A Country Close in Physical Distance Yet Far Way in Political Differences
I blink back tears as the exuberant voices of Cantores de Cienfuegos ping my soul like a tuning fork, recalibrating my way of being and seeing the world. I’m in Cuba, an island country that resides close to the United States but is far away in terms of political differences. The United States’ relationship with Cuba is complicated and defined by years of trade sanctions and Cold War machinations. Fidel Castro rose to power in 1959, marking the end of the island’s tropical playground status for expats and US travelers.
I’m traveling to Cuba to satisfy my intense curiosity about the duality of Cuban life. Cubans are among the most passionate and animated people I’ve ever met. They freely express their enthusiasm about sports, music, food, and art, yet they live with restrictions that dictate daily life. I want to embrace another’s reality, experiencing Cuba through the lens of those who live there, so I’m traveling with a journalist visa arranged by AC Journeys, a travel company specializing in Cuba trips.
According to the U.S. Department of State, “Travel to Cuba for tourist activities remains prohibited, and U.S. federal regulations restrict travel to Cuba to licensed travelers engaged in certain specified activities. U.S. travelers to Cuba can apply for one of 12 licenses, including the “Cultural Educational Travel” or “People-to-People” license for group travel and the “Support for the Cuban People” license for independent travelers. The latter requires that travelers engage in meaningful interactions with locals with a full-time schedule of qualifying activities and keep records for at least five years.
My recommendation is to consult the expertise of a travel agency specializing in Cuba trips for help navigating the proper permissions and itineraries. AC Journeys, based in Miami, is owned by Cuban-born Jose Pineda, who has the contacts and knowledge to navigate the nuances of travel in Cuba. I also recommend consulting the Office of Foreign Assets Control, a U.S. Department of the Treasury department. OFAC outlines the legal requirements and restrictions for Americans traveling to Cuba, including spending limits and prohibited activities.
“Cuba’s tourist landscape is very diverse, with numerous private businesses and hotels that allow us to meet the needs and requirements of U.S. travel to Cuba. We only use privately-owned companies and suppliers for our U.S. travelers,” says AC Journeys owner Jose Pineda, a U.S. citizen. ”Aside from U.S. travel restrictions, Cubans welcome American travelers,” Jose explains.
I flew into Havana on a direct hour-long flight from Tampa, Florida, intent on exploring Cuba’s cosmopolitan life and countryside. On the surface, it’s tempting to believe the popular trope of Cuba as frozen in time. Vintage cars fill the streets as practical and tourist modes of transportation. The sense of scarcity is palpable with the prevalence of outdated goods such as cathode ray tube TVs in many homes as the portal to the outside world. These nostalgic images are a photographer’s catnip, begging the lens to capture a romantic, bygone era rendered in outdated essentials of daily life.
Rum, cigars, coffee, and rumba are Cuba’s claims to fame; however, culture, commerce, and creativity are redefining how the world sees the island. A generational shift is underway, with an emerging creative and entrepreneurial class launching trendy hotels, restaurants, boutiques, fashion labels, and globally-recognized art.
Fabrica De Arte is Cuba’s answer to a contemporary art museum, where nightlife, the art world, and the social scene converge. The sprawling warehouse space of converted shipping containers resides in a former cooking oil factory in Vedado, Havana. Musician X Alfonso founded the cultural center in 2014 to showcase the works of contemporary Cuban and international artists in rotating exhibitions. Fabrica De Arte has multiple venues, each dedicated to different art forms, and hosts live concerts, dance, and theater productions. The art on view is edgy, bold, and uncensored, including an installation of 364 pieces of used underwear preserved in individual plastic bags by artist Enrique Rottenberg. In 2019, Timemagazine included Fabrica De Arte in its list of the 100 Greatest Places in the World, highlighting its influence on the cultural landscape.
Artistic and religious expressions reign free at Callejón de Hamel, a cultural hub celebrating Santería & Yoruba Spirituality in Havana’s Cayo Hueso neighborhood. Callejón de Hamel is the vision of artist Salvador González Escalona, who created an”Afro-Cuban” art form that blends surrealism and cubism. “In 1990, Salvador created an act of transgression, transforming an urban alley to legitimize and visualize Afro-Cuban spiritual traditions,” says Elias Hassef, the late artist’s assistant.
