Cuba Greater Antilles

Locations in Cuba

Cuba Overview 

The Republic of Cuba (IPA: /ˈkjuːbə/, Spanish: Cuba (help·info) or República de Cuba (help·info) IPA: [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa]), consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles), Isla de la Juventud and several adjacent small islands. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba is south of the eastern United States and The Bahamas, west of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Haiti and east of Mexico. The Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south. The national flower is Hedychium Coronarium Koenig, most known as "mariposa" (butterfly) and the national bird is "Tocororo" or "Cuban Trogon" from the family of Trogonidae

U.S. Department of State Cuba Information:

Hotel Telégrafo in Havana - A Classic Hotel in Cuba - One of the great classic hotels at a price you can afford - This is a great vacation package to get the classic Havana, Cuba experience. 4 Days - 3 Nights at Hotel Telégrafo in Beautiful Havana, Cuba - $264 - Featuring the boldest, most contemporary architecture and interior design in Havana, this beautifully restored hotel is actually well over a century old. Offering an innovative mix of Art Deco furnishings, playful light fixtures, and modern Cuban sculpture & paintings throughout, the Hotel Telégrafo, like a fine wine, still maintains the architectural integrity of what some might consider a more agreeable age.   The rooms feature the soaring high ceilings that were the hallmark of an age when space was used to portray luxury and not, as it is today, linearly compressed by building costs. Most rooms have views over the Parque Central, those that don't open out onto the interior courtyard; look at both and decide your preference.  Your room includes a cellphone for your use while in Cuba. Food is served in the lovely courtyard with its ancient brick / stone arches...  the pool, fountain and mosaics add to the ambiance. Open 24 hours its a great spot to sit and enjoy a coffee, beer, or snack. There are computers and internet connections.  There are also two restaurants in the hotel, a bar, tour desk, concierge, rental-cars, 24 hour room service, laundry and dry cleaning. Spend some time in a hotel you'll remember forever; in a city that is worth seeing.  See the itinerary by clicking here

