taco's & toucan's travels ~ 2019

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DAY 44

Week 7

HAVANA (La Habana, CUB) to ANTIGUA GUATEMALA (Sacatepéquez, GTM)
via PANAMA CITY (Ciudad de Panamá, PAN)

Saturday April 27^th, 2019

TODAYS MILEAGE – 1,858 miles / 2,990 kilometres

TRIP MILEAGE – 19,591 miles / 31,529 kilometres

My 3AM start to the day came about because I was sharing a transfer service with both Andrea (an Advertising Exec from Melbourne, Australia) and Gretta (Sports Science professional from Mildura, Australia) who were on the 7:30 AM flight to Toronto, Canada.

I actually had an 8:30 AM departure for Panama City and then on to Guatemala City, but waiting at the casa or at the airport is still killing time by any measure.

It took ½ an hour to get to the Aeropuerto Internacional José Martí, then a 2 hour long Copa Airlines queue to get checked in and a mad dash though Customs & Immigration to say goodbye to Gretta and Andrea, whose flight was in final boarding and they were the last ones on the flight.

With having a little bit of time and similar to my leaving Mexico on this trip – what did I think of Cuba?

Cuba is an interesting mix of unique historical activities, elements, political & religious interference as well as armed incursions, that have shaped the country into what it is today. It’s a mix of failed Communism ideals, that have morphed into semi-Socialism with a dollop of fast spreading capitalism to spice up the mix.

Whilst people who are used the government either providing or heavily subsidising everything, the prevailing government recognizes they cannot afford to continue that way. Having said that, the ruling elements have identified tourism as the catalyst for getting the country back on its feet, but they are fast realising they have to relinquish their control of almost everything – hence the two local currencies as well as the free, grey and black market economies.

My two weeks in the country helped form couple of interesting observations:

Not every Cuban has a stogie or Cohiba hanging from their lips - Whilst there looks to be proportionately more cigar smokers than you’re used to, it’s simply too expensive for the locals to buy the top grade cigars.
There is a tremendous amount of rice consumed in Cuban dishes - Similarly, there is a lot of plantains on the table as well.
Alcohol is cheap - Decent local cervezas run you $0.90 to $1.25 USD for a can or stubby. Rum can be had for $3 USD for a litre of what I call cocktail starter, with the decent rums $5-15 USD a litre for your smooth sipping pleasure.
Water on the other hand is expensive - It can cost you anywhere from $1.00 - $3.00 USD for a 1.5 litre bottle, depending on which government run "un-supermarket" or local owner kiosk you purchase it from.
Thunderbox visits - It is expected that you pay $0.25 to $1.00 USD for every visit to the toilet in any public area – even your own hotel ..... and best you bring “Poo Tickets” as that can be scarce in many places.
If it has wheels & moves in Cuba - It’s a human transport device and potential revenue generating facilitator. Horse, cart, bicycle, bus, truck car or tractor – it doesn't matter how you travel, as long as you’re not walking by the looks of it.
Female government workers and school girls uniforms - They looked to have been designed by a male adolescent schoolboy – the skirts and shorts are seriously length deficient or they're saving on material due to the embargo.
Local casa stays - They are simply awesome!!! You get to hang with the locals and get both an insight and first hand experiences into to how they go about their daily lives.
Communication - For me in Cuba, it was not a major issue as with hand signals, “SpanGlish”, pointing and the fun game of “chatting with charades”, we seemed to sort out what was needed

I have to say that regardless of where I went throughout the island, the people were warm, friendly and very accommodating, which speaks volumes considering the adversity the nation has been through and continues as part of everyday life and as a destination - I wouldn't think twice in revisiting.

My Copa Airlines flight CM321 departed Havana on time at 8:45 AM and landed (with spontaneous passenger applause too I might add) at Panama City’s Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen at 10:30 AM, which is precisely the time when they are boarding flight CM544 to Guatemala City.

