Havana

Havanaman,

Sorry I'll just miss you. I've been having a great time on vacation in Europe (Switzerland and Italy) and I'm looking forward to going to Cuba in a few weeks. I'll be there at least two weeks so that should be plenty of time to have fun. I might travel around a bit. All those that are worried about going should just do their own thing. My friend that goes often just went and said he had the best time ever this past trip. He said he didn't notice any increased presence in Nassau. He had great sessions.

It's funny that most people that are warning me against going to Cuba have never even been there! I'm not worried and looking forward to my trip. I have all my tickets and will be arriving on December 19th in Havana.

I'm going to brush up on my Spanish the next few weeks too. I understand Cuban spanish is different but I think I'll manage fine. Sounds like there is NO shortage of beautiful women in Havana. Looking forward to yet another adventure.

Saint

Saint, be sure to PM me so we can find each other there. I arrive on the 23rd for two weeks. Havanaman, did you get my message?

Hello to All,

Well, I just came back from a wonderful three weeks in Cuba. Have alot to say, so please pay attention. I arrive in Cuba on November 5, 2003. I flew from Miami, Florida to Havana, Cuba. The flight took longer to go up and down than it took to cross the waters.

Once in Havana, I pay my duty to Cuban custom of $150.00 since I was bringing alot of stuff (Medicine, Ladies Thongs and some of other stuff) and I did not want any hassel with Cuban Custom officials. Even though I pay that sum, I was still search because of the size of my bag and they said they wanted to check the contents of my bag. When they open my Bag, the CUban custom official close it right away because they had seen what had come up in the x-ray machines. My hairdryer!! My hairdryer look like a gun in the x-ray machine or so they claim.

After custom went right to my car rental and they gave me a Hunday automatic for $ 73.00 a day. What a ripoff!!! I had just rented a large CHrysler in Miami for $ 29.95 a day.

I got into my car when I was no more than 5 minutes into the Havana road side when I was approach at a Stop light by a very good looking and sweet college Student. She told me she needed a ride to Havana Vieja. I took her to Havana Vieja, but she let me know right away by her conversation she did not want me to drop her off she wanted to be with me the rest of the day. Since she was really a stunner (a 9 on my book) I stay with her. I went to Miramar to this casa particular, that I know. As soon as we were in the room, the fun started. She was excellent!!!! We shower and then we went to Havana Vieja by the where the Ferry take people to Regla. We had dinner at a Restaurant and we talked about a lot of stuff. After, the restaurant we went for a walk on Malecon. After Malecon, we went back to my room in the casa particular in Miramar and had a Great evening of non stop sex. Finally took her home around 7:00 AM and gave her $ 50.00 so she could buy herself a pair of Jeans like she said she wanted. I told her we would hook up when I come back from the East Coast of Cuba. SHe wanted to tag along, but I told her some bullshit story that I needed to go alone.

Gentlemen, even though I had a very nice score with this Girl. When I was walking around I saw alot of hardcore pro. Havana is no longer what it used to be as there are a lot of girls who just seem very hard and cold. Not the sweet country girls who use to come to Havana to make some money and bring it back home. If you want girls like the one I just had I really recommend that you go to the other providence of Cuba. Places like Ciego de Avila or Las Tunas. At both of these Providence I had a Great time with the local girls.

I finally settle in Santiago to meet the girl that I always see when I go to Cuba. She is really special and she is the one that I bring all of these things that I pay for at custom. I have no illusion of marriage or anything with this girl. But beside being great in Bed, we also have great convesartion and she is not bad to look at. If anybody that is going down to Cuba has any question, please contact me via a private message using the WSG Forum's Private Message service.

These are the providence that I visted on this Trip:

1. Havana
2. Santa Clara
3. Ciego De Avila
4. Las Tunas
5. Santiago
6. Guantanamo
7. Baracoa

I hope this helps.

El Cubanito

DocBill,

We'll definitely hook up at some point during our trips.

