“Round Round, Get Around, I Get Around”: Retro Cuban Transportation

Havana, Cuba: How will you get around?

Old Havana seems to be stuck in the 1950s, if you consider the automobiles that clog its narrow streets. The driver behind the wheel is sporting a “man-bun”, dressed in the latest trends, and listening to modern Cuban rock, but his ride is a baby blue 1953 Chevrolet, with black fuzzy dice and a car freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.

Many of the cars look like they just came off the showroom floor, with soft leather seats, perfect paint jobs, and polished hood ornaments. (This is incredible, given the lack of access to American parts.) Others are being held together with silver duct tape, suffer from cracked windshields and have worn-out springs that hardly offer any cushioning or comfort, under ripped leather seats.

Either way, tourists eat it up!

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There are narrow sidewalks in Old Havana, but they go largely unused. Cracked and overgrown, you should use caution, in case the sidewalk gives way to a hole large enough for a 4^th grader to disappear into. Pedestrians instead take to the streets, merging with Pedicabs, wooden carts and mopeds. They yield to the classic cars only when honked at from behind. The cars that squeeze by, without warning, are certainly not adhering to any 3-foot passing rule.

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Along the Malecon, 6 lanes across and bordering the seawall, tourists cruise along in convertibles and pedestrians take their chances, crossing just about anywhere they see an opening. Massive tour busses and enclosed, egg-shaped three-wheeled trikes (Cuba Coco Taxis) join in the parade. Cruise ships pull into port, rollerblades are put to creative use along promenades, and you might run into a character or two on stilts, headed to Plaza Vieja (Old Square) . . .

There’s all manner of transportation. . . but, see for yourself!

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