Travel to Cuba: Yes, You can still go

One of Havana's vintage taxis

Once again, average Americans are the ones who will suffer by the Trump Administration's efforts to beat foreign governments into submission with erratic changes in economic policies.

This time, it's not tariffs, but travel restrictions putting a halt to popular cruises and people-to-people group tours in Cuba, after years of surging demand.

The reason, according to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, "is to hold the regime accountable for its repression of the Cuban people and its support of the Maduro regime in Venezuela." 

Yeah, sure. 

Given the fact that Orange One seems to have no problem cozying up to world leaders with human rights records far worse than Cuba (North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Hungary, Turkey, the UAE, Egypt etc.), we can only surmise this is a political move designed to win Florida in 2020. 

The good news is that new restrictions, announced by the U.S. Treasury Department this  week, will make it harder for Americans to legally travel to Cuba, but not impossible. While cruises and people-to-people group tours made travel to the island easy and hassle-free, there's a chance that better and less expensive opportunities await for those with the patience to delve a little deeper. 

Americans still can go to Cuba for family visits, official U.S. government business, journalistic activities, professional research and meetings; educational activities (such as those from U.S. academic institutions and secondary schools); religious activities; humanitarian projects, and perhaps most important for average travelers: trips organized around support for the Cuban people. 

Trips that fall into that category require travelers to take more responsibility if they decide to travel to Cuba, such as having evidence of staying at privately-owned bed and breakfasts, eating at privately-owned restaurants, shopping in privately-owned stores, visiting art galleries and interacting with locals on a meaningful level,  Sarah Arizaga, of Cuban Adventures, told USA Today. The company’s tours are already compliant with the condition about support for the Cuban people, she said. 

The U.S. government can ask for documentation of such activities for up to five years, but there are no requirements that travelers apply for a special visa or give any notification to the government in advance.

For independent travelers interested in making their own arrangements, companies such as Viahero.com can help plan a trip for $30-$40 per day.

Keep in mind that "The Support for the Cuban People" category requires that you adhere to a full-time schedule of activities that support the Cuban people. It means avoiding staying in big hotels banned by the US State Department because of the fees the government and military collect.

The truth is that this has always been the best way to travel in Cuba, and it's the way most Europeans and South Americans visit. 

Some of the U.S.-based people-to-people tours were costing as much as $500 a day, with much of the money going to the Cuban government for licensing fees and government-approved guides and buses. 

Cruise companies also paid big fees while doing little to help ordinary Cuban people since passengers mostly eat and sleep aboard the ships.

In that respect, the Trump Administration is right to say that curtailing these types of group trips will deny the government and military badly needed foreign currency. On the other hand, it may mean that the U.S travelers who decide to go to Cuba under the new rules could end up having a more authentic experience.

Local transportation

I visited Cuba a few years ago, partly on an organized tour and partly on my own, and found through my reporting that most of the commercial tours involved a relatively closed circle of architects, performers, economists and performers who cycle through American tour groups. Traveling on my own, staying in people's homes, hiring local guides, and eating in locally-owned restaurants was far more rewarding. I was surprised to find, for instance, that most of the people I knew who went on tours never made it to La Coppelia, an outdoor Disneyland of ice cream who Cubans line up for hours just to get in and indulge in five or ten dishes in one sitting. 

La Coppelia, a Havana landmark

Getting to Cuba is still relatively easy. The U.S. government so far is continuing to allow commercial flights, eliminating the need for expensive charters. Alternatively, Air Canada and Cubana Air offer daily commercial flights into Havana (Air Canada from Canadian cities, Cubana from Cancun and Mexico City) that can be booked and paid for online or through travel agents. 

TripAdvisor offers hundreds of reviews for Cuban hotels and bed and breakfasts (called cases paticulares), offering what may be the best way to interact with Cuban people. Cuba Junky, a long-time and reliable online agency for Cuban travel, provides booking services. Some casa owners even have Facebook profiles. Airbnb lists more than 800 casas on its website. It charges a booking fee which may be worth of the convenience of booking online and paying for the reservation with a credit card.  