Havanaman,

I emailed you back and I just got done reading your report. Man, that seems like too much work to me to meet girls. To each his own. I have a tough enough time with the infatuation syndrome with these working girls. I can't imagine how bad it would be for meeting girls the way you are. I don't fault you for going through all that trouble though. If you have the time to do it then all the power to you.

I like being able to tell a girl that I'm going to "butterfly" and sleep with many different girls. I don't like to be tied down or feel obligated to be with one girl and I know I'd have difficulty of that with your method. I've met normal girls off the internet and I can tell you they have a higher level of attachment and emotional involvement.

I don't think meeting hot girls in Havana is rocket science. Sounds like many guys overplan. I'm sure meeting a total hottie that is willing to spend time with you for money is as easy as finding in any other Latin American country.

It's all about having fun. As long as you're having fun that's what counts.

Saint

Saint, DocBill, Gentlemen,

Got your emails / PM’s. That’s it I can’t take it anymore! I am going to join you & DocBill after my Buenos Aires trip! I have an over night in Mexico city (yes, the trial continues!). I can only be in Havana for a couple of days: running out of money, but it should be cool. I do not know where I will stay yet, but we can make arrangements to meet. LOL, beginnings of the HMA (Havana Mongers Association)? Please check your respective PM’s.

About my method: Saint, you will recall last year I had exceptional success with this method in BA, so much so you made the comment when we met, about me not doing many of the clubs! It works for me, and I have not been tied-down with the emotional baggage, so its cool. The beauty of it is that I get to enjoy the best of both worlds (pay & play / real GFE). You are right, it does have the drawback of serious time injection, but hey: no speculation no accumulation, right?

Thanks once again for your help in BA Saint.

Keep smiling everyone. Regards, Havanaman

Finally got back this week from my first trip to Havana. Whether it will also be my last remains to be seen, but overall I had a good time. If what I hear about Buenos Aires is true, I may hit there next, but I'm probably getting ahead of myself.

Went in through Cancun. No problem getting into Mexico with birth certificate and photo ID. The problem was in coming back there from Havana. Those bastards wanted $20 not to stamp the passport (they know that you couldn't have been to Cuba without one, so BC and ID is no good on the way back). Screw that. They can have their frickin' stamp. I showed BC and ID to U.S. immigration and sailed right through.

Got to Havana late at night. Cab ride to Vedado was $12. Saturday night, La Rampa was hopping with people, even at 3 in the morning. Plenty of women just sitting and walking around the streets waiting to be picked up. Took two cuties home for $50 total (for both for a couple of hours).

One thing I didn't know before going: you can have your pick from at least a few women sitting on the wall of the Malecon at any hour of the day or night (unless the sea is spilling over it). The later it gets, the more there are. Some of the best women I found were just hanging out, waiting to get pulled from there, and they sat anywhere from the stretch facing the Spanish embassy up through where the 1830 club is located. Had I known, I wouldn't have spent so much time, energy, and money at the various clubs recommended here (well, you do get a different calibre of woman, but more on that later).

All of the taxi drivers I met had no trouble cruising the Malecon for chicks, and several Cocotaxi drivers had women they knew (pulled 2 this way) whom they could set me up with. I can imagine how it must have been in the good old days - I'd never experienced such a phenomenon as starting from zero to being in a cab with a girl going home to get laid in a span of 5 minutes.

About the clubs: I don't know about the other clubs, but Macumba, Casa de La Musica (Miramar), and Johnnie's seemed to be chock-full of pros. Also, there are many pros hanging out in the Gallerias del Paseo/Jazz Cafe. Every woman in these places under the age of 25 was working. It blew my mind that these 8s and 9s (granted, they had cell phones and nice jewelry...that's the tip-off...in America, these would be girls just out to have fun at the club...I found no such thing in Cuba) were all there for the taking. The "taking" for these beauties ran from $50-100 for a single session, and forget all of you who say to haggle - these women walk if you won't budge (not just me, my two pals - decent looking all-American types - had the same experience), as they will find some Spaniard or other tipo to pay their way. Then after they're done with you, it's back to the club for the next victim. I nailed the two most beautiful women I've ever done to date who I found at Macumba but had WAAAAY more fun with the young playful Camagueyan chicas I got from El Malecon.

