Day 4: Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro
By our 4th day in Cuba we were slowly becoming accustomed to how to live. We were homeschooling still so doing that during the head of the day. Around sun down we started to venture out in to Havana. We would walk the streets and try to find neat things and different restaurants to try.
The vast majority of of the Cuban people are helpful and very nice people. But due to the incredibly challenging financial situation the island is under, there are some people scamming foreigners to make ends meet. We experienced our first scam on the 4th day. We had been acquiring taxi numbers to help us get around Havana. We paid a premium because we did not download the Cuban version of Uber. If you go to Cuba make sure you do that! Regardless, one of the taxi coordinators set us up with a ride to the Castillo De Los Tres Del Morro. Apparently, he also made it a “Tour” so we had a “tour guide” with us the entire time. I am not anti tour guides and actually think its a great way to learn a lot more about the locations you are visiting. The problem with our tour guide was that he didn’t know any thing about the castle. He would say things like “see this desk? It is very old. Maybe 3, 4 or 500 years old”. He could not answer even basic questions. He also made sure to tell us that we have to tip him so he can provide for his family.
He also took us to a restaurant. Prior to us going I had asked if it was a reasonably priced restaurant which he assured me it was. Once we sat down and go the menus the cheapest entree was $30 USD, which is insane in Cuba. Our “tour guide” was not pleased when I said we cannot afford this and we are leaving. He had sat down at our table. I guess he was wanting a meal out of the deal as well. Nonetheless, it was a fairly uncomfortable situation. This wasn’t the only time we were taken to a restaurant in Cuba and it wasn’t the last time we walked out either!
We did have a very nice that evening even though our “tour guide” smoked while he followed us and peed in one of the rooms in the Spanish fortress (there wasn’t a bathroom where he peed). Oh and Sinead launched a pretty big rock off of the top of the fortress down upon an area with people and breakable things. That was horrifying and luckily she wasn’t arrested! We finished the night at our favorite local restaurant. It was the first time we ordered something and they said “sorry we don’t have that tonight”. There are definite food shortages in the country and we were slowly starting to pick up on the harsh realities the Cubans are dealt with.