I pass through an open arch leading to the mural-covered alleyway with walls of painted bathtubs. We start at the community center, a mishmash of rooms filled with Santeria spiritual objects, altars, ephemera, and photos of Salvador and Cuban heroes, including Che Guevera. The open-air gallery is full of life, with people dancing to a rumba band, Santeria shops selling spiritual items, and children climbing on repurposed household items that double as a public sculpture and playground. “Salvador didn’t have money to create sculptures, so he found items in the garbage and turned them into artwork,” Elias says. We approach a shrine to Salvador in the alleyway, honoring his legacy and death in 2021. Today, many Cuban artists draw inspiration from Salvador’s Afro-Cuban artistic style and sell their artwork in a small shop in the alley.
Next, I head to Taller Experimental de Gráfica, a printmaking studio founded in 1962 in Old Havana’s Plaza de la Cathedral. I watch artists sketch designs they press into colorful prints using a large limestone to produce lithographs. Cuba’s cigar industry relied on lithography to create elaborate cigar labels, posters, and prints, which helped popularize the traditional printing technique.
Today, artists at the workshop experiment with other graphic arts, including woodcuts, etching, collography, and engraving. Taller Experimental de Gráfica sells limited-edition prints created by Cuban and international artists as part of its effort to preserve and promote Cuba’s printmaking heritage.
Along Havana’s northern shore, the siren call of the Malecon sea wall beckons locals and visitors for fishing, recreation, and socializing by day, as well as romantic strolls by night. The four-mile-long coral and concrete wall was built in 1901 by American engineers and borders Havana Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Hotel Nacional sits across the street on Taganana Hill, overlooking the sea wall as a Havana icon with its signature Cuba sign. The US government restricts American travelers from patronizing government-owned restaurants and hotels, which is why I couldn’t stay at the famous hotel; however, I was able to explore the property. The lobby’s nostalgic decor of old photos chronicling the hotel’s heyday as host to Hollywood stars and political dignitaries exudes a museum-like ambiance. Hotel Nacional opened in 1930 as a resort and casino playground for the rich and famous. When Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, he nationalized the hotel and shut down its casino. The hotel’s colorful history includes mob meetings and geopolitical showdowns as the command center of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Today, Hotel Nacional is Cuba’s cultural and historic landmark, welcoming tourists worldwide.
Reminders of Cuba’s revolutionary past and present political reality are evident in Plaza de la Revolución (Revolution Square). The faces of Cuban revolutionaries look onto the plaza from the facades of two large buildings. The steel outline of Che Guevara’s face is on the Ministry of the Interior building, with the words “Hasta la victoria siempre” (“Until victory, always”). The face of revolutionary leader Camilo Cienfuegos adorns the adjacent Ministry of Communications building with the phrase “Vas bien, Fidel” (“You’re doing fine, Fidel”). Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez succeeded Fidel’s brother, Raúl Castro in 2018 to become Cuba’s current President.
Throughout my trip, I dined at private family-run restaurants called paladars. Cuba’s culinary scene caters to foodie travelers with a wide range of private restaurants, from trendy, upscale dining spots to traditional cuisine. My standout culinary experiences include the fresh lobster at “El Cocinero,” located in a former cooking oil factory next to Fabric de Arte. The restaurant’s alfresco rooftop dining offers a nightscape of Havana.
At La Reserva Velado in Havana, I took a cooking class as I sipped Canchánchara, a drink originating in Trinidad. Chef Pavo taught me to prepare two traditional Cuban dishes, ceviche and ropa veija. The restaurant resides in the gardens of the stylish boutique hotel of the same where I spent my last night in Cuba.
La Guarida is one of Havana’s most famous paladars for its Cuban fusion cuisine, celebrity clientele, and role in the Oscar-nominated Cuban film “Fresa y Chocolate” (Strawberry & Chocolate). The movie sets, furnishings, and props in this former colonial mansion are recognizable in the restaurant as part of its ambiance. I dined on the rooftop terrace under twinkling string lights with sweeping views of Havana at night. At Restaurant Ivan, Chef Justo prepared food as performance art with a deconstructed liquid croquette in a smoking glass case. The restaurant’s quirky decor of nostalgic Cuba photos and ephemera adds to the authentic experience. Restaurant VistaMar offers seaside views with dining poolside at this former residence and a menu of haute cuisine seafood.