Our homestay in Vinales

On our visit to Cuba, my husband and I took a bus three hours from Havana to the rural community of Vinales, a UNESCO site known for its national park, limestone cliffs and traditional farms harvesting tobacco and corn. Scenic hikes and cave explorations await, but the best reason we could find to come to Vinales was to stay in a casa particular.

I looked over reviews on TripAdvisor, then made an online booking at Casa Papo y Niulvys. They requested no deposit, only asked that I call the day before to reconfirm. 

Papo met us at the bus stop on his bike, and we walked to the peach-colored house the couple built few years ago on what was a vegetable garden next door to his parents. Niulvys was a gracious and talkative hostess, and a great cook. 

We paid $20 per night for the bright, spacious room below, with windows overlooking the garden, AC and a private bathroom. A breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, toast, juice, coffee and cereal was an extra $4 each. Dinners (lobster one night, chicken the next) were another $8. Add a couple of Papo's pre-dinner Mojitos spiked with fresh mint from the garden, and we paid around $50 a night for the room, breakfast, drinks and dinner.

I do feel for the thousands of cruise ship passengers who had trips scheduled. The cruise lines usually reserve the right to change itineraries for any reason, so chances are they will do this. It's really to early to know what the full impact will be.

In the meantime, if you were thinking about a trip to Cuba, don't give up hope. Consider going under the "Support the Cuban People" license. There are options out there already, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the major people-to-people group tour organizers don't quickly reconfigure their itineraries to comply. 

And the losers are...Trump's new Cuba policy penalizes Americantravelers, Cuban entrepreneurs

Should it really cost $500 a day or more to visit Cuba, one of the world's poorest countries?

I asked that question last year when the Obama administration eased travel restrictions for American tourists. Up until that time, the only way most Americans could legally visit Cuba was on an expensive "People to People" group tour sponsored by an operator licensed by the U.S. government.  

That changed with new rules allowing travelers to put together their own independent educational trips for the purpose of learning about Cuban people and their culture.
Among the beneficiaries were the Cuban people who run bed and breakfasts in their homes (many now part of the Airbnb system), private restaurants and small businesses catering to independent travelers.

It's beyond me whom the Trump administration thinks will be hurt or helped by reversing this policy. 

Somehow someone (Little Marco, perhaps) came up with the idea that a crack-down on independent travel would cause the Castro government to suffer to the point that it would meet U.S. demands for political reforms.

But as the Washington Post pointed out recently, the new rules will have just the opposite effect. Herding Americans back to the types of prepackaged, predictable group tourism that the Cuban government actually prefers will not only help further its political agenda, it will increase the amount it earns in tourism revenue by taking business away from Cuban entrepreneurs who cater to independent travelers.

The latest moves do little more than placate a minority of hard-line Florida Cuban-American conservatives demanding payback for their political backing. If it's media hype they were looking for, it's media hype they got in the form of headlines and front-page news stories. Rather than negotiate a "better deal," Trump fell back on divisive rhetoric aimed at disparaging Obama rather than making any substantive changes that might improve relations or the lives of Cuban people.

Embassies in Washington and Havana will stay open, and cruises and direct flights between the United States and Cuba will be protected. Cuban-Americans are still free to travel to the island and send money to relatives, and travelers can still bring back large quantifies of rum and cigars. According to one White House official, the administration does not intend to “disrupt” existing business deals such as one struck under Obama by Starwood Hotels, which is owned by Marriott International Inc, to manage a historic Havana hotel. 

It's true, the new rules aim to ban or limit Americans from patronizing military-linked businesses, estimated to control more than half of the island’s tourist economy. Travel representatives are hoping to get around this by redirecting their business to hotels run by civilian organizations, although it's unclear what difference that will make since the Cuban government ultimately benefits from almost all business transactions through licensing fees and taxes.  

Bottom line: Yes, you'll still be able to visit Cuba legally - for a price.  An eight-day, seven-night "Classic Cuba'' tour offered by InsightCuba, for example, costs $4,895, or $611 per day, not including air fare. Contrast those costs with a $500 Seattle-Havana air fare on Alaska Airlines and seven nights in a $50- per- night Airbnb in a private Cuban home. Throw in a generous $75- a- day for meals, museums and mojitos, and you're still under $1,500 for an independent trip.

