Touring - Cuba Touring

Planning a trip in Cuba in February-March. Does anybody have viewsjavascript:smilie(':)')
smile, advice, interest in partnering?

Try posting on the Thorn tree site

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/thorn/topics.pl?Cat=&Start=bike

Thanks Brains. They are revamping the site and posting will be possible as of Dec. 17

Hi:
If you still are interested in biking in cuba try
http://www.hedney.com/cuba.htm

Loius,
I found more info on touring in Cuba from the Toronto Bike Network (TBN) on-line newsletter:

WESTERN CUBA CYCLING TRIP - (March 16-23, 2003) Adele Emo wonders if
there are some other TBNers interested in the following trip: "Come
Experience the real Cuban lifestyle in Western Cuba. Along with cycling
the tour offers a lot of site-seeing including a waking tour of Havana
and some costal bus excursions. The cycling distances are between 20 km
to 70 km with longer options. Cost is $1,300 which includes all
breakfasts and most evening meals with the exception of the last evening
dinner (air fare is not included, but can be arranged). Contact:
biketours@niagarasafari.com for more information or Adele Emo at
416-699-1951." This trip is not sanctioned, sponsored or organized by
the TBN.

I notice most of the posts are either European or Canadian.. You know the US State Department tells Americans where they can and can't go.. Newspapers tell of returning US citizens being fined $20,000 for visiting where they say we can't.
I thought the First Amendment mentioned something about right to Speech. Also, we have the impression of the right of travel without papers, etc.. Anyway, enough.
I do know a couple in my cycling group. They are going to Cuba in later January.. For an American to go it must be sponsored by some 'cultural exchange' program.. I think to make it legal they are going through Adventure Cycling..
I would be anxious to ask, if the Cubans are really our enemies.. In general, I like to decide who I do and don't like first hand; and when someone deprives me of the chance to make my own decisions- I am not happy about this lack of a guaranteed freedom..
Those Canadians/ Europeans who are about to go on a Cuban bike trip; please remember to post later on BF your impressions.. Hope you can freely talk to the regular Cuban people that you have a chance to meet.. And later let us know of your feelings..
I do understand the island is beautiful/ pristine and a divers paradise. Untouched reefs..?

Hola:
As a twelve-time Cuba visitor, I can assure you that the Cuban people are not your enemy.

Even people returning from all-inclusive tours have ample opportunity to meet with the locals. They don't have much...but they are proud.

I often meet US citizens in Cuba, they enter through Canada and at point of entry request their American passport not be stamped. No paper trail, no crime.

If you plan to bike independently you will require some Spanish, but I know you will be warmly welcomed.

Allan

this is my plan.... first go cycling in cuba
than go to lybia to see some dessert
than visit the states...uld i be alowed in in the land of the free????
sorry, but these restrictions and thinking of the whole world as enemies is really alien to me, a european girl.
from here (holland) cuba is becoming more and more a popular holiday destination aswell as lybia. So if it was really that dangerous outthere they would not let us go as well...

Elsarjan.. I almost thought non Americans can't travel directly to the US, if visiting Cuba.? I do not like restrictions on my First Amendment rights either.
Anyway, three bike friends I ride with are going on An Adventure Cycle Tour of Cuba in March.. Americans can't go to Cuba unless as a part of a cultural tour, or else they will be fined.. An island with little traffic, it would probably be great cycling.. Anxious to hear what the three friends think.. I would like to go myself. Can't do everything.
Second goal would be to dive off the Isle of Pines. From what I read of diving there, we are missing out on a lot..

I would love to do a Tour in Cuba... although I did do a bit of cycling when I was stationed there at Guantanamo. As others have posted, the people are friendly.

I would warn you though, that the weather is not at all like it is here in the US or Europe. Make sure you work at keeping yourself hydrated... and I would try to find warm places to hang out while you try to acclimate yourself to some heat in preparation for your trip. In the 3 years that I lived in Gitmo, the temperature dropped below 70 once... and we all broke out parkas... lol. Coming from a cold climate, you will find that the heat affects you more than it would if you did it in the summer.

Also, the loss of financing from the USSR has done a number on the Cuban people and their government... we heard all to often from the Cuban Commuters and Exiles coming across the fence line just how hard things were. While our troops were being shuttled to fence posts by jeep... Cuban Soldiers were in horse-drawn carts... because of the lack of fuel.

If I was going to Cuba, I would pack clothes that I intended to give away, and take extra personal hygene items that I could spare as well. While the people are quite proud, they are also empoverished... I would talk to someone at the front desk of where I was staying to see about donating what I could to someone in need... and they should either be able to tell you how to do so or at least put you in contact with someone who can.

We most certainly can go to Cuba as a US Citizen, you just have to travel through another country to do so. I would expect that to change in the near future... I can't see Fidel lasting that much longer.

Big Dog.. My newspaper tells me different.. Americans can't go to a tour of Cuba unless you are part of an 'Cultural Exchange." Easiest way to do that, on a biking tour is Adventure Cycling.. Three friends are doing that this coming March..
Newspaper report said an older lady volunteered that she had been to Cuba to Customs, having traveled through Cancun. She was fined $20,000... You can travel on your own and make arrangements in like Toronto or Cancun.. Cuban officials will not stamp your passport to protect you.. But keep it secret and hope the US government has not access to rosters of passengers on foreign airlines..

I found some information... and CycleZealot is right... I stand corrected. The details on the Treasury Departments rules regarding tourism to Cuba can be found at:

http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/speeches/tab3.pdf

Based on what I read within the document, you can apply for a license to travel there... so plan a trip to work on your social conscience as well. Find an orphanage to work with or work to provide some form of aid while your there. Not only will you find it a memorable location... you will also most certainly find it a fantastic source of moral enjoyment. I would imagine that there are agencies that can help you pair up with a need in Cuba.

