Bernie's Travels: Camaguey

The next day I was off to Camaguey, hitch-hiking of course. At the edge of town I found the yellow-shirts that help people find rides. While waiting I met a great guy, Edy, and we traveled together to the next town almost two hours away. From there I transferred to another truck and took a horse buggy to the edge of that town. There I waited with another bunch of people for the final ride to Camaguey.

Yellow-shirt helping folks to get a ride in the back of a dump truck

Typical passenger truck

My friend Edy looking for a place to hold on

Approaching a control point where they often stop vehicles to look for contraband items, goods for resale, and proper identification

Another billboard of Cuba's "5 Heros". Reads: They will return

Sign entering one of the cities along the way. Reads: "The day that there is no combat will be a day lost"... Revolucion baby! Yeah!

Waiting for the final ride

I made it there by dark then took a bicycle taxi into the center. My driver and I found an available guest house and it was home for the next two nights. I stayed with an absolutely wonderful woman, Conchita. Unlike my stay in Trinidad she was very warm and giving. She enjoyed the idea of my trip in Cuba and even offered to do my laundry and let me use her computer without charge. She also made a fabulous dinner.

Conchita sitting on the balcony outside of my room

I arrived on a Saturday night so I got cleaned up and went out on the town. I met some people and we ended up drinking lots of rum and beer then tried to push our way to the dance club which had just filled up. In the process of following my new friends and rushing the door my notebook with all of the address and ideas I had written down was pick-pocketed. Ironically it was more valuable than the 30 bucks I had in my front pocket. We eventually got in and it was a fun night, but I had too much to drink. I ended up walking a little too far from the center of town after the bar had closed and I was jumped from behind. I was choked by one guy and while I was wrestling myself free another guy fleeced my pockets of cash. It happened in seconds and they were off. I gave chase and they split up. One went left and I chased after him. He turned another corner and by the time I got there he was out of sight. It wasn’t the wisest decision but backtracked to the initial turn and waited in a doorway for about 15 minutes until the guy came back around the corner and was in my sights. I wasn’t really expecting to see him, and I was so excited that I yelled out and gave myself away before he was in front of me. The guy freaked and took off the other way. I went after him but he was too fast for my drunken legs. In the shuffle I lost my hat 15 bucks and messed up my hand a little.

Even though I was pick-pocketed and jumped in the same night I will say that Cuba is the safest country I’ve traveled in Latin America, and even safer than the States. Cuba is a strict place and there are a lot of heavy jail sentences for offenders. I’m not a fan of Cuba’s overwhelming control over its people, but there are advantages to the heavy-handed approach including an incredibly low crime rate. The lack of barred windows and barbwire fencing that is so common in most of Latin America is a testament to the general aire of safety in Cuba.

I spent the next day roaming around the city taking in the architecture, trains, old cars, people and political propaganda. It was a fun day and I met a lot of great people.

Reads: "I die for the Revolution" - Julio Mella

Reads: "In each neighborhood revolution"

Reads: "Committee for the Defense of the Revolution No. 11"

Shirt reads: "Revolutionize yourself, play sports"

Another government institution with political verbage. The 26th of July flag represents the Castros group that first initiated the revolution.

In Camaguey I checked my email for the first time in Cuba. Internet access is outrageously expensive and controlled here. It cost me more than seven dollars to buy a one hour card that is then registered with your passport information. Seven dollars is a ridiculous price to pay considering the poorest nations of Latin America are charging around a dollar an hour. In my estimation the internet rates are set to squeeze tourists for what they will begrudgingly pay while pricing out the Cuban population which doesn't have internet access in their homes. There are people who can check and write emails, but there is no ability to freely surf the web other than at government computer centers which also censor websites that are deemed a threat to the "revolution". Another fun fact is that none of the government run internet cafes that I saw had USB ports to transfer information. Forget about uploading subversive photos and information that would also be a threat to the "revolution".

After checking my email it was back to seeing more of the city and its great people, at least the one's who didn't rob me.

Eating at a cafe with a sign in the background reading: "Liberty flies with the wings of dignity, our 5 heros, They will return"

The other end of the bar has a painting of Che and reads: "Until victory, always"

Man refilling lighters which are coveted items. Lots of cigarette and cigar smokers here. Good thing they have so many doctors. Can you find the political propaganda in this photo?