 Cuban B&B hosts will suffer under new restrictions on independent travel   

Most tour operators  work hard to create meaningful itineraries. Nevertheless, they are bound by Cuban and U.S. requirements, licenses and fees that drive up costs.

If you're considering a tour, best advice is to compare various itineraries to find one that fits your interest and budget. Consider trips offered by non-profits, such as Global Exchange, or organizations such as  Road Scholar which offers educational trips for people over 50.

Even on tour, it's possible to find ways to meet ordindary Cubans and experience a bit of real life away from the group.  

A few ideas:

Enter the Cuban economy

 Familiarize yourself with Cuba’s dual currency system. You’ll be exchanging dollars for convertible pesos (CUCs), a “hard currency” worth $1 each, minus a 10 percent exchange tax, a tit-for-tat for the U.S. embargo against Cuba. You can avoid the 10-percent tax by bringing either euros or Canadian dollars.

One of the hardest concepts for outsiders to grasp is that most Cubans are paid a government salary of about $20 per month, earned in the local currency, called pesos Cubanos or CUPs (worth about 4 cents each). Education, housing and health care are free. CUPs buy the basics: cooking oil, cheap meals, coffee cut with pea flour. But much of what the average Cuban wants and needs — drinkable coffee, washing machines, materials to fix up their homes — is only available to those who can pay in hard currency. (Tourism and money sent by relatives in the U.S. are the main sources).

To get a sense of everyday Cuban life, tip in convertibles, but for a truly local experience, change $5 into pesos Cubanos, and enter government-subsidized Cuba. Buy a 4-cent ice-cream cone, or patronize one of the fledgling entrepreneurs selling pizza and pastries for pennies from their kitchen windows. 

Waiting in line at La Coppelia is a Havana tradition

Havana's famous La Coppelia ice cream parlor, a sprawling outdoor complex where Cubans line up by the hundreds, accepts only CUPs, except in a tiny area walled off for tourists. Use your CUPs and join the local fun. 

It's an ideal place for foreigners can mix with Cubans who don't have something to sell or aren't working in the tourist industry. Many tourists miss this real La Coppelia experience, however, because the guards steer foreigners to a separate "hard currency'' area where two scoops served in a glass dish cost around $2.75. 

Explore Habana Centro

Get off-the-beaten path: Tourists see Havana's renovated Habana Vieja (Old Havana), but for a feel for what living here like for most people, walk through a neighborhood like Havana Centro, where kids play ball in the crumbling streets, and people sell snacks through open windows. 

Habana Centro

Calle Obispo, a pedestrian shopping street linking some of the prettiest parts of Habana Vieja with seedier Centro, brings tourists and locals together with its eclectic mix of luxury hotels, art galleries, cafes, hard currency stores displaying frying pans and toothpaste in the windows and "peso'' ice cream shops. 

Follow the bloggers

Learn about Cuba’s changing economy and differing views about life under 
Raul Castro. Follow blogs by Cuban activists on Translating Cuba.

Blogger Reinaldo Escobar made a prediction on the day before Trump's speech announcing his policy changes.

"The magnate will make the announcement into a spectacle like so many he has starred in since he has been at the head of the greatest power on earth," Reinaldo wrote. "He will gesticulate, commit himself to human rights and elicit enthusiastic applause, but then he will return to the White House and the Island will fall off his agenda."

The applause will die down. The headlines will be replaced by new news. Meanwhile, thousands of Europeans, Australians and Asians will continue to travel freely to Cuba. Everyone that is, except us.

For more ideas, photos and snapshots of everyday life in Cuba, I invite you to see my full Cuba blog.

Alaska Airlines sets Seattle/LA/Havana, Cuba flight schedule

Havana

It's official. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines has been awarded the right to operate commercial service between Los Angeles and Havana, Cuba. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) officially approved Alaska’s application to begin service to the Cuban capital, which still must be approved by the Cuban government before tickets can go on sale.

