USA Road Trip 101: Car Camping up the Rocky Mountains and national National Parks (and general advice)

Greetings fellow would-be travelers, 

When I began research for my upcoming 6 month road trip through north america, I was surprised and disappointed by the lack of good online resources available. Following is a brief summary of my strategy and the resources I did find. I hope it cuts down your research time and helps convince you to hit the road...

WHY GO?

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness - Mark Twain.

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves - Henry David Thoreau.

Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled - Mohamed.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes - Marcel Proust

Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen - Benjamin Disraeli.

A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving - Lao Tzu.

Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going - Paul Theroux.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in you sail. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain.

Not all those who wander are lost - J.R.R. Tolkein.

WHERE TO GO?

Having said all this, it is usually beneficial to pick a region or some major destinations, and then fill in the gaps as you go.

Where do you want to go?! When you think about a place, where makes you feel most excited? For me it was National Parks and natural beauty. I am a nature junkie.

If you are going for for the whole country, then consider this optimized route: 

http://www.randalolson.com/2016/07/30/the-optimal-u-s-national-parks-centennial-road-trip/

But I highly discourage this approach. Less is more. Pick a region and do it justice. For a shorter trip, I recommend Utah (Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce and ZION), Arizona (Grand Canyon) and/or Colorado (San Juans, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon and Rocky Mountains NP). If you have more time, continue following the Rocky Mountains North into Wyoming (Grand Tetons and Yellowstone), Montana (Glacier) and even into Canada (Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper). And/or come back down the West Coast through Washington (Northern Cascades,  Olympic and Mt Rainier), Oregon (Crater Lake) and California (Yosemite). The West is the Best.

And this is coming from a well traveled Australian, not a native American west coaster.

Less is more. It's supposed to be a holiday...

I also recommend a hard copy map for quick reference and in case your phone dies. I used a National Geographic road atlas (national park adventure edition) purchased on Amazon. Then you can highlight scenic byways and anything else you like.
https://scenicbyways.info/

A few further tools that you might like to play with for inspiration on where to go include:

• https://roadtrippers.com/
• https://trips.furkot.com/
• https://www.triposo.com/

WHEN TO GO?

Weather is an important factor to the enjoyment of your trip. Period. Packing up a tent in the rain is amongst the worst parts of camping for me. Mosquitoes and insects are also a huge gumption drain. Look at the average weather for some of your potential destinations during the months that you will be travelling. 

In general, the weather is colder further north and at higher elevations. So start south in spring and head north as summer warms up. Some places with miserable weather (Yellowstone) only have good conditions for a couple of months a year. Some places further south are too hot in summer. 

Elevation makes a big difference, so try to camp down in the valley when the weather is cold. The Grand Canyon was AC weather, then days later we were being snowed on in southern Colorado Mountains.

HOW TO GET THERE?

Unless you are thru-hiking (which I highly recommend) or riding a bike, then you will be needing a vehicle.

Which vehicle to choose will depend on the number of travelers, your style of camping, the type of roads you will be traveling on, the season and your budget, amongst other factors.

I ended up choosing a Dodge Grand Caravan. The cheapest yet most spacious mini-van, this so called 'Caravan' is big enough to sleep 2 snugly inside, or room for 4 with all your camping gear, yet is small enough to drive and park easily. It also has decent mileage. The stow n go seating gets the unused seats right out of the way.

A 4WD (or even a car with more clearance) or a larger Van (Sprinter or Ford Transit) would definitely have been nice on a number of occasions. But due to higher purchase price and lower gas mileage, I am happy with my decision overall. 

Whatever you chose, https://www.cargurus.com/ was a great website to start your search.

HOW TO SLEEP?

Sleep in car, on car or in tent?

Since I was traveling with my father - and not a lover or best best friend - we opted to not be squished together in the back of the car. Instead, we each have our own tent, a 4 inch twin size memory foam mattress and comfortable bedding (Zinus 4 Inch Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress purchased on Amazon). This took up most of the space in the car, but narrow air mattresses are my second least favorite part of camping. We roll them up with the bedding inside (or even inside the tent, if it is dry), then buckle the roll closed with straps. I actually slept better and more comfortably in my luxury tent bed than in the occasional hotel room.

If I was travelling with a girlfriend, I would probably  have opted for one of the options below.

If you choose to sleep in the car, you cut down set up time, stay warmer and dryer, but loose space.

There are a few youtube videos to give you ideas about how to make a cheep bed frame in the back of a mini-van and maintain some storage space below. Also check out https://www.jucyusa.com/ for ideas about car layout and accessories (or even buy one of these used mini-vans fulled kitted out for a long road trip).

If you want more space and don't mind spending a bit more, then you can also sleep on the roof.

Pop Tops are your best bet, with easier set up, but more expensive. Check out https://roofnest.com/store/ amongst others.

