Cuba: Finding A Way Into The Country

By Tyrone Brown

Adventure (as defined by Marriam-Webster):
An undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks
An exciting or remarkable experience
An enterprise involving financial risk

Some people travel to relax. Others travel for business. Me, I travel for pure adventure, and to remind myself that I am really alive. I’ve done a lot of traveling, but by definition, my restricted trip to Cuba was by far the most adventurous. Extremely risky? Absolutely. But I made it out – and more importantly – I made it out alive…just barely.
In November 2002, I had the bright idea to take a 5-day trip to Cuba knowing full well that it is a communist country and that is it illegal to travel there as an American. Still, my friend Dave thought it would be a good idea and he would never steer me wrong…besides, in so many words he did call me “chicken”. I had a reputation to uphold.
The first order of business was to find out a way to enter the country. Just saying the phrase to myself “I need to find a way to get into the country”, should have put up a red flag, but it didn’t. I had 2 major obstacles to overcome. First, I needed to book a flight. A series of internet searches led me to a guy who said that he could get me a flight from Cancun to Havana for $180 round trip on Air Cubana. At the time, I had no idea they had the worst aviation safety record in the world. (http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/unsafe99.html). That may have explained why the guy only wanted $20 up front. I would pay the balance when I got my ticket in Cancun. Worst case scenario, I’m out $20 and stuck in Cancun for 5 days. It was a win-win so I went for it.

My second obstacle was to get in and out with no Cuban stamps in my passport or I would be in serious trouble. After doing some research, I found out that I could get a Cuban tourist travel visa from the Swiss embassy and the Cuban customs officials would stamp that instead of my passport. I sent them $50, they sent me the visa, prefect.

After receiving my travel Visa, my friend Dave “The Brit” made a reservation at a hostel in downtown Havana. As seasoned travelers, we were both comfortable staying in less than glamorous accommodations.

After flying to Cancun and staying a day in the city, I went back to the airport to pick up my ticket for Cuba. As you can imagine, when you reserve a shady ticket with $20, it doesn’t come with a confirmation code. In order to pay for and get my ticket I had to go to the “Terra Ferma” ticket counter at the Cancun airport.

In horrible Spanish I asked someone for directions to the ticker counter. She told me that is doesn’t exist, but I should just go out into the parking lot and find them and explained they are wearing blue shirts. Hmmmm … very interesting. I wandered out to the parking lot and after ten minutes a man in a blue shirt came approached me and asked if I was Tyrone Brown. I said yes and he whistled for his briefcase-toting buddy to come over. We make small talk before he asked me for the remaining $160. I gave it to him. They were complete strangers who I met in a parking lot of an airport in a foreign country. They seem like trustworthy sources, right?

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