“We applaud Secretary Anthony Foxx and the team at DOT for their thoughtful and impartial approach toward opening U.S. commercial service to Cuba,” said John Kirby, Alaska’s vice president of capacity planning. “As the only carrier to be awarded daily nonstop service from the West Coast to Havana, we’re excited to be one of the first airlines to serve Cuba on a scheduled basis in more than 50 years.”

Once Alaska receives official approval from the Cuban government, the airline will determine when to begin service.

The Alaska Airlines flight will originate in Seattle with same plane service to Los Angeles and then Havana. No word yet on pricing. Another question: Will the flights qualify under the airline's rules for free companion fare flights earned when signing up for its credit card.?

Here's a  tentative schedule of the new daily service:

Seattle-Los Angeles
Departs 5 a.m.
Arrives: 7:40 a.m.


Los Angeles-Havana
Departs: 8:50 a.m.
Arrives: 4:55 p.m.
Daily


Havana-Los Angeles
Departs: 5:55 p.m.
Arrives: 9 p.m.

Los Angeles-Seattle
Departs: 10:50 p.m.
Arrives: 1:28 a.m.

Eight American carriers— most with flights departing from the Miami and New York metropolitan areas — earlier received tentative approval from the Transportation Department to operate direct flights to José Martí International Airport in Havana. Alaska is the only airline that plans to operate flights from the West Coast.

Do-it-yourself Cuba: Here's how to design your own cultural trip

Build your own cultural connections

Should it really cost $500 a day to tour Cuba, or $600-$700 for a 30-minute round-trip flight between Miami an Havana? No, and it doesn't have to any longer. 

U.S Tour companies and airlines operating charter-only flights have profited handsomely from U.S. government-sanctioned "People-to-People" group tours, the only legal way most American tourists have been able to visit - until now. As of March 23, new rules announced by the Obama administration will be in effect allowing American travelers to put together their own independent educational trips for the purpose of leaning about Cuban people and culture. 

Travelers who fill their days with museum visits, cultural sightseeing and interactions with Cubans could meet the requirements. You'll be required to keep record of your activities for five years, but other than that, no special license or advance permission will be required. 

I visited Cuba a few years ago, partly on an organized tour and partly on my own, and agree with John Caulfield, chief of the United States mission in Cuba from 2011 to 2014, who told the New York Times that the change will expose Americans to a more authentic experience in Cuba than they have been able to get on tours. As the Times points out, many of the commercial tours "involve a relatively closed circle of architects, performers, economists and organic farmers who cycle through American tour groups," who often receive money for the visits.

“They’ve essentially deregulated travel,” Robert Muse, a Washington attorney who specializes in U.S. laws regarding Cuba, told the Los Angeles Times. “This is a standing invitation to travel to Cuba for U.S. tourists.”

In other words, Americans are now to free to make their own arrangements much the way thousands of Canadians and Europeans do, with the exception of making plans for a beach vacation.

Despite what some tour operators would have you believe, there's no mystery to booking independent travel to Cuba. Other than the requirement that all travelers obtain a visa, the Cubans themselves place no restrictions on what Americans can do once there. Here's some tips to get you started, along with some ideas on how to fulfill the educational and people-to-people requirements.  


Air: Tricky to book on your own, but still doable, and about to get easier. U.S airlines, including Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, have applied for new commercial routes that the U.S. government will allow, possibly starting as early as this fall. Alaska Air has proposed two daily round-trip flights between Havana and Los Angeles. U.S. airlines are currently restricted to offering only expensive charter flights. InsightCuba, a tour operator that offers 12-day tours to Cuba at a cost of about $500 per person, per day, charges an extra $665-765 for the round-trip flight between Miami and Havana.

Alternatively, Air Canada and Cubana Air offer daily commercial flights into Havana (Air Canada from Canadian cities, Cubana from Cancun and Mexico City) that can be booked and paid for online or through travel agents. American travelers can also book iInternational and domestic air travel through Cuba Junky, a long-time and reliable online travel agency for Cuba travel.