The downside: the cops started paying attention to our casa after the 3rd day, with several run-ins with chicas getting carded, which sucked. Also, some of the heart-to-hearts I would have with some of the ladies (hey, I'm not an animal) stirred a variety of emotions. Which brings me to my final view, which is that I have to agree with folks like DocBill and others that Cuba, for a variety of reasons, is just too much of a hassle if you're going there just as a monger. The people are surprisingly resilient, but it gets to you after a while, what they're going through. It was great to go once, and I've not had a vacation like it, but in all honesty, I don't see myself going back anytime soon.

A few tips for newbies going to Cuba:

1. Bring a lot more money than you think you'll need. Money flows like water through a sieve in Cuba, and unless you know exactly what you're doing, you WILL overspend, guaranteed.

2. There is probably no better gift for the ladies than those sample bottles of perfume you can get at flea markets. Wish I'd brought some with me. They LOOOOVE foreign perfumes.

3. If I had to do it again, I would have rented a car. The main areas you hit are really easy to navigate once you spend a day there, it's only tricky if you're going to clubs. Plus, that tourist plate is a magnet for the women.

4. Barrio Chino is the best neighborhood to eat on a budget for decent food. Chan Li Po is a worthwhile eatery there.

5. EVERYONE there told me it's much better to go during the summer, when the girls are out of school. Having toured the University, I can see why.

6. It's been suggested a couple of times, but do yourself a favor and bring popular magazines in Spanish (you can get them in Mexico) - People, Cosmo, anything with pictures of celebrities, fashion, etc. The girls eat it up (and will keep them from getting bored with your broken-ass-Spanish).

7. Confirm your outgoing flight from Havana several days prior and leave a full day before you need to be in the States. Aerocaribe (and I assume, Cubana) cannot be trusted to get it right, so the onus is on you to make sure things get done. You don't want to be stranded there on Sunday with work in the U.S.A. beginning on Monday morning.

Thanks for everyone's help, and I'll see you on the BA boards.

GC

Thanks for the report GenCuster. I'm looking forward to my first visit to Cuba in a few weeks. I'm sure it's like night and day to other places I've been in the past few years. Believe all the hype about Buenos Aires! I've hit that city over 10 times in the past year and a half and liked it so much I leased a few apartments there. It's a world class city full of beautiful girls.

I didn't rent a car yet and wasn't sure I wanted to rent a car my first trip. I'm staying in the Vedado area so I figured that is a pretty central part of town. How much did you spend on taxi's each day? Most car rentals are at least $50 a day with hassles of deposit, etc. Did you spend more than that in taxis? Seems unlikely. Yeah I'm going to hobby but I'm going to relax too. Two weeks is a hell of a long time to spend there I hear, but I'm really looking forward to it. The countdown begins.....

Saint

Saint:

I figure we blew $20-$30 dollars a day on cab fare ($2-3 each way to get to restaurants or around town, $3-8 each way to get to clubs [Macumba is way the hell out there]). We tried all-day drivers ($25-$35) a few times, but while the guys were excellent resources (and had nice cars), we didn't drive around enough to make it worthwhile to us (our days were blurs of eating, screwing, and sleeping, with a few hours of sight-seeing / clubbing / listening to live music thrown in for good measure) and they were college students with day jobs and generally had better things to do, so it wasn't a great solution for anyone.

With your own car, though, you can pull mad poonage from the hitchhikers that are everywhere, come and go as you please, and attract attention from exactly the kind of chicas you want to meet.

As a veteran monger, you are almost certain to have a great time. You'll have to let us know how it measures up to the other places you've been.

Later.

GC

Great report GenCuster.

Just a few basic questions to cover off.

