"The map," philosopher Alfred Korzybski famously observed, "is not the territory." His words rarely seemed more apt than in Cuba: a country where the warmth of the people and the beauty of the landscape belie fifty years of bad American press.
As U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba loosen up, more and more travelers will fall in love with our island neighbor to the south. They will discover, as I did, that there are many kinds of social experiments, and that the one in progress since Cuba's 1959 revolution is in some ways better, and in some ways worse, than the one that began with our own Revolution in the 18th century.
They'll also find that a traveler in Cuba has two main choices where to stay: at one of the clean, often charming hotels located near each town's main plaza; or at a casa particular, the home of a Cuba family authorized to rent rooms out to foreigners. The latter is a wonderful way to meet Cubans, butcher Spanish in a forgiving atmosphere, and gain insights into Cuba's often bipolar society.
And the equation, of course, can work both ways: Sometimes it's the Cubans themselves who are transformed by their visitors.
This is exactly what happened to Julio Muñoz, Cuba's best-known horse whisperer.Continue reading Encounters in Cuba: Meeting the horse whisperer of TrinidadEncounters in Cuba: Meeting the horse whisperer of Trinidad originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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