While in Havana, I stayed several nights at the Loft Bahia Havana in the city’s historic district. Rooms overlook an interior courtyard, and the hotel’s rooftop restaurant and bar offer sweeping coastline views. I start each day sipping a strong cortado at sunrise on the rooftop, absorbing the sights and sounds of the city coming to life. I end each evening sipping a mojito at sunset, admiring the city’s social side with live music, boisterous street chess games, and animated conversations permeating the streets.
Cuba has 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Old Havana and its forts, Castillo de la Real Fuerza, and Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (El Morro). I met with historian Rolando Sariol for a walking tour of Havana’s old city, founded in 1519 as a Spanish colonial port.
We begin at the Malecon overlooking the long neck of Havana Bay. El Morro stands at the bay entrance, built to protect Havana from pirates and foreign invaders during the Spanish colonial era. “In 1553, the Spanish Governor of Cuba moved to Havana because the port city was a hub of commerce and trade along the Gulf of Mexico for ships traveling to Central America,” Rolando explains. Today, El Morro is a maritime museum open for visitors with an iconic lighthouse still in operation. We cross the street, passing Castillo de la Real Fuerza, a 16th-century fortress of Baroque architecture with military restraint and one of the oldest stone forts in the Americas. Today, it operates as another maritime museum known for its famous watchtower weather vane, La Giraldilla.
Plaza de Armas marks the entrance to Havana’s historic center as cobblestone streets transition to a wood-paved road. In the 1830s, a Spanish captain ordered the creation of Calle de Madera to reduce the noise from horse-drawn carriages disturbing his household and nearby residents. A statue of Cuban hero Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, who started Cuba’s War of Independence from Spain, stands in the square. The Cuban landowner freed his slaves to join the war in 1868 and refused to surrender when the Spanish captured his son. The Ten Years’ War paved the way for Cuba’s independence in 1898. We stroll past the Mural of the Founders, depicting three-dimensional, life-sized paintings of key people in Cuba’s history. Cuban artist Andrés Carrillo created the black-and-white fresco on the side of a building in the plaza as a visual history.
Buildings in Havana’s old town have a distinct architectural style that fuses Spanish Baroque with Cuban influences. Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, the former governor’s palace in Plaza de Armas, exudes Cuban Baroque with its arcades, balconies, and grand courtyard. It now serves as the Museum of the City of Havana. The Cathedral of Havana, built by the Jesuits in the 18th Century, is another iconic landmark featuring asymmetrical bell towers, intricate stone carvings, and a grand façade of coral stone.
Preservation efforts continue in Havana’s historic district, and progress is evident; however, large parts of the city are crumbling. In the aftermath of the Soviet collapse, a financial crisis ensued because Cuba had relied on subsidies from Moscow for decades. “The collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1989 created an economic crisis in Cuba. We lost 35 percent of our GDP overnight, so the Cuban government turned to tourism to save the economy,” Rolando explains.
With the Soviet collapse, Cuba lost nearly 85% of its trade, and to compensate, the country enacted economic reforms that legalized U.S. dollars and permitted limited private enterprise and self-employed workers.
In 1990, the Cuban government started restoring Old Havana, including four main squares and opened a trade school two years later to train artisans in restoration skills with degree-earning programs.
Bodgegita Del Medio fills the streets with live music a few blocks away, attracting customers with its reputation as the inventor of the mojito, the quintessential Cuban cocktail. The walls outside and inside the bar are covered with signatures of past patrons, including many famous names from celebrities to dignitaries. We end our tour at Plaza Vieja, founded in 1559 as a residential and commercial space rather than a government or military square. Public art, street performers, cafes, and colonial architecture populate the plaza. I spot several fortune tellers giving tarot card readings for tourists and local children climbing a large wooden sculpture belonging to Havana’s Biennale installations.