While I agree that the travel restriction is not cool... as I for one spent 11 years in the US Navy defending your rights as citizens in the pursuit of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Hapiness"... I also think that this restriction, if used to invoke people to work toward the greater good... it could remind us of the American Way is truly all about.

Think Win-Win.

I think international travel promotes better understanding amongst all invlolved.. I take offense at anyone attacking my right of travel.. We actually have a declaration of war, that is another matter. To me travel has a tacit relationship to our First Amendment rights..

Unfortunately, there are several places that the state department doesn't allow us to travel to. These places include Libya, Cuba, N. Korea, and, until fairly recently, included places such as Vietnam, Myanmar, and Albania.

Bigdog – Good point about bringing stuff to give away. I’ve heard that the Cuban people really appreciate it.

Cyclezealot – I agree with your points about international travel. I have heard about large fines for traveling to Cuba without permission. I happen to have a little insight into that.

Of course, it would be safer to travel to Cuba with permission from the state department or by fitting an exemption. I’m sure an organized bike tour, assuming it is a U.S. company, would take the right steps to get permission. But for those who don’t fit an exemption or travel to Cuba without permission, here’s some info.

I worked for U.S. Customs for several years. People do get fined for traveling to Cuba, but it is usually those who are smuggling Cuban goods (i.e. 20 boxes of cigars hidden in secret compartments). If you use your passport to travel to Cuba, it can be revoked by the state department. Cuba varies their treatment of U.S. passports. Half the time I worked in the airport, Cuba did not stamp passports at all. Then they started stamping passports with a small “D” on page 16. I don’t know why they did it, but I saw it get a few people in trouble. I hear that they don’t stamp them at all now – I hope that is correct.

U.S. Customs has access to the passenger manifests (including booking information and itineraries) of all airlines that enter the U.S. – this includes foreign flights of those airlines. Customs has analysts dedicated to researching itineraries every day. They mostly look for drug/terrorist traffic. But on a slow day, they may look for plain old Cuba travel.

A person entering the U.S. could be examined for many reasons – random exams, Inspectors may interview a person and decide to do an exam, there may be a special smuggling trend they are watching for, analysts may alert Inspectors to a particular person, etc... I remember being told several times to check out a particular passenger because they had been to Cuba. Most of the time, my sups just wanted me to make sure that the passenger was not bringing merchandise back. Many times I found Cuba travelers just through my own interviews of passengers.

Your chances of being examined are pretty low. It is estimated that Customs only catches 5% of the drugs imported into the U.S. So your chances of getting thru as a traveler to Cuba (assuming you are doing nothing else illegal) are pretty good. Much of it depends on where you enter the U.S. Miami, for example, sees tons of Cuba travelers. I hear that they are pretty much not harassed at all. On the other hand, if you fly into a smaller international hub, you may run into a bored Inspector looking for any violation to chalk up marks on their record.

Merchandise from Cuba is illegal unless you travel to Cuba with permission or on an exemption (and there are strict limits in those cases). Cigars and rum are the main focus. Tourist items, handicrafts, art, etc are largely ignored unless they are being brought back to be sold. If you are caught, how the merchandise is handled varies by location. Where I worked, a box or 2 of cigars was simply destroyed in front of the passenger. But some locations would enter a seizure record in the Customs computer system (TECS) for even 1 cigar (Newark was notorious for this). If items are “seized” there will be an enforcement record on your name/SSN/passport number. This makes the chances higher that you will be looked at in future travels. Plus, you may be fined if a seizure record is input.

Like I stated above, chances are you won’t get caught. Or if you do get caught, not much will happen. In light of that, this might be overkill...but for U.S. citizens who travel to Cuba without permission, having worked for U.S. Customs I have 3 main points of advice:

First, don’t bring much back. If I remember right, people who go to Cuba legally can only bring back $100 of stuff, including no more than 1 box of cigars. If you go illegally and bring back a ton of stuff, you are asking for trouble. If you get caught with a few tourist items, chances are they will recognize you are not a threat and let you go without any consequences. If you get caught with a bunch of boxes of cigars, you are probably looking at a fine and a record in the computer system. Anyway, Cuban cigars are popular here because they are illegal – they are good, but I’ve had better Dominican and Honduran cigars. Personally, I’d prefer lots of pictures as opposed to a few cigars.

Second, buy your ticket to Cuba once you are in your intermediate city. For example, fly Continental/American/[insert name of U.S. carrier] to Cancun/Toronto/Mexico City, then buy a ticket to Havana on a foreign carrier like AeroMexico/Air Canada. This makes it harder for Customs to track your travel. They can still track it, but they have to look at 2 airlines on 2 different systems and put it all together. I knew analysts who would do this. But now they are probably too busy tracking terrorists and drugs to waste time on that. Travel in late spring or early summer will offer even more distractions to the analysts because that’s the coke and heroine season. If you book the entire trip on a foreign carrier, it is super easy to track the Cuba leg.

Third, don’t lie in the unlikely case that you get caught. Inspectors get lied to all day, and they get really sick of it. If you are caught, fess up and the Inspector will most likely realize you are not a threat and let you go. If you keep lying with the evidence spread in front of you, chance are the Inspector will push the issue.

Good luck to anyone who goes. I would love to go to Cuba, cycling or not. I hope to make it there before the U.S. eases restrictions, and Havana turns into a huge party center for recent high school grads (another Cancun?).