Cuba: Sustainable Agriculture and Urban Gardens Trip

Below is a "backwards" diary of my Cuba trip. The focus of the trip was Cuba's sustainable agricultural production practices. Cuba has been ramping ups such practices since the collapse of the USSR in the early 90's. At the time the USSR was Cuba's sole supplier of agriculture inputs like pesticides and fertilizer. Moreover, if the U.S. embargo wasn't also in place then Cuba probably would have sought inputs elsewhere. But instead, out of necessity, they returned to basic agricultural practices, and as far as I could tell have succeeded. No telling what will happen to these practices if, and when, the U.S. embargo is lifted.

My biggest "wow' of the entire trip: Cuba isn't a bad off economically as the Western media presents it to be. I read a news articles before embarking on the trip. The articles portrayed Cuba as a grim place and alleged Cubans had to wait in lines to purchase toilet paper, food, etc. If they did, I certainly didn't see any such lines.

I visited Poland for two and a half months in 1987, and worked on a state-owned farm while there. And there I saw the shortages firsthand. Cuba is nothing compared to communist Poland in the 1980's. Then again, it may be that my experience in Poland may have distorted my initial expectation of Cuba. I was expecting worse.

My second biggest "wow": Cuba’s ability to produce food organically in urban gardens and provide a fresh source of food to the local communities. Without inputs and pesticides, Cuban farmers turned to organic production and seem to be doing a good job at it.

The only negative aspect of the low-input farming was the fact that 20% of the population was employed by the agriculture sector, but the sector only generated 5% of the nation's income. Some might claim the sector was highly inefficient. Others might claims the health and environmental benefits of local, organic production outweigh the inefficiency.

Overall, Cuba is a functioning society with different set of values and objectives than a capitalist society like the U.S. And yes the country may appear to be stuck in the 50's and in need of some capital improvements, but it is certainly not in a dire economic condition. One of our host said it best: "Cuba's society isn't perfect, but they are trying". Essentially the same can be said about the U.S. Based on my observations, I don't believe there is a perfect society, just different.

I'd encourage anyone interesting in visiting Cuba to do so. I'd like to return someday. Two things, I wish I could have done, but they weren't part of our agenda was scuba diving and cycling. Maybe next time. If you're interested in visiting Cuba, Reality Tours offers a number of trips for a number of different professions.

Cuba: Day Nine - Hemingway Haunts

Behind Che and Fidel, Cuba’s third Icon is probably Hemingway. Many visitors seem to embark on a Hemingway pilgrimage while in Cuba. He seems to be both a institution and tourist trap.

One can visit his estate, Finca la Vigia, located on the outskirts of the city - Hemingway's home from 1939 to 1960, which is now a museum. He lived there while writing “The Old Man and the Sea” and “Island in the Stream”. We decided to skip the museum, but instead visited the two bars he frequented: “La Bodeguita del Medio” and “Floridita”. I’m not a huge Hemingway fan, but visiting the bars seemed like the tourist thing to do, they were fairly close to our hotel and somewhat Hemingway-esque, they were filled with tourist. When in Cuba everyone should do something Che, Fidel and Hemingway, right?

Cuba: Day Eight - Havana & the Revolution

For all Che and Fidel enthusiast, Cuba is basically a pilgrimage, and the Museum of the Revolution, located in the former Presidential Palace, is a must see. Actually, it’s a must see for anybody who visits Cuba and has an interest in history and politics. Unfortunately, for me, I drank a bit too much the night before at the Tropicana. Hence, the early morning tour of the museum was a bit painful. I definitely would have liked to have spent more time learning about the history of the revolution; a Cuba history book maybe in order.

Cuba: Day Seven - Tropicana & Roof Top Garden

The Show at the Tropicana was a must see. We sat at the foot of the stage with an interesting view of the dancers, evidenced by the pictures. Typically, I’m not a huge fan of traditional dance shows, but the show at the Tropicana was a lot of fun. The dancers' enthusiasm was infectious. It oozed from them while dancing.