On the way back to my hotel, I walked through the lobby of Hotel Ambos Mundos, known for its famous and frequent guest, Ernest Hemingway. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author stayed at his favorite room, 511, which today serves as a shrine in his honor open for public view. The lobby is filled with photos of Hemingway’s time in Cuba from 1928 until 1960, including a mounted typewriter Hemingway used. The author bought a home, Finca Vigia, in San Francisco de Paula, a 15-minute drive from Havana. Finca Vigia is one of Cuba’s most popular tourist attractions, so expect crowds and be prepared to navigate your way around people to look inside the windows and doorways. Visitors are not allowed inside the home fully furnished with Hemingway’s original belongings. I followed the paved garden pathway to the waterfront where Hemingway’s wooden fishing boat, The Pilar, is docked. Hemingway’s fishing adventures on the Pilar inspired his famous novel, The Old Man and the Sea.
Vintage cars fuel one of my fascinations with Cuba, and I wanted to ride in one of these “almendrones,” as Cubans call them. The nickname means almond and refers to the shell of a car with a mix of repurposed parts inside. A 1960 Chevrolet Impala convertible from Nostalgicar picked me up at Loft Bahia Havana for a drive along the coastline. I’m curious how Cubans keep these 20th-century cars running in the 21st century, so I met with master mechanic Julio Alvarez, who owns and operates Nostalgicar, a private taxi service and garage of 15 vintage Chevrolets. A 1956 pink and white Belair named Lola is the star of his collection, credited with launching the first private taxi business in Havana.
Julio names each of his classic cars and says it takes an average of nine months to restore a vintage car from its shell. He repurposes each car, cobbling used parts from other countries since no new American cars or parts are available due to the U.S. embargo. Julio shows me his favorite vintage vehicle in the collection, a 1957 Chevy Belair with red and white interiors, and invites me to sit inside. The large steering wheel, handshift gears on the steering wheel column, and the dashboard feel foreign, as if I would have to retrain my muscle memory to drive it. Julio shows me the Cuban way to drive with one elbow resting on the window sill and one hand on the steering wheel.
My visit to Nostalgicar underscores the resourcefulness of Cubans, where improvisation and repurposing are daily necessities and a national pastime. I found evidence of these resilient cultural traits everywhere, from the oxen-pulled carts that share the highway with cars and trucks to crowds of hitchhikers gathered under highway overpasses daily to flag down rides between provinces. Cubans are legally obligated to pick up hitchhikers to alleviate the country’s transportation needs. An organized honor system is orchestrated by a person typically holding a sign or waving a flag to signal cars to stop and pick up the next person in line. The national hitchhiking system is one of many cultural quirks that make exploring Cuba a fascinating and eye-opening experience.
“Cubans live through a lot of challenges daily, but you don’t see depressed people with sad faces. Cubans are resilient and strong, wanting to move forward and grow with ambitions and dreams. I would tell Americans to come to Cuba and leave behind everything you think you know about Cuba,” Jose says.
I head to the countryside from Havana, driving 155 miles southeast along the Autopista Nacional (A1). My destination is Cienfuegos, a city on the southern coast of Cuba, founded in 1819 by French Creoles from New Orleans and French immigrants from Bordeaux. The city is named after José Cienfuegos, a Spanish captain-general of Cuba, and is the only Cuban city of French origin. Cienfuegos’ New Orleans-esque architecture and ambiance are visible in its precise grid layout, wide streets, and open spaces. Its nickname, The Pearl of the South, nods to Cienfuegos’ well-preserved neoclassical architecture, earning the historic center a UNESCO World Heritage site designation.
Parque José Martí anchors the city’s historic heart with a statute of Cuban hero José Martí. The poet, writer, and revolutionary leader fought for Cuba’s independence from Spanish rule. In 1898, Cuba gained independence from Spain, three years after Marti’s death. Red-domed public buildings surround the square, including the iconic Government Palace, the seat of Cienfuegos’ provincial government. The neoclassical building’s distinctive red domes are among several dotting the city skyline inspired by the domes of Florence, Italy.
My guide, Any Carriles, wears all white and instructs me not to take photos or film her because she is a new initiate of Santeria, an Afro-Cuban religion. As an “Iyawó” or new initiate, the year-long process also requires Any to avoid mirrors and physical contact with others to protect her spiritual energy and strengthen her connection with the Orishas or deities.
