Transportation in Cuba

I'm going to take a little detour from the day-to-day tour blog, to talk about different modes of transportation in Cuba, and you can't talk about transportation in Cuba without mentioning the large number of pre-revolution era (1960 and older) American cars that are still on the roads. They are everywhere, and some of them are in pretty good shape!

Of course, not all of them are in such good condition, but they're still on the road -- sometimes it seems, held together with bubblegum and duct tape, but they're running none the less!

And they're not all American, or even cars...

as evidenced by this Harley Davidson...

and this 1937 (I believe) Morris Ten, although I'm not sure what's up with those weird wheels!


You might wonder how Cubans, whose incomes are minuscule compared to American salaries, can afford to put fuel in these gas guzzlers, especially when gas is over $6 a gallon. And with the embargo still in place, how do they get the parts needed to keep them going? Well, the Cuban people are very resourceful, and most, if not all, of those cars have had their engines and transmissions replaced with modern, diesel engines and drive trains from European and Asian rental cars that have reached 100K miles and are no longer rented to tourists. 


Also, all of these vehicles are used as taxis, one of the many enterprising activities that lots of Cubans engage in to make money. In fact, our tour guide, José, whose job in tourism provides the largest part of the family's support, has bought a '54 Chevy station wagon, which he and family members are "rejuvenating" with new parts to turn into a taxi, so it will bring much needed income to the family. 


I know...  just about now you're thinking, "But isn't Cuba a socialist country? How can there be entrepreneurism in such a place?" Well, the answer is very complicated (a phrase José is fond of using all the time), and I will explain more on the Cuban economy in a later post, but for now, I want to get back to the modes of transportation in Cuba...


A lot of people (mostly tourists) get around in these funny little CoCoTaxis, which Sam tells me, are run on small motorcycle (or lawn mower) engines.

However, we saw many more of this type of three wheeled taxi.

We also saw many merchants selling their goods on carts like these.

Although there were some scooters around, horses and horse drawn carriages were much more common, especially in small towns and rural areas.

Sometimes, the transportation has alternative uses, too.

And then, of course there is always the occasional old bicycle.

As far as mass transit goes, there aren't very many trains in Cuba. There are tracks, but since the Soviets left about twenty years ago, the Cubans have been unable to get parts to repair and maintain the trains.

There are buses, but they are old and very, very crowded. We were advised that tourists should not to use them. 

Most Cubans get around by "hitching" a ride, for a small fee, on any vehicle that comes along.

Needless to say, we felt extremely lucky to be riding in our new brand new, air conditioned Chinese tour bus!

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