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toemayn Says: US Marine directed tour of the northeast gate where Cubans & we used to pass through to work or visit. Also I was privileged to see the room where military representatives of Cuba & US meet regularly.
Visiting a rented area by the US
Luchonda Says: Yes this is the most discussed area in Cuba since september the 11th.A prisonor Camp for American Afganistan terrorists - 600 of them are controlled by about 7000 american soldiers !We visited this area from the Cuban side - an historical key in Cuba's history.Recently...
Club Nevada: Nice view of the city!
RickL Says: Nice rooftop bar also serving spaghetti and sandwiches. Music was a little loud but the only view restaurant in the city! Good entertainment at night for the drinking crowd.
Luchonda Says: The restaurant is hard to reach - the circumstances in this area without doubt unique.The fields are plaved by millions of Cactusses and imagine landmines.Landmines on each side - american and cuban.The difference - americans noticed their location - Cuban army forgot to do...
Can't remember: Restaurant on the Hill
Luchonda Says: The access to this restaurant is special - maybe the best controlled road to a restaurant in the world.We got there - after severe checks - by bus.The road up to the hill is not easy - but the bus did it - scratching many Cacts and other hard fauna species. No many choice...
RickL Says: Carnival in Guantanamo is like no other Carnival in Cuba.The event takes place at about five different venues around the city all day until four in the morning. Some venues were the standard beer gardens, food kiosks and music and dance presentations. The live music were the...
Casa Central & Cabaret Hanoi: Floorshows
RickL Says: Two venues exist for floor shows in the spirit of (but not on the same scale) the Tropicana. Although the first one sounds like it's downtown Guantanamo neither of them are located in the central core but a taxi will take you there for $2 and then there is a $2 admission fee...
The base had a bowling alley,...
PAllen Says: The base had a bowling alley, where you could buy Heineken beer for 25-cents... I thought that was cool. Other than that, there is no night life. P.S.: Never get drunk and argumentative with the Shore Patrol... they're looking for any excuse to mace you and throw you in the...
RickL Says: This trip we got fed up waiting for other people to chauffeur us around. Times are difficult and it's harder to find a private taxi that is working or if the owner has enough pertrolio or gasolina and has the motivation to drive us. So we decided to buy one of these new...
Luchonda Says: An intermediate busstop in Guantanemo is a must. It was my first view on the Caribean sea-blue/green water !!Visiting the american base itself (from the Cuban side) must be arranged.It is a well controlled trip - but historicaly so important to the brave new world.As from...
RickL Says: The state runs all the $ stores and therefore even if Fidel gives thestores different names the products for sale are all the same. The only difference is there are shortages of everything from time to time. Too much. Everything is overpriced. Partly due to the Embargo and...
RickL Says: These people have a wide variety of clothes, toys, and various household articles for sale. Alway interesting to wander around and see what is being offered. Food venders are also found hanging around here. Always negotiable!
RickL Says: Este contra OesteEast vs. West.There is a great deal of rivalry between the rest of Cuba and the 5 provinces that make up the Oriente: Santiago, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas. There are claims that they don't understand each other's Spanish. Personally, I think...
La Casa de AmorThe thing that...
RickL Says: La Casa de AmorThe thing that was great about my most recent trip was that my Spanish has improved greatly and I'm now able to ask questions about what I see in Cuba that puzzles me. The latest curiosity which I came across in Guantanamo was La Casa De Amor. Not that one...
Helpfulness
Crimes against tourists are extremely rare but crime between Cubans is common. Particularly in the eastern provinces where unemployment is high and the police are generally chosen for their political loyalty and not their expertise. My Cuban family in Guantanamo got robbed soon after I left for Havana. I think those nights I was sitting on the porch put some ideas into their neighbour's heads that a 'rich tourist' was there and there must be great gifts inside. They didn't find anything and instead stole all the clothes they could carry. If you do make friends in Cuba be aware of the impact your presence will have on your friends as well.
Written Oct 5, 2002
I don't know if politics have changed in the last 20 years, but at that time everyone was restricted to the base. The entire base is surrounded by a high barbed-wire fence. If that isn't a tourist trap...
Written Oct 5, 2002
Luchonda Says: Between Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa.Along the Caribean sea - in the south of Cuba.It is a nice place - first contact with this blue/green water - but i think never a touristic beach due to the fauna and flora.But i think a place to visit due to the rich history and...
The Oriente is unique tropical...
RickL Says: The Oriente is unique tropical landscape. Beautiful isn't it? The waters are warm and inviting and colourful life under water is still bountiful and accessible. A lot of old stories scare people about the possibility of contracting Dengue fever in the eastern provinces but...
RickL Says: There is a new Etecsa office downtown that has three computers for internet use. You buy a card for 5CU for one hour. The cards are valid for all Etecsa offices around Cuba and like phone cards you don't need to use it all at once. Corner of Giro and Pedro Perez.
see the downtown section. As...
RickL Says: see the downtown section. As Cuban cities go I feel the most at home here. Very few hassles in the streets and a unique flavour all its own. Very laid back and relaxing without the constant hassles of the jinetera/os!This is a picture of Parque Marti in downtown. In the...
First meeting with the Caribbean Sea! "Oriente" stays for the eastern provinces like Guantanamo - birthplace of many revolutionairs - a place in Cuba rich of history-music and dances and of course the...
I am partial to Guantanamo (pop 220 000) primarily because of the people I know there. There are few beaches and historical buildings but they do exist without the associated tourist trappings....
I spent 6 hot weeks in the bowels of the engine room of an old steam powered Fast Frigate (USS Julius A. Furer, FFG-6 "the Jolly JAF") during a shakedown exercise in 1982, durring which time we made...
Guantanamo - just passing through
As I said in the introduction to Cuba I used the Lonely Planet guidebook to Cuba. Its very politically correct and in its escriptions it never ever writes off anywhere. I didn't spend that much time...
Build your own Guantánamo page
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