Although I find the question difficult to answer, whenever I’m asked what my favorite travel destination is, the first thing that comes to mind is always Cuba. The country is steeped in mystique for many visitors and I had a wonderful time there back when I spent a week in Havana and Varadero in 2012. With an increasing interest in travel to Cuba, I wanted to share my destination guide to this beautiful Caribbean island-country.

La Habana Vieja | Old Havana

Start your day by walking the UNESCO World Heritage site. The neoclassical buildings and cobblestone streets have not lost their former beauty. Old Havana oozes charm and beauty, it’s perfect for a walking tour to soak up Cuba’s colonial history and rich culture. Highlights include Catedral de San Cristobal, the military fortress - Castillo de Real Fuerza, and popular public squares Plaza de Armas and Plaza Vieja.

El Capitolio | National Capitol Building

No trip to Havana would be complete without a visit to the National Capitol Building. The distinct dome of this striking landmark stands out against the surrounding architecture. The building is supposed to be modeled after the American capital building, but it is also easy to see the inspiration from the Pantheon in Paris. The building housed the government from its inauguration in 1929 until post the Cuban Revolution in 1959.




El Malecón | The Malecón

A stroll along Malecon is a perfect way to end your day in Havana. The seafront stretch is home to some beautiful 20th century buildings. The Malecon is also a common hangout for locals where you can find children playing in the water and young couples enjoying the sunset.

Along the Malecon is Hotel Nacional de Cuba (the National Hotel of Cuba), a luxury hotel and World Heritage Site. The hotel is a celebration of several architectural styles, reflecting Art Deco, neo-classical and neo-colonial influences. The hotel has accommodated famous guests throughout history including Nat King Cole, Ernest Hemingway, Frank Sinatra, and Winston Churchill.

Plaza de la Revolución | Revolution Square

Revolution Square is a notable for where any political rallies have taken place, and where Fidel Castro and other political figures have often addressed Cubans. Several landmarks and government building surround the plaza, the most prominent being the Ministry of Interior building which has a large mural of Che Guevara. In addition, the plaza is home to the Jose Marti Monumental statue, standing 109 meters tall. Although the Plaza itself is far less appealing than the beautiful colonial architecture that the rest of Havana has to offer, a look around the Plaza provides a brief overview of Cuba’s diplomatic history.

Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes | National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana

One of the regrets of my trip to Havana was not stopping by any of the museums in the capital. The one I’d heard the most about was the National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana. The Museum has two impressive buildings - one houses the Cuban art collections from colonial times and contemporary generations, the other displays European paintings and sculptures.

The sunburns have healed, the tan lines have faded, and I have forgotten the lyrics to Guantanamara that I learned on my third day on the island. My February trip to Cuba could have been another travel memory – a folder of pictures on my hard drive and a small diary of near-illegible scribbles collecting dust on my desk. Instead, it’s an itch on my mind, a firm weight on my chest.

Two months later, it’s a trip that haunts me.

She was tanned, but her skin was not very dark. I’d guess she was no older than 14, but she was a fairly large girl for her age. Her short brown hair made her chubby cheeks seem even wider; it didn’t suit her. Neither did the tight pink t-shirt that her thick arms spilled out of, nor the faded jeans that hugged her wide hips. She had a bold look in her eyes, confrontational but not harmful.

She stood at the edge of the dirt road that ran through her village. It was the last of a dozen of rural villages in Matanzas that I had driven through that day. In this one, the houses appeared to be in slightly better shape than those in the other villages. The shacks were made of brick, not sheets of metal that I had seen earlier. They were also built on a slightly raise platform to prevent water from getting inside when it rained – not all the homes in Cuba’s countryside had that small luxury.

When our vehicle approached her village, the kids ran out of their houses to take their usual place by the road. Like I had seen children do earlier in the day, each one of them waved at the cars passing by, smiling and hoping for a present – perhaps candy or stationary– from the tourists. I had already given out all the candy that I brought. Now I sat quietly in the passenger seat and wondered what the kids must feel like seeing large groups of well-off foreigners drive by their homes day after day. I wondered if they were as intrigued by us as much as we were by them.

Most of the kids who crowded the streets were no more than 6 or 7 years old. Her large body stood out awkwardly next to them. I spotted her from 20 yards away. Our gaze locked.

As my vehicle drove by, her waving hand stopped in mid-air and pointed directly at me. “You” she mouthed, as I stared down the tip of her index finger. Behind the safety of the passenger window, I felt like an unprepared student being cold-called upon in a lecture – embarrassed and intimidated.

The car kept driving but everything about that moment gnawed at me: her pointing, the word she uttered, her dark hair, and her commanding stare. She wanted something from me, and she called me out for it.

I never thought I would become a travel photographer because I was never too interested in architecture or history. I found myself down this path because I realized that travel photography allowed me to capture people from around the world – people of all race, age, religion, and social class. By photographing people, I also shared their stories with the rest of the world. But when real poverty and need stared me in the face, I wasn’t ready for it.

I didn't take a photograph of the girl, but I still think about this girl and her village – and all the other impoverished communities I visited that day. It seems that, although I left Cuba, I couldn’t leave Cuba behind.

Although I was skeptical of my first resort experience, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Cuba. Like so many fellow travelers had warned me before I left for the trip, it wasn’t my resort in Varadero that I loved, it was the province of Matanzas and the Cuban capital, Havana that captured my heart. You can read my guest post on exploring Matanzas on Enduring Wanderlust.

In the mean time, here are some of my most memorable moments from the trip:

1. Snorkeling at Playa Coral, Varadero

This is a beautiful scuba diving and snorkeling spot in Cuba. The water is incredibly clean and clear and the colorful fish swim right up to the shore. I swam between the corals, loving the feeling of the ocean on my skin and the fish playfully dodging my fingers.

2. Swimming in the Saturno Cave, Varadero

There’s nothing more refreshing than swimming in a natural cave. The snorkeling experience and the Saturno cave came together as part of a jeep safari tour that was recommended to me by a friend. Normally, my travels are been more focused on culture than outdoor adventure but I loved the jeep safari experience.



3. Spending a day on a sugar cane farm

I knew next to nothing about sugar canes before visiting Cuba so getting to stay on a sugar cane farm was a nice treat. Getting to slurp on fresh juice from the sugar canes and see how the juices are made was just icing on the cake.



4. Riding in a 1950’s Chevrolet Bel Air

The trademark memory from tourists who visit Cuba is the old cars roaming on the streets. Luckily, when I hired a taxi to go to Havana, I got to cruise around all day in a 1950’s Chevrolet Bel Air. The taxi, painted purple and white, had wide leather seats and a Mercedes engine. I felt pretty “fly” riding in the vehicle while other tourists snapped photos of the car everywhere we went. The driver and I joked that he should charge $1 peso per picture, like so many other Cuban owners of these old vehicles do.



5. Buying gasoline on the black market

The story with the cab gets even better. After a fulfilling day in Havana, on the drive back to the hotel, the driver pulled over to a gas station and had a nonchalant exchange with the guy at the pump to buy gasoline at a discount. When the quote was too expensive, we drove off to the next gas station where, after a similar exchange, my driver happily filled up the tank. When we turned onto the highway again, the taxi driver smiled at me and murmured in his broken English, “black market.”

Now, that’s Cuba.

For my Cuba trip, I decided to take a waterproof one-time use film camera just for kicks. It was the first time I had used one of those but since I knew I would be doing a lot of water activities, and didn't have a waterproof case for my DSLR, this was my alternative to capturing at least some of my underwater memories.