Clothes. I am a real shorts, sandals, t-shirts and jeans kind of guy. What do I need for the night clubs? Can you swim in the ocean that time of year? Would you even want to?

I love to walk when I get into the big cities. Sometimes for hours a day. Is that practical in Old (or New) Havana? I know to stay out of the shadows at night.

Gifts. What should I take? Advice here would be towards things that will get me better sex. Also someone told me to take a bunch of Harley Davidson T-shirts. Yes or no.

I am going to get a hard sided suitcase and a short cable lock so I can attach it to something solid in the apartment. That should keep the honest people honest. And a small back pack for day trips.

Any point in taking my cell phone?

Personal items. What do I need that I just cannot find in Cuba at any price?

Rocky

Gentlemen,

I have been to Havana many times and never had the need to hire a car. I agree with GenCuster: there is definitely a chica-magnet advantage, but I must concur with Saint. The hire-cost, hassle factor and “unknowns” (accidents, break downs, theft etc…) make car hire very unattractive. I guess I would spend on average $15 on taxis per day in the city, with an absolute maximum of $30 per day for longer journeys.

The cost of car hire varies depending where you go. The most expensive I have come across (when I was interested in this…) was at the hotel Nacional ($155 per day). The cheapest was $85 at a rental place on the Prado (near the Arab league offices & Italian restaurant). You will get what you pay for... My heart wasn’t in it so I never bothered to pursue details. There will be cheaper options, and as always: negotiate. But ask yourself: is it worth it when you can get from one end of the city to the other for $5 in an open air coco-taxi, with no hassle, no risk? I would rather spend the same money on chicas…

GenCuster, your remarks about sorting out the return are very valuable. I have personally been caught out in this way. Now, the first thing I do when I am in my last few days is to confirm my return details. Because of my bad experience I now also get my agent (back in Europe) to ensure my return confirmation by FAX to Havana. This is a bit over the top, I agree, but you will understand about getting stuck / stranded… So GenCuster is absolutely right to bring up the issue.

Be aware of the “baby-milk” scam! I have received a number of emails recently (passively and actively mentioning this, from the perspective of charity or scam). Goes something like this: a women approaches you (with or without a baby in arms). Begs you to go and buy some powdered milk for the child, from a “$-only” shop. She may say she can not get into the shop. She becomes like a rash that just won’t go away. She will shout (for all to hear) that she does not want money, will not “fucky-fucky”: she just wants to feed the baby. The psychological issues here are very apparent, as are the social, with everyone looking at the loud farce unfolding on the streets. This is a scam. If you give-in she will just resell the milk back to the shop. Dry milk pack costs $5.25 in Havana. Enough said. This aside I love Havana, and will keep going back.

Happy days!

Regards, Havanaman

Havanaman,

I have to agree with you and also disagree when it comes to renting a Car in Cuba. It all really depends on what you are trying to accomplish on your "Mongering" trip to Cuba.

If you are just staying in Havana, then yes not renting a Car and traveling by the mean of taxis, coco taxi, Private Taxis (The cheapest form of Transportation in Havana. You can go from Miramar to Havana Vieja for $ 2.00 USD.) or even the "Camel Bus". But if you are going to other cities like I did on this trip than renting a car is a must. Like GenCuster renting a Car in cuba is like a magnet for the Local Chicas. Your dick will get more pussy then it would know what to do with. Believe me that what happen to me in this last trip. One chica in Santiago came up to my car and said " What do I have to do to you so I can ride in that car with you." Mind you I was with my regular chica from Santiago. So do not throw out the advantage of a car. One Chica from the country side of Ciego De Avila was so happy for the ride I gave her from Town to her house, that she took care of me 5 minutes after I was in her house. I did not pay her a cent. That save me money right there from $20.00 to 60.00 dollar. Granted the girl was only a 6.5, but a score never the less. So do not throw out the advantage of a car.

El Cubanito

Havanaman,

What were you trying to rent a BMW or an AUDI? Because the price range you are talking about those of the only cars in Cuba at that price range.