Cuban bed and breakfast in Vinales

Accommodations: TripAdvisor offers hundreds of reviews for Cuban hotels and bed and breakfasts (called cases paticulares), offering what may be the best way to interact with Cuban people. Cuba Junky provides hotel booking services, and publishes a $4.99 app for finding and booking casas particulares directly with the owners. Some casa owners even have Facebook profiles. Airbnb lists more than 800 casas on its website. It charges a booking fee which may be worth of the convenience of booking online and paying for the reservation with a credit card.  

What can you expect in a casa? The Cuban government regulates homestays, requiring owners to set aside dedicated rooms and bathrooms and meet inspection requirements. 
On our visit to Cuba, my husband and I took a bus three hours from Havana to the rural community of Vinales, a UNESCO site known for its national park, limestone cliffs and traditional farms harvesting tobacco and corn. Scenic hikes and cave explorations await, but the best reason we could find to come to Vinales was to stay in a casa particular.

I looked over reviews on TripAdvisor, then made an online booking at Casa Papo y Niulvys. They requested no deposit, only asked that I call the day before to reconfirm. 

Papo met us at the bus stop on his bike, and we walked to the peach-colored house the couple built few years ago on what was a vegetable garden next door to his parents.
Niulvys was a gracious and talkative hostess, and a great cook. We paid $20 per night for the bright, spacious room below, with windows overlooking the garden, AC and a private bathroom. A breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, toast, juice, coffee and cereal was an extra $4 each. Dinners (lobster one night, chicken the next) were another $8. Add a couple of Papo's pre-dinner Mojitos spiked with fresh mint from the garden, and we paid around $50 a night for the room, breakfast, drinks and dinner.

When it comes to hotels, it's easy enough to find their websites, and book directly. Rooms at the upscale Hotel Parque Central, Hotel Nacionale de Cuba and many others, can be booked this way.

Enter the Cuban economy:  Familiarize yourself with Cuba’s dual currency system. You’ll be exchanging dollars for convertible pesos (CUCs), a “hard currency” worth $1 each, minus a 10 percent exchange tax, a tit-for-tat for the U.S. embargo against Cuba. You can avoid the 10-percent tax by bringing either euros or Canadian dollars.

One of the hardest concepts for outsiders to grasp is that most Cubans are paid a government salary of about $20 per month, earned in the local currency, called pesos Cubanos or CUPs (worth about 4 cents each). Education, housing and health care are free. CUPs buy the basics: cooking oil, cheap meals, coffee cut with pea flour. But much of what the average Cuban wants and needs — drinkable coffee, washing machines, materials to fix up their homes — is only available to those who can pay in hard currency. (Tourism and money sent by relatives in the U.S. are the main sources).

Cuba is moving towards eliminating the dual currency system, and there are already signs of convergence.  Many previously CUC-only stores now accept either, and a new system of CUP pricing and accounting is being rolled out.

Join the locals at La Coppelia

Waiting in line is part of the experience

To get a sense of everyday Cuban life, tip in convertibles, but for a truly local experience, change $5 into pesos Cubanos, and enter government-subsidized Cuba. Buy a 4-cent ice-cream cone. Or patronize one of the fledgling entrepreneurs selling ice cream and pastries for pennies or pizza from their kitchen windows. Havana's famous La Coppelia ice cream parlor, a sprawling outdoor complex where Cubans line up by the hundreds, accepts only CUPs, except in a tiny area walled off for tourists. Use your CUPs and join the local fun. 
It's an ideal place for foreigners can mix with Cubans who don't have something to sell or aren't working in the tourist industry. Many tourists miss this real La Coppelia experience, however, because the guards steer foreigners to a separate "hard currency'' area where two scoops served in a glass dish cost around $2.75. 

Visit a local artist: Artists and musicians are Cuba's elite. They can keep all the money they earn, and enjoy special privileges, such as freedom to travel out of the country.  One of the most successful is Jose Fuster. HIs hose and studio in the suburban Havana neighborhood of Jaimanitas are on the itineraries of many tour groups, but independent travelers can easily visit themselves via taxi or local bus.  

Mosaic sculptures by Jose Fuster

Starting around 1995, a time economic belt-tightening after the break-up of the Soviet Union,  Fuster got the idea to brighten up his neighborhood. His home is covered in ceramic tile sculptures, and now so is his neighbor's house, the doctor's office and many more homes - with their permission, of course. 

