Posted By: Martin <martin@martinpublishing.com>
Sunday, 30 August 1998
Getting There
I arrived in Santo Domingo on Thursday after a great flight from California. As always my good friend Taxi Dave was awaiting along with several other whoremongers like myself. I am always more comfortable in the company of people I understand. Darren, of the Portifino Restaurant and a friend of mine who arrived several days earlier. Of we go to Boca Chica for several days of beer guzzling and screwing before my flight leaves to Habana on Sunday.
Boca Chica
True blue as allways. Nothing seems to change. A good time for all, with plenty of distraction to go around. I stayed at the Calypso and it was great as always. Plenty of chicas abound. I made the usual rounds, Ronnies, the Wiggle Bar, Pat and the war zone. Met a nice girl that was new to Boca Chica. Her name was Rosalia and she could suck the chrome off of a bumper hitch. A real keeper.
4 days of Boca Fun and I am ready to go off to Habana for a week of adventure and romance.
Air Cubana or The Flight Of Death
I left Santo Domingo via Cubana Airlines on Sunday afternoon. This was the first time I have had the pleasure of flying a 40 year old Russian Jet. And a pleasure it was. I have never seen a plane so well appointed with off white interior house plaint. The seats reminded me of my first car. Nice and saggy. And the carpet. It never seemed logical to me, to clean a carpet that is just going to get dirty again. Gee, maybe American airlines could learn a few cost-cutting techniques from these fellows.
If this was typical of Russian aircraft then we wasted a whole lot of money on the cold war.
Habana
Landing in Habana is a breeze. There was a long line in customs; it took about an hour. When I got to the guy in the booth he looked at my papers, and asked where I was staying. I told him I was staying at the Riveria and he sent me on my way.
I was to meet Bruce (Mr. TSM) at the airport, our planes landed within an hour of each other. The problem was we landed at different terminals. We had a back up plan but that failed too. After giving up on finding him, it was 1:00 am by now and I went to the casa. To my surprise he was there waiting there for me. What a great country!
Bruce was tired and so was I. We decided to take a short walk to the malacon, just down the block and what did we see? A bounty of beautiful women just hanging around at 2:00 in the morning on a Sunday. We found a couple of enchanting chicas that wanted to help out with foreign relations and off we went to our casa. The beginning of a great week.
This was my second trip this summer and I felt at home the minute I landed. I was off and running on day one.
We did a lot of the usual, checking out the sights, hanging at the pool, visiting the discos etc. There were a few highlights of the trip that I will share however I see no need to go over the same stuff that everyone else does when they go to Cuba.
Bruce did a lot of checking out casas for the membership. I am sure he will be posting his results as soon as possible. Additionally he tried to work out a TSM discount whenever possible. He really was on a work trip, kinda.
I met a great gal on my third day. She lived in Holgun, the other end of the Island. She was a nurse on vacation. Her name was Yolanda. Yolanda had saved up her money for two years to go on vacation in Habana. It was her fantasy to meet an attractive (I hope I fit the bill) foreigner. She wanted to have a good time, go to the discos and fuck day & night. It was a match made in heaven. She invited me to visit me in her hometown. I really liked this woman. I am coming back at the end of the year and I will definitely be hooking up with her.
The Invasion
On Tuesday & Wednesday we met up with Bogey and George. Two of the finest people I have ever meet. It was great to have the four of us there in Habana all tasting the forbidden fruit.
We all had a great time. There was a great dinner at Sazannas with the four of our chicas and us. Lots of laughs and fun. Hanging out at the pool, the Cohiba, CoCo Cabana and the Riveria. All different and all interesting.
George spoke Spanish better than most Cubans but loved to play that dumb gringo game. It was quite a laugh watching me in my broken Spanish trying to talk for us until he had either had enough or was interest in the chica. I must say we had the best time. Bogey was on the prowl. You could count on Boogie to find the best looking girl in any given situation.
The Chicas
During the course of my week I met 4 chicas. Each one great in there own way. One night after meeting Yolanda I told her I was going out with my friends, solo. She said no problem. I met a stunning little blond girl. Her performance was only moderate, however it reminded of what it was like to be 20 again. Let me tell you, I have many friends here at home that are living a life of day to day drudgery and misery. Their lives are so sad and miserable that they don't know how distressed they really are.
The few that I tell what I do on my trips either can't believe me or don't want to for fear that if they thought this was possible how could they face there forlorn lives for another day. Leave it to say that ignorance is bliss.
