BLUE WATER SAILING • June / July 2017The hotel, within the marina limits, offered a place to exchange
money, as well as a good spot to pick up Wi-Fi. With a few
cucs in our pockets, we bought Internet cards and sat outside
the hotel mapping out our Cuban adventure. Clearly, visiting
Havana was a must as was a trip to the beach. However, what
was perhaps most appealing to our crew was taking a road trip
to the mountains of Viñales.
Transportation in Cuba can be procured in several different
ways. Car rentals are available if you search well enough and
the marina hotel offers tour trips; but you can’t walk far in Cuba
without passing a vintage Ford with a taxi sign stuck to the roof.
Our crew decided that being chauffeured around Cuba in a selec-
tion of classic cars was the way to go. So, with a trip to Viñales
in mind, we got to know a few locals and kept an ear out for a
taxi driver who would cut us the best deal. Asheton did some
friendly haggling and found a ride to fit the bill. The cab driver
agreed to meet back at our spot along the seawall in a few days
and drive us the three hours to Viñales.
With almost a week before our big Viñales road trip, we set
out to see everything within a “day-trip” distance of Marina
Hemingway. We bargained with cab drivers in our broken Span-
ish and rode back and forth along the roads connecting Havana,
Marina Hemingway, and the nearby tropical beaches.
We found Havana to be a lively city with loads of culture. It is
easy to see why Jimmy Buffett speaks so fondly of the place. Every
inch of Havana is photogenic; you can’t help but look upward
as you walk through rows of crumbling Spanish architecture,
vibrant with Caribbean colors. The cobblestone{ CRUISINGLIFE }