Habana Centro

Get off-the-beaten path: Tourists see Havana's renovated Habana Vieja (Old Havana), but for a feel for what living here like for most people, walk through a neighborhood like Havana Centro, where kids play ball in the crumbling streets. Calle Obispo, a pedestrian shopping street linking some of the prettiest parts of Havana Vieja with seedier Centro, brings tourists and locals together with its eclectic mix of luxury hotels, art galleries, cafes, hard currency stores displaying frying pans and toothpaste in the windows and "peso'' ice cream shops. The spiffy old American cars get all the attention, but try the local transport. We road around most of the time in these little egg-shaped open-air taxis. 

Local transport

Learn about Cuba’s changing economy and differing views about life under Fidel Castro and his brother, Raul. Follow blogs by Cuban activists on Translating Cuba. Among the writers is Yoani Sanchez, author of Havana Real, whose blog is translated into English by Mary Jo Porter of Seattle.

For more ideas, photos and snapshots of everyday life in Cuba, I invite you to see my full Cuba blog.

Cuba on your own: Planning indie travel could be easier than you think

Should it really cost $500 a day to tour Cuba, or $600-$700 for a 30-minute round-trip flight between Miami an Havana?

U.S Tour companies and airlines stand to profit handsomely from the Obama Administration's easing of travel restrictions to Cuba. Organized "People-to-People" tours - still the only legal way most Americans can visit Cuba as tourists - are more plentiful, but also more expensive than ever, as are an increasing number of charter flights between the U.S. and Havana. 

Best advice: See if you can skip the overpriced organized tours, and instead justify independent travel by fitting into one of 12 categories for which the U.S. government now requires only a general license. All you need to do is be prepared to show that the purpose of your trip trip has to do with humanitarian projects, support for the Cuban people, education or religious activities; arts and cultural exchanges; athletic competition; professional research or meetings; journalistic purposes; or family visits.

For travelers who meet these requirements, the "license'' is automatic. There's need not submit any type of written request. "No further permission from OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) is required to engage in transactions by a person who meets all criteria in a general license," The U.S. Department of the Treasury explains in a detailed Q and A on its website.  

In other words, just go, and make your own arrangements much the way thousands of Canadians and Europeans do. Despite what some tour operators would have you believe, there's no mystery to booking independent travel to Cuba. Other than the requirement that all travelers obtain a visa, the Cubans themselves place no restrictions on what Americans can do once there. 

Air: Tricky to book on your own, but still doable. Despite announcements like the one JetBlue made on the start of weekly service between New York and Havana, the U.S. government still restricts airlines to offering only charter flights. Don't expect to use a meta-search site such as Kayak.com to find flights to Havana from the U.S. JetBlue and other carriers offer their flights through U.S. government-licensed service providers. Jet Blue uses Cuba Travel Services Inc., The airline didn't say how much its New York flight will cost, but chances are it will be more than booking a commercial flight out of either Mexico or Canada.  InsightCuba, for instance, a tour operator that offers 9-day tours to Cuba at a cost of about $500 per person, per day, charges an extra $645-$745 for the round-trip flight between Miami and Havana.

Alternatively, Air Canada and Cubana Air offer daily commercial flights into Havana (Cubana from Cancun and Mexico City) that can be booked and paid for online or through travel agents. American travelers can also book iInternational and domestic air travel through Cuba Junky, a long-time and reliable online travel agency for Cuba travel.

Hotels: TripAdvisor offers hundreds of reviews for Cuban hotels and bed and breakfasts (called casas particulares). It's not possible to book through any TripAdvisor partners, but it's easy enough to find the hotel websites, and book directly. Rooms at the upscale Hotel Parque Central, Hotel Nacionale and many others, can be booked on their own websites. 

A casa particular

Cuba Junky also provides hotel booking services, and publishes a $4.99 app for finding and booking casas directly with the owners. Some casa owner even have Facebook profiles. Airbnb lists more than 800 casas on its website. It charges a booking fee which may be worth of the convenience of booking online and paying for the reservation with a credit card. 

