בטיחות ואזהרות בקובה ”Some warning for Cuba“

This info is according to our trip on 5-6/03: Cuba is a very poor country. This causes some Cubans to try and earn some money from tourists. These people are called jineteros. We are writing this because we were sad to see that many tourists listen to these people and pay a lot of money.

They will start talking to you on the streets. Some of them will immediately offer you a casa particular, a restaurant or cigars.

Never listen to those people!!!

They are only after their commision. If you go to a casa particular with them, you should know that sometimes, it is an illegal casa. Sometimes it is a low level casa. Anyway, they will have a commision for each night you stay there and you will not know about that. For example: you will pay 15$ a night instead of paying 10$. We should mention that sometimes, the people whou will offer you a casa are the casa owners themselves. IN this case, it is ok to go with them. Generally, the best is to find a casa yourself with any recommendation. Most casas are average and only few are really good. Never buy rum or cigars from jineteros. In most cases it will be a fake. You will also not get a receipt and may have customs problems when leaving Cuba.

Some jineteros will look as very nice people: they will be interested in you, ask you about your trip and after a few minutes, they will get to their point. You will meet many of them especially in Havana and Santiago.

After a few days in Cuba, you will be able to recognize them and avoid them. Have a nice trip