Rediscovered: a Country, a City and a Natural Oasis
Cuba, the largest island in the Caribbean, is one of the most seductive places on earth with its unique blend of sunshine, seasalt, revolutionist history and Hemingway. It also appears as if it has been stuck in a time warp from when the communists took over 50 years ago. Here, it’s still possible to ride a real working steam train and use colourful cars from the 50s as cabs. However, because of the communist regime Cuba is also a place where employers read newspapers and books out loud to their employees everyday - for example in a cigar factory - while they’re working. Through this, the working class can casually enjoy art forms like ballet and opera, which in most other parts of the world are available only t the wealthy and powerful members of society.
Founded in the 16th century by the Spanish conquistadors, Havana is the heart of Cuba. At first, it may give the impression of any other city in the world, but only when you begin to explore it will you truly see what an attractive and alluring city it is. With its music and dancing, the city appears to be all smiles and great cigars. Slowly falling to pieces, the colonial architecture throughout Havana emits beautiful romanticism. The best way to see the city is through the windows of a cab, many of which are exotic, pre-revolutionary relics in shiny, vivid colours. My recommendation is to choose a classic 50s style convertible cab, since going on a ride on one of these is a rare opportunity for a tourist and these antique cars are not easily found outside of Cuba.
Cars like this, however, won’t be the only thing left over from the late 1950s that you’ll discover. Such remnants are due to the U.S. trade embargo enacted by the famous rebel leader Fidel Castro and his military regime. Since the Americans were kicked out, it appears as if time has stopped for Cuba. Castro made investments in health care, education, and the arts following the Soviet Union’s collapse. Of course, after Castro’s biggest supporter collapsed in 1991 the influx of money also stopped and the houses given to the Cubans started to slowly crumble, becoming irreparable. Despite all of this, many sophisticated art forms flourished and became well loved by the Cubans; especially ballet. Thanks to egalitarianism, a Cuban can enjoy a ballet performance for only 10 cents at the Ballet Nacional, which is one of the world’s leading dance companies. If you are a tourist, however, you are out of luck—your ticket is approximately 30 dollars!
Havana’s relation with art is not limited to ballet. “Cuba has three icons – Che, Fidel and my grandfather,” said Mariel, Ernest Hemingway’s granddaughter. When you’re in Havana, you will feel his presence almost everywhere (maybe mostly in bars) and you will probably meet a lot of people who would say “Hemingway was a great Cuban!”. Havana illustrates a big part of Hemingway’s history. Ernest Hemingway, who may be regarded as one of the most innovative writers of the 20th century, lived in Havana from the early 1930s to 1950s. The most famous Hemingway destination in the city is his home, Finca Vigía, where he lived from mid-1939 through 1960 with his third wife Maria Gellhorn, and later his fourth wife Mary Welsh, his Cuban cats –Will, Princessa, Boise and at least eight more- and his children.
It was this farm house where he wrote much of “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” a novel about the Spanish Civil War, in which Hemingway and Gellhorn had served as journalists in the late 1930s. He later used the royalty earnings from this book to buy the farm house in 1940. Finca Vigía is also the place where he wrote “The Old Man and the Sea” (1951). Even after the revolution, Hemingway continued his personal relationship with the Cuban government. His love for Cuba also came from his passion for hunting.
When you leave Havana and decide to discover the rest of Cuba, you will find a well-preserved wildlife. One of the benefits of Cuba’s inertia against time is its thriving wildlife. The flourishing flora of the island is an accident of history. With thousands of kilometers of unspoiled coastline, pristine wetlands and virgin forests, Cuba is a wild refuge unrivaled in the Caribbean. A green turtle, which spends her year feeding in Florida, makes an illicit crossing to the Cuban waters every summer and lays her eggs at the heart of the Carribean coastline.
A wondrous array of rare and endemic things occurs only here on this island oasis. For creatures free from political boundaries, the allure of Cuba’s undeveloped islands is irresistible. Inside the wet, tropical forests, living arm in arm with the pine-cloaked mountains and sultry wetlands, are the world’s smallest bats, owls, and hummingbirds that weigh less than a penny. For keen birdwatchers, Cuba is the crown jewel of the Caribbean with the Cuban parrot, multicolored Cuban Tody, and the island’s national bird, the Cuban Trogon.
Cuba offers history, art, culture, entertainment, and wildlife, each of which has a unique style. In this country where time had stopped in the 1950s, the hands of the clock seem to be moving second by second. These days may be the last days to see the real Cuba, with both its urban and natural beauty intact.
Yorumlar