Alternatively, there are roof top tents, which take longer to set up, but are more affordable. Check out

https://tepui.com/collections/tents amongst others.

WHERE TO CAMP?

This is probably the single most helpful tip I can give you: get an offline map listing all the campsites in the country. This allows you to be spontaneous and still have many options at your fingertips. 

We were able to stay in free campsites over 90% of the time, even near big name national parks. Often, the national park campsites are booked out far in advance.

I used the free MAPS.ME mobile app (available on Android or iPhone) and imported a GPS list of all campsites purchased from:

http://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com/index.php/products/poi-list/purchase-poi-list

A how-to page for converting and importing the list is available here: http://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com/index.php/products/poi-list/import-into-maps-me-app

I also had to download the maps for the regions I was visiting.

The Google maps app is my preferred mobile map interface. It also contains more details, such as many trail heads and hiking trails, and you can search for supermarkets, gas stations and many other services. You can also download the map of a region for offline use, although you need to update it every month. Unfortunately, you cannot import the campsite POI list and use it offline (at least at the time of writing). If this feature is added, I would suggest using Google Maps.

Until then, I would suggest having both apps and the downloaded offline maps with you.

Online, there are better interfaces to search for campsites. But you will not always be online when you are on the road.

Websites:

• https://www.campendium.com/
• https://freecampsites.net/
• http://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com/index.php/products/full-map

Apps:

• https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camp-rv-tents-to-rv-parks/id370820516?mt=8 (iPhone)
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ultimatecampgrounds.ultimatecampgrounds (Android)

A more complete summary of how to find free campsites in the USA is avaialble here: https://bearfoottheory.com/ultimate-guide-finding-free-campsites/

WHERE TO HIKE?

The REI National Parks Guide & Maps app was our most used source for trail information. It is offline, includes the description, ranking, difficulty and trail statistics for all major hikes in the national parks. Its only limitation was that it did not include trails out of the National Park system.

https://www.rei.com/mobile

The Outbound Collective is a great resource for finding ideas of what to do in an area, and provides more of a narrative.

https://www.theoutbound.com/ 

All Trails provides succinct statistics and navigation for most popular trails around the country.

https://www.alltrails.com/

WHAT TO BRING?

This is a very personal question, and will vary with your storage capacity.

In general, I recommend bringing a table and chairs and a good enough kitchen set up to make you actually want to cook. This will save you money in the long run. 

For the Kitchen:

• Folding table
• Folding Chairs (Director style usually more space efficient)
• Good knife (trust me, it's worth it!)
• Chopping board
• Food storage Cooler
• Food storage draws (eg from Walmart)
• Good fry pan
• Pot
• Kettle
• Propane cylinder (we got an 11 lb more  portable size from Amazon)
• Single hob gas burner (we got the best Gas One brand burner on Amazon, which unlike many competitors can simmer on low)
• Water container (Reliance Products 7 Gallon Jerry Can on Amazon)
• Collapsible water container(s) for when extra capacity is required
• Campsuds All Purpose Cleaner or other biodegradable soap 

Perhaps also buy a sim card with a cheep plan for occasional internet use or calls while in town.

Well that's all from me for now. I hope this was helpful.

Cheers,
Zack

Cuba Libre?

Economically poor but culturally rich.

As I stepped onto the streets of Cuba for the first time I knew I was in for something different. People everywhere, loud shouting and laughing voices, colonial buildings, horse drawn carts transporting people to and fro, old US made 1950's Chevys and Fords, a lack of advertising conspicuous by its absence, long queues of people for health clinics, colourful and neatly dressed school children, old people, musical instruments and a lot of people doing, well...I'm not exactly sure what.

Political Situation

The bakery across the street from where I stayed 

'Communism' (derived from the Latin word for common, or shared), is defined as a revolutionary socialist movement to create a classless, moneyless and stateless social order structured upon common ownership of the means of production. Cuba's current political situation came to be when an armed revolutionary group let by Fidel Castro (with the support of Che Guevara) successfully ousted the USA-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Revolutionary socialist movement: check. Some 80% of employment is for the government, down from 90%. Utilities, the petroleum industry, supermarkets, white goods stores, airlines, hotels, tourist resorts, airports, rum and beer production, sugar factories, TV stations, newspapers, restaurants, bars and even most homes are all government owned and operated. Within a few years of the revolution, almost US$25 Billion of private assets were confiscated and nationalized, including all foreign owned property. Common ownership of the means of production: check. It is also true that it is almost a classless and moneyless society, since all of these government jobs pay very little and very similar wages between occupations.  However, unlike a pure definition of communism, but very much like almost every example in history, Cuba is not stateless. Closer to a dictatorship than a republic, free speech does not exist, with Fidel Castro remaining in power and beyond public reproach since the inception. Even your liberty is public property, with two years of mandatory national service and one of the highest imprisonment rates in the world for those who do not strictly follow the rules.

