Ooph – over two weeks in Cuba generated quite a backlog of experiences to report on! That meant that we were over two weeks offline, since getting an internet connection in Cuba is not exactly straight forward. And getting a working internet connection is pretty much a lottery – when I eventually was sitting on a workstation in an internet cafe it took me forty (40) minutes to complete our online check-in for the flight back to Panama City.

In the meantime we have arrived in Quito, where internet connections exit, but the quality of the connection is somewhat late 90’s. Enough rambling, backlog #1:

I’ve heard a lot about classic American cars in Cuba and expected to see the occasional vehicle. I was not prepared for the fact that virtually every car that was on the road in 1959 when Castro took over is still in use! At times it felt as if more than half of the cars on Cuba’s streets where classics. Interspersed with the occasional Lada, probably a subsidy from the happy times when the Soviet Union was Cuba’s main supporter, and a few Japanese and Korean automobiles. We’ve seen hardly any luxury cars – I recall a newish Mercedes E Class and an Audi A4.

Classic Car XIII
Our trusted Ford, which brought us from the Bay of Pigs to Trinidad and from there to Varadero. Ford chassis, Fiat engine, Mercedes gear box, Hyundai transmission – Cuban mechanics are creative in working with what they’ve got.

All the cars are in full use. Most cars date from 1952-1959, Continue reading “The Classic Cars of Cuba” →