We walk through the Arch of Triumph, constructed in 1902 to commemorate Cuba’s independence, which fronts Casa de la Cultura Benjamín Duarte, also known as Ferrer Palace. The blue-and-white neoclassical former private mansion looks like a piece of Wedgwood porcelain. The cultural space hosted the Cantores de Cienfuegos choir performance I attended. The choir is a source of civic pride, dating back 100 years when Father Pedro de Urtiaga gathered the first male members in 1924. “What’s special about Cantores de Cienfuegos’ sound is that everybody in the choir projects a love of singing and music through their energy directed at the audience. The audience is connected and feels that energy and passion,” says Adrián Alegre Guerra, the choir director. Members of the coed choir are professional musicians and singers who earn modest government salaries.
From Cienfuegos, I head southeast 50 miles to Trinidad, along the coastline of the Caribbean Sea. Much of coastal Cuba has a pastel-colored patina created by salt breezes, humidity, and neglect. Sugarcane production in the 18th and 19th centuries brought wealth to Trinidad, which financed grand homes with wooden balustrades on the widows and facades with elaborately painted frescos that mimic tilework. Trinidad’s old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a designation that brought economic revitalization to the struggling city. “There was a blackout of Trinidad’s economy from the end of the sugarcane production until tourism brought the city’s second economic windfall,” says my guide Mariurgi Juviel Vera. She lives on a coffee farm in the surrounding mountains of Trinidad.
A sculpture of the Manaca Iznaga Tower greets those entering the city, depicting the region’s most iconic landmark, a symbol of Cuba’s colonial-era sugar industry. At its peak, super production in Cuba provided nearly one-third of the world’s sugar. In 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued an embargo of Cuba’s sugar exports and trade sanctions in response to Fidel’s nationalization of American-owned oil refineries and U.S.-owned sugar plantations.
We walk past several markets with local artisans selling handcrafts, including embroidered textiles and clay cups to serve Canchánchara, a traditional Cuban drink of honey, lime, and rum. “A local family makes these clay cups to help keep the drink cool. Many local bars serve Canchánchara, a drink dating back to the Cuban War of Independence when rebels drank it for energy and warmth,” Mariurgi explains.
Plaza Mayor anchors Trinidad’s historic district and the birthplace of Trinidad with a collection of eclectic houses. “The owners were trying to show off their wealth through architecture and embellishments. Today, the government owns most of these homes and is in charge of preserving their architectural integrity as part of the UNESCO World Heritage site,” Mariurgi says.
The real Manaca Iznaga Tower stands 148 feet in nearby Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills), also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sugar mill ruins populate the valley, remnants of over 40 sugar plantations once in operation. Alejandro Iznaga, a wealthy sugar plantation owner, built the tower in 1816 to oversee enslaved workers on the surrounding sugar plantations and monitor the sugar cane fields. I climbed 136 steps up seven levels, each with open panoramic views of the valley and the village of Manacas-Iznaga, home to many slave descendants.
On the outskirts of Trinidad, Topes de Collantes Natural Park in the Escambray Mountains draws locals and tourists for its lush rainforests, waterfalls, caves, hiking trails, and diverse wildlife. The park is one of the best ecotourism destinations in Cuba, with hiking trails leading to the Javira waterfall. I paid $10 to enter the park as a tourist; however, Mariurgi enters free because the Cuban government subsidizes entrance fees for national parks, museums, and other cultural venues for citizens.
The trail to the waterfall is about 2.5 miles round trip and is one of the most accessible hikes in the park. Along our hike, we cross streams and traverse steep terrain in some sections while stopping to admire Royal Palms, Cuba’s official tree. We reap the rewards of our hike with the perfect entry point for swimming at the base of the Javira waterfall as it cascades into a deep natural pool. More adventurous hikers can jump from the mountainside into the waterfall further up the trail.
While visiting Trinidad, I stayed at La Casona, a hacienda and former equestrian estate that transports me back to 18th-century Trinidad. At night, generators powered the hotel due to widespread and unpredictable power outages in Cuba. Traveling to Cuba requires embracing another’s reality with grace, patience, and an open mind. Power outages and unreliable WIFI were the daily challenges. When I traveled to Cuba, the U.S. Embassy in Havana warned of regular power outages, saying that Cuba’s electrical grid is increasingly unstable and the electrical system remains vulnerable, with regular outages occurring more frequently and for extended periods.