A Connecticut Yankee’s guide for success in Castro’s Court - Investing in Cuba - By Louis Sola, Managing Director of Berkshire Financial Services. Lou's company, Berkshire is currently involved in setting  foreign investments in Cuba.
Actualities: $18 a night lodging in Alicante…the world’s best dancing girls… waiting for the Bay Islands Chunnel…no more tolls in Mexico - $18 a night…stylish lodging in Alicante. Weary of public transport after a day stuck in Madrid’s airport, I splurged on a taxi and went straight to El Barrio, Alicante’s old town. Like all Alicante locals I met in this off-season, my driver spoke nothing but Spanish. It was good to have to make myself understood. I requested the Pension Las Monges, which I’d heard was like a boutique hotel with eight lovely and individual rooms. With much confusion but more good will, the driver took me right to the place, almost, because it’s within the old pedestrian zone beneath Alicante’s shabbily magnificent Castillo de Santa Bárbara, which roosts over the seaside town. The driver gave me directions I could almost understand: through the arch, right one block, past the plaza. And there it was. Ken Layne, Alicante, Spain (more)
AdventureView: Chris Baker ~ Motorcycles Through Cuba ~ by Mark McMahon - With a fire engine-red motorcycle and a burning desire for adventure, Chris Baker set his sights on Cuba. In three months he covered over 7,000 miles – a journey that would forever change his views of this tiny, politically charged island. He has written four very popular books on Cuba – two guidebooks, a coffee-table book, and an award-winning literary book, Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling through Castro’s Cuba. In this interview Chris talks with Mark about his adventures there, what inspired him to travel and write, getting into (and out of) trouble, and he shares some opinions on current U.S. policies. April/05
Buy Cuba"s best businesses -  Buy Cuba"s best businesses - Find out about visiting Cuba - Buy the farm: gracious country living in Spain 
Buy Cuba's best businesses - Buy Cuba's best businesses - For 36 years, U.S. business people have not been allowed to legally invest in Cuba. However, you may run across the odd American who has managed to figure out a way to sneak past the restrictions ... and thereby profit. From International Living Magazine -
Cuba ~ Having Fun ~ by Mark McMahon - THE PARTY STARTED just a few hours after I arrived. Decorations were already in place; the cake was in the refrigerator, the piñata filled with candies. I was made to feel like I was the special guest of honor when in fact it was a birthday party for Ellen, my eight-year-old Cuban Goddaughter. (To get up to speed on my role as El Padrino, read entries at filmtrips.com from my first visit to Cuba –link1) Feb./04
Cuban Capitalism - A Guide to Trade and Investment in Pre and Post Embargo Cuba - Trade & Investment in Cuba's Pre and Post Embargo - A chapter from the book Cuban Capitalism by Louis Sola including an introduction by the author. To our knowledge, Cuban Capitalism is the only investment book on Cuba.  It is written by someone with five years of first hand experience including providing all the legal and financial obligations to the first 100% foreign investment on the Island as well as overseeing trade and insurance's for major trading partners wanting to do business inside Cuba.
Cuban Capitalism - A Guide to Trade and Investment in Pre and Post Embargo Cuba Part Two - Another chapter from the book Cuban Capitalism by Louis Sola. To our knowledge, Cuban Capitalism is the only investment book on Cuba.  It is written by someone with five years of first hand experience including providing all the legal and financial obligations to the first 100%
foreign investment on the Island as well as overseeing trade and insurance's for major trading
partners wanting to do business inside Cuba.
Cuban Cigars Shipped Worldwide - Cuban Cigars - EscapeArtist has begun to add products to our website.  The products and services we are adding are ones that are difficult or impossible to find on the internet. One of our first products is Authentic Cuban Cigars shipped from the duty free trade zone in Panama.  If you don't smoke cigars, now is a good time to start.  If you're going to start, start with the best. Nov./02
Doug Casey in Cuba - Doug Casey in Cuba - The guru of offshore and international living provides some reminiscence & analysis of the changes in Cuba over the past five years - he knows his
stuff. 
From Santiago de Cuba to Havana in only Three Weeks - From Santiago de Cuba to Havana in only Three Weeks - Linda Thalman is the director of WebFrance International and editor of the Paris In Sites Newsletter. She has traveled extensively. On a recent trip to the land of music, laughter, and rum, she lived Cuba from east to west. Linda  writes, "At the first step out of the Santiago de Cuba airport on Saturday, 12 February, we salsa-ed through a receiving line of costumed dancers moving to the beat of Cuban music. And the beat went on and on throughout our trip from east to west in Cuba. After three weeks of almost no TV -- CNN and even France-2 television are available at the big hotels, no newspapers -- only the Spanish-language national daily Granma, and no Internet -- no Internet cafe anywhere, es bueno!, we found it actually is possible to totally disconnect -- what a fiesta!"
Gaviota, The Last Cowgirl in Cuba - Gaviota, The Last Cowgirl in Cuba - This ratiocination of events in Cuba leads me to a bizarre vision of the future: Havana stands very little chance of not becoming another Juarez or Tijuana, with their controlled and horrific professional prostitution, gambling and gangsterism (a lot like present day Russia, too). Historically, this has been the payback for cultures which deny and try to suppress the natural instincts of their peoples.  Kirk Stephan doesn't pull any punches when he writes about Cuba.  Andrei Codrescu would like his writing...  we know we like his writing, but perhaps it's good advice that weaker souls should stay away.
Havana Great Time in Cuba ~ Doing Havana Like a Cuban in Cuba - Vacationing in Cuba - Al Dieste says, "Having just returned from four weeks in Cuba, three of which were spent in Havana, I would like to share with your readers the wonderful opportunity to enjoy and discover a rich and diverse culture, at less-than-Motel 6 prices!  Consider an alternative title to this article as “Vacationing Like a King in Havana for $50 a Day!”
Sept./02
Hooks In Havana ~ Lowdown And Looking ~ by Will Mitchell - This article clearly has the single male travellor in mind, and may be offensive to some people, so skip it if you're one of them. I have travelled much of my life, and try to fund my travels through black-market money trading, which works well in some South American and third world countries, where hard currency is in desperate demand. It's a skill in itself, and may be the subject of another article. As a single male expat Canadian, with normal heterosexual needs, I do sample the wares of other countries, but only if I am convinced it is safe, and not going to cause me grief in terms of STDs.  Sept./04
How to profit (legally) - right now - in Castro's Cuba - When, in 1991, the Soviet empire collapsed, Cuba lost its sugar daddy. Soon after, in the midst of a devastating depression, Fidel Castro, of necessity, opened the door a little to foreign investors and foreign tourists.  And thereby hangs a tale…and an attractive investment opportunity. By Adrian Day
Iowa City Yankee in King Castro’s Court - Iowa City Yankee in King Castro’s Court - Obviously the situation here on the island was closer to the opposite: Nearly everyone was HIGHLY educated and had had in the past many varying opportunities, cultures, and comfort-levels. This probably was a significant contribution to their becoming what they are: one of the most articulate, bright, and passionate peoples. ...they exhibited daily their tremendous joy in living. Without the comforts which most of the world enjoys (TV, computers, magazines, presidential sex-scandal-entertainments, etc.) they resort to music and dance, poetry and art, dialogue and personal interactions... life as we used to know it.
Iowa Yankee in King Castro's Court - Iowa Yankee in King Castro's Court - Steeping back through time, the author, recounts the events of a short trip to Cuba -- his fifth. "Though recovering, my energy level was hovering around zero plus 2 or so.  I told my girlfriend I would pay her plane ticket to come to Havana from Santiago de Cuba, but this was tantamount to telling a North American girl in Los Angeles that her lover from Europe had arrived, but she'd have to travel to New York in order to see him!  All this was compounded by the fact that Cubans aren't allowed to just travel about at will, but Havana is starting to shape up.  In the next couple of years, I guess, it'll be looking a lot more like it did in the old capitalist glory days." photos by Håkan Rönnblad.
Living In Cuba - Living in Cuba - Our first report on what may be an extended series about living in Cuba. This article by Escape From America editor Roger Gallo is an introduction to living on the Grand Island.
Retiring in Cuba - Retiring in Cuba - Christopher Howard, author of "Living and Investing in the New Cuba" shares his wisdom on Cuba. Cuba may soon become the place to beat if they can maintain cautious growth and a realistic balance between what they have and what they need.
The Case Against Cuba Sanctions ~ Latin Business Chronicle - Cuba Tourism - Philip Peters is a vice president of the Lexington Institute. Peters writes, "On the eve of Congressional consideration of amendments affecting U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba, the State Department has released a 20-page "white paper" to bolster its point of view.  The paper may well reveal the Administration's real reason for wanting to deny Americans the right to travel freely to Cuba: it does not want Americans to see how distorted is their own government's presentation of Cuban reality. August/02.