Personal
One of the many highlights was attending Shabbat Services on Friday night in a very old synagogue in Habana. I had made contact with a Jewish group in Oakland CA that was conducting yearly trips to bring relief and aid to the Jewish community in Cuba. I had brought a duffel bag full of medicine, all over the counter stuff. Ibuprofen, cold medicine, tooth brushes, toothpaste etc.
I can not tell you how thankful people were to receive a bottle of 100 Advil. We take for granted these kinds of things. Just imagine if you had a child with a fever and could not get something as simple as aspirin.
I have met many TSM members in my travels. There seems to be a common denominator among us all. We are educated, have a little money and are open minded. We travel the world in search of the best women in the best place. It seems to me like it would not take much effort at all to make the places we go and the people we meet a little better off. If anyone has any interest in doing something a little extra on his or her next trip to Cuba, just send me an e-mail and I assist in any way I can.
All Good Things Must Come To an End
Sunday came in the blink of an eye. A week had passed and I was ready to stay for a lifetime. I guess that is why they call it "Vacation". Yolanda helped me pack and we headed off to the airport together. It was like a scene right out of the movies. We waked to the immigration gate together. I gave her a big long sloppy kiss and a tear rolled down her check. She watched until I disappeared through the gate. I was a little sad at that moment. I felt like I had made a connection and then it was lost. Fortunately I was on my way back to the Dominican Republic for 3 more days of fun & sun.
Upon arriving back into the DR I was met by our trusty friend Taxi Dave. A good man you can always count on. He dropped me off in BC at the El Candil. The first time I have stayed there. A great place and only $40.00 a night. I highly recommend it. I spent the whole day Monday sleeping. I had not realized how run down I was from all the late nights in Habana.
Tuesday morning the crashing of a tree against the hotel woke me up. There was one hell of a storm going on out there. This was about 5:00 in the morning. I had an 11:00 flight and there was no way a plane was going to fly in this. By 9:00 it settled down quite a bit and I went to the airport. My flight left on time and I had a very pleasant flight back to CA via Miami.
Some personal observations. This is just my opinion!
About the Casas
Bruce and I had reservations at Irmas. I even called her on Sunday from Santo Domingo before I left. She assured me we had rooms. When I arrived later that evening she had no rooms and hustled us up stairs to a neighbor's house. His accommodations were just fine. As a mater of fact I enjoyed them even more. Two days later when she had open rooms she insisted that we come back, and we did. We were her property.
Irma's casa was fine however I would probably not go back again. I have stayed in three different casas and each one of them had its good points and bad points. If any one tells you that any one casa is the best well they are just full of shit!
It seems to me that to travel all the way to Cuba looking for adventure and action and then be so insecure that you are afraid to try something new, well you might as well go stay a week in a time-share in Palm Springs.
The best address in town is the Cohiba Hotel however they wont let you bring Cuban Guest into the hotel. The rest is all just a make the best of it situation.
The Restaurants:
Its is kind of like the Casas. Each one is different. The best meal I had in Cuba last time was in an illegal palador. This month it was gone. Eight of us had dinner one night at the Habana Café. It was a lot of fun. The food was almost as good as a Denny's and I think the bill was between $150.00 and $200.00, however it was a good time!
I ate a few great meals in some private restaurants and 1 superb meal with eight of us at Suzannas Casa. The cost of this feast was $15.00 per person.
If any one tells you that any one restaurant is the best well they are just full of shit! Go out and try something different each day. Maybe it will be good or maybe it will be bad, either way it will at least be an adventure.
The People & the Politics:
The Cuban people are among the best I have ever met. Friendly, warm and intelligent, for the most part. Do not forget that this is a communist country, or as it more likely seems to be, a dictatorship. A system like this does not perpetuate itself with the help of many people. The Communist party is alive and well. They still think that we are imperialist (perhaps we are) and that the general population is not capable of running there own lives. True free enterprise is not about to happen any time soon in Cuba.
Although our blockade has put a damper on their economy they have free trade with the rest of the world. There are millions of dollars pouring into Cuba every day from tourism and even more from cigars yet they have no medicine in their hospitals. Thousands of Cubans toil in tobacco fields yet there is not enough food to go around. I asked a Cuban why in a country with the best weather and richest soil why there is hunger. He replied that you can't eat tobacco and the government forbids them to grow anything else.
My two trips to Cuba this summer have been the some of best trips I have ever had.
Go to Cuba. Enjoy the ladies. Bask in the sun. Talk to the people, but most of all, be safe!