On the way back to Havana, we pass through Vinales Valley, known for its steep limestone hills called mogotes. Erosion caused limestone caves to collapse millions of years ago, leaving domed hills that resemble small mountains. We stop to explore an oddity at this UNESCO World Heritage Site: a series of painted mogotes depicting Cuba’s early inhabitants, red and yellow prehistoric creatures, and early man. The Cuban painter Leovigildo Gonzalez Murillo, who studied with Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, painted the mogotes over four years starting in 1960.
The Sierra de los Órganos mountains surrounding the valley are home to centuries-old tobacco cultivation techniques that produce some of the world’s finest cigars. Tobacco farmer Sergio Camejo rides his motorcycle to the mogotes to guide us to Benito Farms, a fifth-generation family-owned tobacco and coffee farm. Sergio invites me inside the family home, built in 1895 and filled with photos of his ancestors, to share a cup of Cuban coffee spiked with rum and a cigar. I asked Sergio the secret to Cuba’s world-famous cigars. “Iron in the soil is ideal for tobacco cultivation, plus the surrounding mountains create a balance of high pressure during the day and low pressure at night,” Sergio explains.
His family farm spans 25 acres and grows fruits, vegetables, coffee, and tobacco. Benito Farms cultivates all its crops by hand without the use of machinery. The Cuban government provides the tobacco seeds free of charge to Sergio to grow into seedlings. He cultivates and harvests the tobacco leaves for either cigar or cigarette production.
A thatched hut on the property serves as the drying room for the farm’s tobacco leaves, “After the leaves dry, they undergo a natural fermentation process wrapped in palm leaves, then we take them to an exportation house where they are classified,” Sergio explains. Cuban cigars are classified based on size, strength, and quality, with different shapes, sizes, and categories used by cigar manufacturers.
Sergio shows me how to wrap a Cuban cigar, removing the central vein from the soft tobacco leaf. “The vein holds the largest nicotine concentration. Cigarette factories grind up the veins to mix into the tobacco, which is why Cuban cigarettes are so strong. On the farm, we grind it up to fertilize the soil or create a natural pesticide by mixing it with water,” he explains.
Rolling a cigar requires at least four leaves, depending on the size. The filler and binder go into the wrapper tobacco leaf, which we rolled into a shape. “Once we have the shape, we seal the cigar with honey, unlike the factory-sealed cigars, which use imported resins with distinct smells and flavors,” Sergio explains.
I was ready to light up my freshly wrapped cigar when Sergio warned me to wait a few days to smoke it, letting the cigar wrapper absorb humidity to reduce the bitterness. I say goodbye to Sergio and his dad, Benito, over another cup of Cuban coffee as we smoke seasoned farm-grown cigars. Sergio can reserve a portion of his tobacco crop to make cigars for personal consumption, but he is prohibited from labeling or selling cigars.
On my last night in Cuba, I dined outside at SolMar, a new Havana restaurant along the Malecon. Waves crash over the sea wall, creating an ethereal backdrop for a Cuban flamenco dancer moving as if in sync with glowing sea spray. The passionate scene reminds me of the energy Cuba exudes, a life force in music, food, dance, art, and culture that will reverberate unexpectedly long after I’ve left the island.
I echo Jose’s advice to those considering a trip to Cuba: leave your preconceived notions behind, arrive with a curious mind and an open heart, ready to embrace the reality of another culture. If you do, chances are that Cuba will inspire an expanded understanding of the human spirit.
What to know before you go:
Cuba has no credit card infrastructure, so you can’t use credit and debit cards. Cuba accepts U.S. dollars and Euros, so ensure you have sufficient cash for your trip. The Cuban government requires that travelers declare cash amounts over 5,000 USD.
I strongly recommend working with a certified and licensed tour company specializing in Cuba travel. I worked with AC Journeys, which crafted my U.S. government permissible itinerary and provided certified and knowledgeable Cuban guides.
Car rentals in Cuba are state-controlled. I would not recommend renting a car and driving into the countryside as an independent traveler. Fuel supplies are inconsistent, and gas stations are scarce. I traveled with a private guide provided by AC Journey, who took gas tanks along for refueling.
U.S. travelers generally need a SIM card or an alternative communication method to make calls in Cuba, as most U.S. mobile carriers have limited or expensive roaming options on the island.
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