Below we visited a small Urban Garden Supply Center that specialized in the sale of seeds, organic material, ornamental plants, etc. In my opinion, it seemed a bit more focused on ornamental plants than edible plants, contrary to the focus of our trip which was sustainable agriculture and urban gardens. Nevertheless, one of the patrons of the supply center did maintain a roof top garden nearby. The patron was a retired army colonel and the rooftop garden was his hobby along with woodcarving, painting, wine making, etc. The rooftop garden clearly only supplemented his household food supply. It wasn't the primary source.

My initial belief prior to visiting Cuba was that the country had a huge food shortage and we'd be observing gardens on every rooftop. This clearly was not the case. Rooftop gardens were far and few between. And Cuba’s food supply seemed to be more than adequate. Clearly no one was starving.

Cuba Day Six - Las Terrazas & Restaurant

Cuba’s greatest asset is its geographic location, making tourism its largest potential for income and hard currency. Even with the U.S. embargo, tourism remains Cuba’s largest source of income, currently attracting mostly Europe and Asia tourist.

An area of tourism Cuba has developed is eco-tourism. The country offers many natural attractions and unique options for nature lovers. And at the heart of it's eco-tourism is Las Terrazas, an ecotourism center. It's situated in an area of around 5,000 hectares, in which a project of sustainable rural economy is being developed, based on the rational use of its natural resources for tourism. Las Terrazas also features a kickass restaurant and cafe.

Cuba: Day Five - Hotel & View & Tobacco Farm

While our trip was billed as a “Cuban Reality Tour”, our accommodations were clearly a tourist "reality", not a Cuban reality. The top pics are of our hotel, and the views from our hotel room balcony overlooking the Viñales Valley. On most of my other trips, I've been a "traveler", on this trip, I clearly was a "tourist".

The pics following are of a Tobacco farm we visited. The Tobacco Farmer was quite a character, and clearly used to tourist visiting. His presentation of his farm and production of Cuban cigars could not have been better. He loved the spot light and tourist's interest.

Cuba: Day Four - Organic Farm

We left Havana for a two day excursion heading east to a organic farm in Viñales Valley, in the region of Pinar del Rio. Standard cropping on the farm (seen in the second picture below) was avocados, black beans, guava, and bananas. There was an abundance of ripe guava and papaya on the farm. They were in season. Hence, we were offered many and feasted. In this region, like in Havana, there was no shortage of old cars.

Cuba: Day Three - Botanical Gardens and Solar Energy

The National Botanic Gardens of Cuba was a combination of educational, scientific and recreational institution. The grounds bolstered plants and trees from all around the world; kinda like a plant zoo. The place was somewhat what interesting, but seem to lack the internal funds for capital investment, as did most of Cuba.

The Botanical Garden did have an excellent vegetarian restaurant that prepared a great vegetarian lunch for us. Vegetables were very scarce in Cuba, not because they could not be grown, but it seemed like Cubans weren't interested in eating them. Our meals during our stay mostly consisted of meat and starch, either rice or potatoes. However, our host did make an effort to provide a few vegetarian meals. I’m guessing mostly due to prior guest complaining about the lack of vegetables with the standard Cuban meal.

Cuba: Day Two - Organic Farm & A Fancy House

Visited Organic Farm/Urban Garden in Alamar, East of Havana. The farm is basically organic by default or should I say necessity. There are very few inputs like fertilizers and pesticides available to Cuban farmers since the collapse of the USSR in the early 90’s. At the time of the collapse Cuba was largely dependent on the USSR for most of their inputs. After the collapse, Cuba was basically left stranded. Cuba basically has to employ organic farming techniques to feed its population. But even then the farm manager made it clear, the farm is stainable, but not self-sufficient.







We meet with folks from the "Institute of Friendship with the People" and "Small Farmers Association" at this huge house in the City of Havana. The house was once owned by a Sugar Baron before the Revolution in 1959. Now it houses the Institute of Friendship with the People.