As luck would have it, my incoming flight gate is at the opposite end of the airport, so I have to hustle the entire length of the joint …. and all travelators are not operational – go figure. I get to my gate and slip straight on to the ½ full flight to find a little kid sitting in my seat. I show what looks to be the accompanying mother of the child my ticket and seat number 10D, but she just shakes her head and ignores me. I get the attention of a trolley dolly who tries to seat me in the “shit house” seats i.e. the very last ones that rest up against the cattle class toilets and rear galley. As you can imagine, I decline the offer.

It wasn’t until a Spanish speaking woman comes up and wants her 10F window seat in the same row that I have the disputed aisle seat, that the hostess asks the woman for her boarding pass. The woman rolls her eyes, huffs & puffs and makes a big show of not being able to find her boarding passes, meanwhile my new row-mate and I are performing the airline seat-swapping dance trying to not block the remaining passengers from getting to their seats.

I come to find out during the flight that it wasn’t until the Cabin Manager came up and threatened to offload the mother and her two kids, as they are required to produce their boarding passes upon request, that they were magically located. You wouldn’t read about it – I watched the hostess walk the trio to the very last low of seats on the plane.

We arrive just on 1PM at Guatemala City’s Aeropuerto Internacional La Aurora, spend over an hour clearing Immigration and then play the Guatemalan Customs “Ring A Bell And Win A Prize” game in which I declared I had prescription medications, a pocket knife, scissors and a piece of artwork. The attending officer takes a disinterested glance at my Customs Declaration, then asked me to push the button on her workstation, that would illuminate a large red or green light, thus randomly selecting you for further investigation. I went “Green means Go” and was outta there like an Ethiopian after a chicken before anyone had second thoughts. The American Airlines pilot who jumped the queue behind me wasn't so lucky, he not only got the big red light, but also copped the loud obnoxious fail buzzer sound as well.

My final destination for the day would be Posada Los Búcaros, located in the adjoining town of Antigua, that according to my transfer driver, on a good day would take under an hour. Today wasn't my day it seems, as it took just over 2 hours in bumper to bumper traffic to cover the 40 kilometre (25 mile) journey. Not that I had a care, I just took it all in from the co-pilots seat.

I got my accommodations sorted and hit the streets with the intention of securing some of the local Guatemalan Quetzales (GTQ) currency, which currently runs 5.35 to the AUD or 7.645 to the USD. This turned into a bit of a mission as either the ATM’s would only allow 200 GTQ - if they had currency available ..... and that’s if the ATM was working at all. The bank was a no-go as it had a queue for Africa at 15 minutes to closing and I didn't have my passport to proceed with any transaction. In the end I settled on taking what was available - 200 QTC’s, and will sort it out on Monday.

My hotel supplied walking map which listed the Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo as a local dining option. Its non-descript unassuming hole-in-the-wall façade gave no hint as to the how large, intricate, ornate and old the actual building is.

I found my way to the dining facilities, that are literally hidden away in the rear corner of site, was seated with an ice cold Gallo cerveza and took in the available surroundings with the varied menu.

Alas, I could not make my mind up with so many good-looking options - time to enable my back up plan. I resorted to my usual fall-back position and simply asked for the Chef to choose for me, and hand on heart, I was not disappointed in the slightest.

A starter consisting of made-from-scratch asparagus soup with a fresh tomato & chilli salsa picante got the meal going. A stuffed pork Chile Relleno with homemade chicken chorizo sausage, guacamole, rice, bean paste and the best tortillas I've had in a long while.

Fair dinkum, it was an awesome way to top off a very long day.

• ANTIGUA GUATEMALA ~ Getting My Bearings (Sacatepéquez, GTM)
• ANTIGUA GUATEMALA ~ Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo (Sacatepéquez, GTM)
• ANTIGUA GUATEMALA ~ Posada Los Búcaros (Sacatepéquez, GTM)