Upon leaving the beach area, we went to Cojimar, the village near Havana where Ernest Hemingway kept his boat and spent much of his mid-life. After we had visited the village and waterfront, Siul gathered us up and said "follow me!" A short ways up a side street we stopped in front of a modest but neat cottage and Siul knocked upon the door. He went inside and was talking with somebody, soon he emerged and invited us all to "come in". He explained that this was the home of Gregorio Fuentes, Hemingways boat captain, and Gregaorio's grandson. Gregorio is considered by many to be the model for Santiago, the old fisherman that Hemingway used in his mini-classic "The Old Man and the Sea." Annie and I didn't think much of this intrusion by a bunch of Norteamericanos descending unannounced on their home, and so wecsat down on the curb to wait for the rest who did go in. Eventually Siul's beautiful young assistant came over and convinced us that is was indeed really ok, Gregorio loves to meet visitors, particularly from America. Had she not changed our minds we would have missed the honor of briefly meeting this remarkable old man of 102. His personage clearly exudes peace and good will. He was born on July 11, 1897 in the Canary Islands and was traveling to Cuba as a 6 year old when his father, the ship's cook, died on board. Gregorio was raised by other Canary Island immigrants in Cuba.

From 1935 to 1960 Hemingway and Fuentes were virtually inseparable. In WWII they patrolled the coast for German U-boats, and later, says Fuentes, they patrolled the same coast to assist the revolution. In 1935 Hemingway hired Gregorio as caretaker and captain of his boat, El Pilar. Upon Hemingway's death, Fuentes inherited El Pilar and subsequently donated in to the Cuban Government which displays it outside Hemingway's former home, now a museum.

With birthdays only 11 days apart, the two would celebrate each other with a bottle of whiskey. After Hemingway's death, Fuentes kept the tradition alive by pouring whisky over Hemingway's bust down at the harbor of Cojimar.

It is was with sadness, but with a sense of celebration as well, that we learned of his death as I edit these notes in January 2002. He was preceded in death by his wife of 70 years in 1990. Two of his four daughters are still living, and he had seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

The Cojimar waterfront with El Torreon, a little fortress guarding the cove.

Gregorio Fuentes at 102 in May of 2000. Note the painting on the wall showing Hemingway and Gregorio and their boat "Pilar".

Ruth speaking with Gregorio

Gregorio lives in this home in the fishing village of Cojimar not far east of Havana with his grandson.

It is said that when Hemingway died, all the village fisherman of Cojimar donated enough brass fittings from their boats to cast this bust.

Travel Journal part 3

Somewhat uncharacteristically for us, we did not keep a good set of travel journals beyond this point--we were to busy visiting and meeting with folks! When we returned to the mainland, we had a long journey ahead of us to Montana, and a busy summer to follow. So for the remainder of this journal the photos will be in no particular order with notes explaining the context of those pictures.

There seems to be a large variety of land-use and farm management schemes in use in Cuba. The photo on the lower left was taken at a large government collective farm. In addition, there are various types of co-op farms that are operated pretty much independently of the government. The photo above was taken in the rich tobacco growing area of Pinar del Rio, and these are private farms here. About the only thing one doesn't see is the huge corporate mega-farms that are so prevalent in the US. (I'm not sure I could discern the difference between the US style mega-farm and a large collective farm.)

This was taken on a large collective farm in western Cuba and captures the contrasts seen everywhere. This oxcart is shown in from of rather grim eastern european style housing, to it's left is smaller apartment more like you might see in the rural US, and some private homes as well. The road is paved but deteriorating. Just off the photo to the right is a modest, but well maintain primary school.

In the photo above and to the right you should notice a triangular building--it is a tobacco drying shed. Here as a painting of one.

Here Anne is inspecting some offerings. We didn't buy much because we generally don't take home a lot of stuff anyway, but also because we didn't bring enough cash. With no relations with the US, there are no cash machines that we could use. If we were European, Canadian, Mexican, or any other nationality--yes it would work.

Private enterprise is alive in Cuba, but not necessarily well. Here is Barbara and Elizabeth in a jitney of some sort heading out somewhere. Private enterprise is allowed, but heavily regulated and taxed. The entrepreneur is besieged by currency problems, taxation bordering on confiscation, and a murky and shifting regulatory climate.

This is the US Interests Section building in Havana, the equivalent of the US Embassy--if we had diplomatic relations with the island. I was the only building that I observed in all of Cuba that was surrounded by armed guards. I would not have been comfortable pointing a camera at the building with all those guards toting their heavy iron, but I did snap this out the back window of a taxi as we went by. (The horizontal lines are something in the back window of the taxi.)

There is a small and busy art street market in Havana

"Return Our Child" The Elilan Gonzalas affair was still unresolved at the time of our visit. The feeling of the person in the street was that the Miami Cuban Community had kidnapped Elian with the acquiescence of the US government. Any fair minded assessment of this position will affirm that they are close to being right.

We did bring home two carvings

In their zeal to eliminate the middle-men which are held in such disdain by the official party line, laws are in effect that items can be sold at the art market only by the artisan themselves. I suspect this rule is often overlooked, but this man is clearly the creator of the piece he holds.

A view from the summit

Somewhere in Pinar del Rio we visited a National Forest Preserve, and I have forgotten the name. To the left is a visitor's center.

There is a rather large collective with quite a few workers who are evidently working on forest recovery projects. There is also a rather nice hotel here as well.

Cuban families enjoying an outing at a local park and swimming hole

A "Camel"

This big "bus" is pulled by a tractor truck and holds a stadium fulla folks. Havana has purchased quite a few modern buses, but some of these dinosaurs still remain on the streets. A nice Cuban woman waiting for the bus offered us pesos, when she though we were also waiting for a bus, because she was concerned that we wouldn't have the correct change for the bus. She knew we were American too, which affirms that the average Cuban holds no animus toward the American people--only our government.

Our bus driver-- this guy is amazing. He can screw this big 40 pax bus into places it is impossible for it to go, sometimes with only an inch or so clearance on both side. Cuban roads are reasonable good by Latin American standards, but they often are narrow and confined. Rental cars are available, Cuban drivers are quite courteous and drive very reasonably, and there are very few travel restrictions in the country.

Although we didn't do much in the way of "touristy" things, we did a few. Here a boat load of our group is emerging from an large cave. (Actually, our permit from the US government specifcally forbids us from doing such recreation oriented activities--as if they could enforce it.)

Habana Vieja - The old city is quite well maintained, with a lot of historic buildings and restoration projects underway. Despite the renewal, there are residential buildings nearby where people are living in appalling conditions

Downtown Havana from the top of the hotel. There are not many large buildings here when you consider the population of the city (a bit over two million). Many buildings are in a severe state of decay, but there is some reconstruction and renew going on as well.

The Floridita--where Hemingway where the plot of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" was formed.

More views of Habana Vieja

There is a large oil terminal within Havana's inner harbor, and unfortuantely their polution laws must be quite loose. This boat is anchored in the Bahia de la Habana right opposite the Vieja district and, as you can see, is fouled with oil.

The Capitol Rotunda

Did the Cubans employ the same architect as did we? Incidentally, Cubans consider Abraham Lincoln to be one of history's greatest emancipators and there is a bust of him prominently displayed here in the capitol.

In Vinales we are meeting with a women's group with Siul busy resolving our language difficulties. Here we are having a wide-ranging discussions on multiple issues. In Cuba, not only is there racial equality, there is a real emphasis on gender equality as well.

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