General advice: Familiarize yourself with Cuba’s dual currency system. You’ll be exchanging dollars for convertible pesos (CUCs), a “hard currency” worth $1 each, minus a 10 percent exchange tax, a tit-for-tat for the U.S. embargo against Cuba. You can avoid the 10-percent tax by bringing either euros or Canadian dollars.

One of the hardest concepts for outsiders to grasp is that most Cubans are paid a government salary of about $20 per month, earned in the local currency, called pesos Cubanos or CUPs (worth about 4 cents each). Education, housing and health care are free. CUPs buy the basics: cooking oil, cheap meals, coffee cut with pea flour. But much of what the average Cuban wants and needs — drinkable coffee, washing machines, materials to fix up their homes — is only available to those who can pay in hard currency. (Tourism and money sent by relatives in the U.S. are the main sources).

Cuba is likely to eliminate its dual currency system by the end of this year, and there are already signs of convergence.  Many previously CUC-only stores now accept either, and a new system of CUP pricing and accounting is being rolled out.

To get a sense of everyday Cuban life:

• Tip in convertibles, but for a truly local experience, change $5 into pesos Cubanos, and enter government-subsidized Cuba. Buy a 4-cent ice-cream cone. Or patronize one of the fledgling entrepreneurs selling ice cream and pastries for pennies or pizza from their kitchen windows. Havana's famous La Coppelia ice cream parlor, a sprawling outdoor complex where Cubans line up by the hundreds, accepts only CUPs, except in a tiny area walled off for tourists. Use your CUPs and join the local fun.

Locals at La Coppelia

• Use your free time to get out on your own. While U.S. licensed travel prohibits free time or recreation in excess of that consistent with full-time work, this doesn't mean you can't get out on your own and explore. This goes for members of tour groups as well, although be prepared for tour leaders to discourage it. Walk through a neighborhood like Havana Centro, where kids play ball in the crumbling streets. Stop for a 50-cent beer at the makeshift bar set up in John Lennon Park, then walk across the street and have a $10 dinner (hard currency) on the terrace of a restored mansion, home to the French friendship association. One of my best experiences was hiring a bicycle taxi one warm evening in Cienfuegos for dinner at a privately run restaurant in the family home of a local nurse and her chef husband. Four of us ate for $30, mojitos included.

• Learn about Cuba’s changing economy and differing views about life under Fidel Castro and his brother, Raul. Follow blogs by Cuban activists on Translating Cuba. Among the writers is Yoani Sanchez, author of Havana Real, whose blog is translated into English by Mary Jo Porter of Seattle.

Tours: If visiting Cuba on a group tour is your only possibility, consider cutting costs by traveling with a nonprofit group, museum, university or professional group. Road Scholar programs are open to anyone, and although expensive, include round-trip Miami-Havana airfare which many tours don't. 

Ask for details on how your tour operator plans to provide you with authentic interactions with Cuban people, a challenge when it comes to group travel. Many of the tours include the same stops, such as a visit to Callejón de Hammel — an Afro-Cuban community project known for its street art and lively rumba performances, but overrun with tourists and people selling CDs and asking for money.

Cuba: Backstreets and Beyond

It's been more than a year since my first visit to Cuba, but the memories live on, and so does the story. Click here to see my account published in the May edition of International Travel News. It first ran in the Seattle Times Sunday magazine last year. For more on Cuba, click on on my blog, Cuba Now! 

Cuba Now

I visited Cuba a year ago this month, and blogged extensively about the time I spent with a group organized by San Francisco's Global Exchange as well as the week I spent traveling on my own after the trip ended. 

The "print'' version of the story appears in the Sunday, Oct. 21 issue of the Seattle Times Pacific Magazine, along with some excellent photos by Times photographer Erika Schultz. Schultz and I traveled to Cuba at different times, but somehow the story and the photos ended up matching perfectly. 

I'm happy to see that most the "people-to-people'' trips approved earlier by the U.S. government are now going ahead despite some problems with license renewals this fall. Those problems seem to be resolved, and most trips are back on.

Past the political divide, Cuba invites us with rich traditions and small delights. Enjoy!