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Hosted By: Eric Freeman
Havana: Ache: (Hotel Melia Cohiba, Vedado, next door to the Hotel Riviera). Entrance varies between $15-20 depending if there is live music. If not the music is mostly Salsa with other dance music, which is ironically popular with the Cubans. Single guys take care as suggested above! If you're in Havana for a short time come here first. Cafe Cantante: (Plaza de la Revolucion). This is primarily a cabaret venue which will normally include a Salsa band plus other artists on the programme. After the live music there is a disco, playing salsa and disco music. This venue is more authentic as the audience is both Cuban and foreign and a dual peso-dollar tariff applies ($10 for tourists). Drinks are quite cheap here and no prostitutes! In general, any large hotel will have a cabaret and perhaps a disco including Salsa music. Live concerts can be impromptu especially next door to the Hotel Nacional on the Malecon and the quality of music and sound is superb. Just by walking around Havana by night, you will find many bars and cafes which have a live 4-5 piece combo and audience participation is encouraged. The prime area for this type of entertainment is in old Havana. Again the quality and entertainment value can be exceptional. I hope this information is of use to anyone intending to visit Havana and if I can be of any further help, just contact me on IANBROWN2@Compuserve.com - I'll try to help. I just came back from Cuba last week ('98) and it was amazing! I went with a friend (girl) - this really came in handy when we had no other partners to dance with. I wasn't expecting too much salsa dancing in Varadaro but it was everywhere. I just love the way they dance - with so much feeling! I'm used to dancing facing your partner most of the time but it seemed they dance away from each other (holding hands but under or away, sideways, from each other). Also they dance like they were walking (to the beat though). Do you know what I mean? It's not easy to explain but great to see. We flew Cubana Airlines and we had to fly around the United States (not over their airspace!) so it took us longer to get there. When we arrived at the airport in Cuba it was around 8:00PM. The doors opened and a hot and humid breeze greeted us as we walked down the ladder onto the grounds (remember, in Cuba, not many things are modernized). There were many officers in army uniform all over the airport (for security reasons?). Do not mess with the customs guys (or insult The Beard) or you might end up staying for a few years. As you enter the country you feel like you are back in the 50's. Vintage cars are all over the place - still in great shape. We went to the Copey Hotel (a part of Hoteles Horizontes) with an all inclusive plan. I highly recommend this place since it is a fairly nice hotel, good Cuban food and all drinks free! It is also located in the best area of Varadaro since all the action is there. The Havana Club (which we went to almost every night) is a part of the complex and is free to get in for hotel guests (otherwise a cover of $10). This club plays mostly English dance music but from 11:00PM to midnight every night they play all salsa. This was good for us since the bar closed at the hotel pool at 11:00PM. The club gets packed every night. After midnight they play salsa every so often. The club is open till about 4 or 5 in the morning and believe it or not, people stick around till then. Last time I went to Cuba, I went to the Quatro Palmas (a few blocks away) and it is also very good. We also went to this great outdoor club down the street called Castillito. It is right on the beach and you can hear the ocean waves while you dance the night away to all salsa. What more could you ask for? This place was filled with almost all locals but we felt at home here. Another plus was that you could order a whole bottle of rum and a can of Coke for $6 US. We went with a group of people (some Cuban) and this was our routine for a few nights. We also had a show every night here (Juan Carlos y su raperos). I tell you, the country is filled with talent and nowhere to go (people cannot leave the country). We did get some lessons there but it wasn't enough. Their style is completely different and not easy to do - at least for us. We found that the girl does not always follow - sometimes she would lead. My friend, Veronica (from Guatemala), said that the guy would sometimes expect her to lead a step. They do not do spins there. There are a lot of fancy moves though. They dance on 1 there but it is not easy to see because of the way they flow. We both had a lot of difficulty dancing with Cuban partners. We met one of the best Cuban dancers in Varadaro - his name was Guillermo and we spent much of our time with him. He was going to teach us at his house but it didn't work out for some reason. Interaction with the locals is not allowed unless they are employees of the hotel. We did it anyway. We also met a few guys from Milano. They were fantastic dancers. They do dance similarly to the LA style (comparing it to Josie's video). Salsa dancing is becoming international. The drive between Varadaro and Havana was a real treat. Cuba is a beautiful country and the people are super friendly. It is the safest Latin-American country in the world. Many people told us this. Everywhere you looked was a postcard. It was a beautifull sunny day - green, green vegetation contrasting against a blue sky with palm trees scattered everywhere. A few times a couple of locals in the middle of nowhere would pop out and hold up big bunches of those tiny little bananas. We stopped and bought some. They were so sweet, we just loved them! We were in paradise... When we arrived in Havana, I felt really uneasy but after we found a private tour guy to show us the city, I felt more relaxed. We went to all the tourist spots but I was more interested in seeing the real Cuba - the people and their way of living. Our guide did show us this and it was very sad to see - very poor living conditions and much poverty. But the funny thing is, even under those conditions, I felt they are happy and they do enjoy their lives. Castro's mansion takes up many city blocks and there are about 9 exits in case of attack. We went to Cafe Cantante - thanks to the Cuba page. We were not disappointed. Plenty of salsa dancing and a live salsa band in between to top it off. There must have been about 20 musicians. I don't know the band's name but they were amazing. Only, there were way too many prostitutes (both male and female). Unfortunately it is unavoidable. Things did not change since I went two years ago. Cuba is in desperate need of hard currency and this is one of their sources of income. It is very sad. Remember, on average, they make about 5 to 7 US dollars per month! And things are not cheap there even for the locals. On our way back (at around 4:00AM), we ran out of gas! What an adventure...The rental guys told us they filled up the car when we left, but the gas gauge was stuck on full the whole way there, so I just assumed I had enough gas. Anyway, it was lucky we got stuck close to town (the very outskirts of Matanzas) as opposed to in the middle of nowhere. We waited for someone to drive by for about an hour when some locals saw us and asked if we wanted some gas. They went back to their home and gave us about a cup full of gas, but it was enough to get us to a gas station (few and far between). I'm happy to say that we did make it back with no problems. Now, get some sleep then to the beach and relax... I think the beach in Varadaro is rated number 1 or 2 in the world. I'm not going to dispute that! I can't wait till I come back! If you do get a chance to visit, go there. It's a
real experience.
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