2023 Cuba Motorcycle Adventure: Day 3 - Good Old Havana and the Lost Memories

This is it. Today is the day. We are going to Cuba. We got our visa and health declaration forms at the airport … very easy … and after 2 hours at the airport lounge having some coffee, breakfast, and a great conversation with our friends Pilar and Lourdes from Argentina, we were on our way.

On the way there, I wondered how Cuba would be this time around. I was there 20 years ago as part of a US congressional and trade delegation and had the unique opportunity to meet and to talk to Fidel Castro … will Cuba be stuck in time with little change or will it be a completely different place … will the affable, music and fun loving Cubans I met a long time ago, still be there?

This time around we are staying at people’s homes, not hotels. This is part of the government’s opening of the economy to get people to participate more as independent business owners. We also did not know if we would have internet access once there ... there is a possibility we will have a quite 10-day trip.

We arrived to much improved airport with direct flights from many places … Spain, Houston, Guatemala, etc. Our luggage made it and Mafred, our host, was there to take us to Havana and to the house where we would spend the next 2 nights.

It is amazing how many memories were stored in my head that had been forgotten and were un-recallable until today. So many sights, triggering so many memories store deep in my head from any years ago.

I wish we could figure out a way to recall everything our minds store. I guess that is why we take so many pictures … to be able to relive things we cannot recall anymore but that are there.

We walked from our house in the Vedado neighborhood to the Malecon and then to a nice little café for a snack before dinner at home. There we met Stephanie, our waiter but also a lawyer working for the justice ministry. There she only makes around $30 USD a month and that is why she has another job.

We had a great conversation about the latest Cuban situation, economy, rules, trends, and challenges. The conclusion is that rules are made up and changed faster than people can digest. Seems like Cubans are infinitely adaptable to change.

Wouter and Anton arrived at 8pm and we had a nice home cooked meal at the house. I was in awe at how all our schedules, flights, connections worked out as planned and we are all finally here … Brussels, Merida, Madrid, Dallas, Mexico City.

Tomorrow we are going to ride around Havana, play tourist, and test our nice motorcycles … lightly used BMW F700GS with ABS, TPM, top case and side panniers, etc.