredge it up!
We ended our trip back in Havana with an obligatory tour of the city in an old 1950’s
Chevy, air horns included. It had to be done!
It was a really interesting and fun holiday. Cuba is a country of little material wealth, food
rationing is in place for all Cuban nationals and there was a major fuel shortage while we
were there. But all basic needs are taken care of and everyone was very friendly and
welcoming. I would recommend it as a place to visit.
Tim W
