HE’S HAVANA BALL
A ‘guide’ to a great Cuban visit
Dear John: My wife and I were in the Caymans on vacation in October and met a young lady on 7 Mile Beach who was a Cuban national.
She told us if we would like to visit Cuba, she would give us her father’s info, and we could call him and he would be our guide.
Long story short, three days later I spent my 60th birthday in Havana. Our guide showed us an amazing time, with a history lesson to boot.
He picked us up at the airport and then proceeded to take us to various homes that had been fully restored, which we could rent for $60 a night. I am talking two bedrooms, two baths, full kitchen, living room with large patio with large steel gate.
In the morning, my wife and I would walk to a park where they had internet service. There was always someone there to sell you the cards to get an internet connection.
We also understand the culture shock of credit and debit cards not working.
Our guide knew where the Western Union office was located. Otherwise, we would have been screwed big time.
The best way to see Cuba is to have a guide.
I am still in awe of what we saw and the significance of what it meant in history. J.Y.
Dear J.Y.: You got lucky. As you know, I recently wrote about my trip to Havana and the feeling that many Americans had of being helpless with just the cash in their pockets.
Yes, you are screwed if you spend too much. Or get robbed.
I also hired a guide. But she had big plans for cab rides and more-expensive-than-normal meals that would have left me hanging high and dry.
I got rid of her after one day when I realized my cash wasn’t going to hold out.
As I said, a trip to Cuba is for the adventurous and the curious. Just remember to take a lot of greenbacks. I thought I had enough and almost didn’t.
Readers: I recently contacted radio station 92.3 about a problem that a reader had with one of its advertisers, a travel company.
I’m happy to say the station fixed the problem. Here’s a note to me from the reader.
Hey John: I saw the story in The Post today. Thank you for all your help! I was contacted by a new person from the company whom I hadn’t spoken to yet, and they refunded my money.
Now I know why I received that random call from them.
Thank you!! M.G.