The strangest thing about traveling is that with every destination you tick off your bucketlist you probably add another five destinations. No? Just me?
I've recently turned thirty and I took an island holiday where I reflected on my life and future plans. Obviously I found myself daydreaming about my future travels. Needless to say, i have a whole host of destinations added. With the Rand's volatility I've had to be creative about the destinations that I give preference right now. I am breaking one rule because this destination has been high up on my list since I was a little boy. It's been near impossible (due to financial constraints) to get there and it still is. It's becoming increasingly popular and my worry is that it's going to change and become more expensive with time.
I'm going to Cuba y'all!!
Getting there
This is the longest route I've ever taken to get to one place. But I've had to be creative about getting there. Two weeks ago I decided that I'm going to take this trip and I had to find a way to get there. But I also needed to be in NYC for Pride on 26June. All flights to NYC were ridiculously expensive. I remember reading somewhere that Qatar is going to start flying to Atlanta and I wondered if they had enough bums on seats and that's how I found fairly cheap flights to ATL via DOH. It was the cheapest by ZAR2000 for other ATL flights and ZAR5000 for JFK/NWR. And last week my heart broke when I found cheaper flights to NYC. Agh no need crying over spilled wine.
I will stay in Atlanta for two nights and meet up with old friends. A bit of clubbing at Bulldogs like its the olden days again. From Atlanta I will fly to JFK on Delta using my miles. All I paid was $5.60!! Score!
The fun begins when I leave NYC for Havana. I'm flying with Aeromexico via Mexico City to Havana. The flight is costing me almost as much as the Qatar one. I've never been to Mexico City and this is a perfect opportunity to use a long stop to explore the city. So yeah I'm going to walk around the city during my stop 😍😍😍
There are many ways to get to Havana. Here are the few I found:
* from New York via Nassau in the Bahamas. I'd add a day or two in the Bahamas and enjoy the picture-perfect beaches.
* From New York via Panama City using Copa Airlines. Note that you need a transit visa for Panama City.
* From Johannesburg via Paris on AirFrance
* Via Toronto
* From Johannesburg to São Paulo on SAA then use Copa Airlines to get to Havana via Panama City
* Aeromexico via Cancun
I plan to go to Havana, Santa Clara and Trinidad. I will use the bus to get around. It's about $8 for the shortest trip. Santa Clara is a small city but it is known as Cuba's trans community haven. I really want to be there for a weekend and experience it myself.
VISAS
I don't need a transit visa for Qatar, luckily. I may need to get a visa for my return given my very long stop so I can maybe explore Doha and rest before my flight home. I haven't done much research on this but it's similar to the UAE visa process, possibly pricier.
I have a ten-year USA Visa tha still has a few years left in it.
The nice thing is that I don't need a visa for Mexico if I have an American visa.
I need to get a travel card for Cuba. Word on the Internet is that I can get it at the airport before my Havana leg. I've decided to go to the Cuban consular office here in South Africa (Pretoria) next week and get the travel card from here. It appears like a simple and quick process. Will blog about it once in done.
Accommodation
There's tons of homestays/ hostals on Airbnb. I haven't booked any yet but I've identified a number in Havana, Santa Clara and Trinidad.
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