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YOU ARE GOING WHERE? CUBA? | ARE YOU CRAZY. I THOUGHT OUR GOVERNMENT FORBADE IT. | YOU NEED TO APPLY FOR A SPECIAL VISA 6 MONTHS AHEAD.
A MOST EXCELLENT CUBAN ADVENTURE

YOU CAN’T FLY DIRECTLY FROM THE US TO CUBA ! | I THOUGHT OUR GOVERNMENT FORBADE IT. | YOU CAN’T FLY DIRECTLY FROM THE US TO CUBA!

Story by Kitty Morse
Photography by Kitty Morse and Susan McBeth

ast December, my friend Susan and I
bucked conventional wisdom, and headed
for Cuba on the spur of the moment. Plan-
L ning our custom itinerary was a breeze
thanks to Vermont-based Karin Eckhard of Espir-
itu Travel (https://espiritutravel.com)
We were in for several surprises.
Cuba off-limits to US citizens? Not so! They are
the largest group to visit Cuba after Canadians,
and must plan their visit through licensed travel
agencies. We were under the impression that we
needed to fly to Cuba through a third country.
Wrong again! Most major US airlines offer regular
flights to Cuba, though US government directives
dictate that they can only fly into Havana. The
longstanding US embargo prohibits cruise ships
from docking.
Following Karin’s instructions, we checked
“Support the Cuban people” on our visa applica-
tions and obtained our visas at the JetBlue
counter at JFK upon check-in. The cost?
USD50.00 (Visas vary widely in price when pur-
chased online.) Before we landed in Havana, we
had to fill out the customs declaration that
“banned any pornographic material.” Done! We
walked out of Jose Marti International Airport
pulling our rollies behind us towards Carlos, our
driver and guide for the next 9 days.
“This is rush hour traffic,” said our guide in
flawless English as we whizzed into town along an
empty freeway. “Most Cubans cannot afford a
car.” Hitchhikers of all ages waited for rides along
the road. Carlos gestured our SUV was full.
“Hitchhiking is a way of life here. We all have to
do it,” he continued, as we passed vintage Buicks

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