El Cubanito

Everyone is giving good input. Rookies or veterans..doesn't really matter. The point of these boards is to share information to ensure a good trip. I'll definitely post my take on Havana and Cuba maybe after I get back. I'm toying with the idea of taking my laptop so I can type a daily "diary". I'm there a long time so that will also give me something to do.

I noted on my reservation form from Nash Travel Agency out of Canada --- http://nashtravel.com -- that it says you can only bring about 40 lbs. of stuff into Cuba. Each additional pound is $1 us. Seems like a very low limit compared to the 70 lbs. most airlines will allow you. I usually pack a lot of stuff and was just curious if other guys encountered problems with this?

I still might rent a car for one of the weeks I am there. I won't need it two weeks. Most of the veterans that I know that hit Cuba monthly for years are telling me that it's a surefire way to meet some unjaded girls and also to explore. I'm not the type that sits in my room...I'm always on the go so a rental might be a good option for part of my stay.

I'm bringing an old cellphone which I'm told can be activated there. Rates I'm told aren't cheap around 50 cents a minute but a cellphone is essential there. I plan on giving out the number to any/all cuties that I come across. My friend told me to bring those yellow sticky note type pads and give the number to girls and they are almost always calling him back because it's free for them to call back. I'll try that technique.

I also plan on traveling to Varadero a day or two for the pristine beaches. I know buses run there but it might be just as easy to drive. I'll see how it goes. I'm not going to overplan this trip....I'm just letting things happen. Thanks to all that have posted in the past.

Saint

Havana is not Rio. There is no problem to walk around anywhere. As a tourist, you are the next best thing to God. Nobody will dare to rob you in open. However, do watch you pocket and backpack. Some thugs will pick your pocket or backpack without you notice. Don’t afraid to call cops if such things happen. You may not get your stuff back, but that guy would be locked up immediately. I saw it happened.

If you go to club, dress nicely.

Great report, GenCuster, and I'm really impressed with how much you grasped about Cuba on your first trip!

Regarding crime, it's virtually nonexistant. I walk alone all over Havana (even in the shadows) at all hours, with never a problem. The penalties for messing with tourists are just too great. Cuba is also not, unlike other latin countries, a violent culture. Women walk around all hours of the night with impunity.

Cars v. taxis: For me it's taxis hands down. I've rented cars there and it is, as previously mentioned, ridiculously expensive ($70+/day) and a great hassle with lots of scams. Taxis are cheap and the drivers very obliging. Havana is also a great walking city. I've spent hours and hours just walking in no particular direction. Adventures just come to you this way.

Cuban authorities prohibit bringing in some electronic equipment (vcr's, stereos, etc.) and discourage others (laptops). They will carefully inspect it and I've heard that they will capriciously hold onto it until you leave. At very least be prepared for a lot of questions at incoming customs.

Veradero is not Cuba. A couple of years ago a $2 toll was instituted to enter and the purpose was to keep Cubans out. I've never been, and I hear the beach is beautiful, but it's all tourists. You will not experience Cuba there. Nor will you find chicas, as they've had the biggest crackdown of all there several years ago after complaints of sex tourism.

I can't emphasize enough what Custer said about money. I always figure a high end of what I will need and then bring double that. I usually have very little left when I leave. Cuba ends up being very expensive, primarily because whenever you're out with other people you are expected to pay for it. I spent less in one month in Rio and Buenos Aires than I do in two weeks in Havana! If you're American, you're also totally screwed if you lose your money or get robbed, as there is no way to get any down there.

Lastly, I know I've said this before but it bears repeating: If you're new and thinking of a strictly mongering trip go somewhere else. If you'd like to experience a very unique and exciting culture with great people go for it. Hard pros are charging upwards of $50 because idiot tourists pay for it. I agree that it's a lot better to meet on the street, or a a cafe. You shouldn't pay more than $30 or $40 for all night.

Hasta La Victoria Siempre!