Cuba guide
Rum and Havanas
In a world buffeted by the changes following the fall of Communism in Europe, sugar, rum, cigars and tobacco have been proving almost as difficult to export as the revolution. Cuba, while remaining under Fidel Castro a stubborn Marxist hold-out, has rediscovered its magnetic appeal for the tourist industry.
This largest of the Caribbean islands is once again attracting hard currency with its beaches, the superb music and dancing of its nightclubs, and monuments of the Spanish colonial past (and revolutionary modern era). Besides pouring into the recently developed resorts like Varadero and Guardalavaca, visitors are discovering the proud capital of Havana, and other handsome cities such as Santiago de Cuba and Trinidad, dating back to the 16th century.
The most westerly of the West Indies islands extends some 1,300 km (800 miles) in length and about 100 km (60 miles) across its centre, standing at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico. Its western end is only 145 km (90 miles) from Florida's Key West. In fact, Cuba comprises an archipelago of some 1,600 isles and cayos (cays), the largest being the Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) south of Batabano Bay. Sheltered by long coral reefs, the coast has plenty of splendid sandy beaches, facing the Bahamas and Atlantic to the northeast, Jamaica and the Caribbean to the south. To the east, the Windward Passage separates Cuba from Haiti.
Three mountainous regions dominate the interior: the Sierra Maestra rich in flora and fauna, rising to over 2,000 m (over 6,500 ft) in the southeast, the lower Sierra del Escambray in the centre, slopes notable for their coffee plantations and several lakes, and the Sierra de los Organos, growing rice and tobacco, to the west. Between these ranges is a countryside of gently rolling hills and broad plains, where the vital sugar crop is harvested.
The island's flora numbers no less than 8,000 varieties. Dense forests cover the humid lower mountain slopes, providing valuable timber products. Woods on the higher and drier slopes are principally pine and eucalyptus. The island boasts an astonishing assortment of palm trees, the best known being the royal palm, indigenous to Cuba.
Sugar and its derivatives are the principal source of revenue, followed by tobacco. Other agricultural products are rice, beans, coffee, maize and fruits, with newly developed cattle breeding and fisheries.
The climate is sub-tropical but less hot than elsewhere in the Caribbean. In Havana, the average temperature is around 25˚C (77˚F). The dry season lasts from November to mid-May and the rainy season from mid-May to October, but even then, Havana and Varadero rarely have more than two consecutive days of rain. Hurricanes sometimes blow into the Caribbean from September to November, but Cuba has an excellent early-warning system.
Few catastrophes, meteorological or ideological, seem to ruffle for long the Cubans' celebrated good nature. They are easy to talk to, friendly and helpful. The creative talents of the people are as lively and imaginative as ever, in art and sport. Music and dance are everywhere. The most stilted, stuffy visitor is sooner or later seduced into relaxing and joining the party. Even if times may be hard for the Cubans themselves, tourists can enjoy the best of Cuba's tangy Caribbean cuisine, good seafood, great beach barbecues, luscious fruit.