Living Conditions

Poverty

One of the public housing projects in which I stayed

Economically, the average Cuban family is very poor. I was fortunate enough to be invited into the homes of many Cubans, and even stayed with one family for almost a week. Whether they live in grand old colonial mansions or small public housing project apartments, they have a low standard of living by the financial and material criteria. The roof and walls are peeling, few light globes work, few taps have running water (and almost never the toilet, which must be manually flushed with a bucket), they share up to four people to a double bed, there are no doors between rooms, no toilet seats and not much food. One day the family that I was staying with had no money, and if I was not there to buy some groceries to share they may have gone without. It was a particularly ironic moment  because immediately after doing the shopping for an impoverished family I walked with the grandmother to the monument to and final resting place of Che Guevara, where he helped win the most significant battle for the revolution. I wonder what Che would think about the current conditions in Cuba.

Conditions are not so bad to prevent joy

However, while poor, the home is not a dead place, filled with love and respect rather than material wealth. Guests would come and go all day, and when they had food or other things they would share without hesitation. The first night I arrived late and, even though I was not expected (they have no phone to call), was invited to share the meal with them. Respect is key in Cuba, and although there was not a lot of food to go around, you were expected to leave your plate unfinished to give a sense of abundance where there is not.

A very interesting feature of Cuba, which is partially responsible for the prohibitively expensive prices of some products, are the Government stores.  While most stores are government run anyway, some products that are deemed 'luxury' items are only available at certain government stores and are purchased with a separate currency specifically for luxury items. Things like toilets, fridges, furniture, Tupperware, imported food products, toilet paper and other such 'luxury' products are available at these stores. It is a sign of prestige to shop at these supermarkets. I came from spending $1 (in the local currency equivalent) for hamburgers and drinks for five people to this government run supermarket where I could buy a piece of frozen meat for $30. And it is not exactly like you get superior service at these government stores. Cuban Government employees are the most lazy and unprofessional I have seen in Latin America, and that is saying something. When you earn less than $1 per day and work for a Communist government who will not fire you, there is very little motivation to work hard. And this applies across the 80% of work in Cuba that is for the government. At least in my observations of Cuba, Communism does indeed tend to result in very low productivity and efficiency.

Variety is not a hallmark of  Communist countries

While many things are expensive (whether due to market forces or government policy), many things are also quite cheap. For example, a Government operated cafeteria runs at a loss selling a slice of cake and a scoop of ice cream for 6.5 cents. So in Cuba, at least in this case, cake and ice cream is subsidized by the government. Other things are cheap as well. A cafe, bread roll, bus pass or juice can be obtained for 4 cents, or a personal pizza for 20 cents. I also got into a live music concert for 8 cents and and some 300 km in the back of a truck for $1.60.

This picture requires no explanation. Just look!

But even given these low prices for some things, it is hardly surprising that families have insufficient money to replace light globes, fix plumbing or put food on the table when wages are as low as they are. One relatively well paid building painter living in the touristy area of Havana I talked to earned US$10 per month, working six days a week. A DJ I stayed with earned US$10 per month working three nights a week. An average Lawyer or Doctor salary is US$20...per month. That is $1 per day of work. Many doctors and lawyers are forced to work part-time as taxi drivers to supplement their income. It was with great embarrassment that I explained how I used to earn more than the monthly salary of a Doctor every hour working at a minimum wage Government job in Australia. If the standard, simplistic definition of poverty is used, where anyone with less than $1 per day is considered below the poverty line, then almost everyone in Cuba is impoverished, including Doctors and Lawyers. With such a low income, you then need to make very careful decisions about priorities and the lifestyle you want. Do you want to eat more food, better food, buy new clothes, rum or tobacco or perhaps household 'luxuries' like a working toilet or a door to your room? Because there is not enough for everything.

Government Services

On the other hand, you don't need much money when the government provides so many services. Another definition of poverty, rather than a set amount of spending money, is whether certain human needs are not adequately met. According to another criteria used by the UN, you are only impoverished if two or more of the following are lacking: food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education, information and access to services. Water, health care, Government housing, education and some food is provided by the Government free of charge. So, by this definition, almost no one is impoverished in Cuba. Indeed, compared to the USA, Cuba has a higher literacy rate (99.8%), a lower infant mortality rate and a longer average life expectancy.

The free education system is actually quite good by world standards (excluding the History and Politics departments, who's impartiality is questionable to put it mildly). Cuban doctors, particularly, are internationally recognized for their high caliber, and many students from around the Spanish speaking world come to train in Cuba. Cuba also has an extensive program for sending medical graduates to assist in developing countries. Indeed, at any given time there are about 30,000 Cuban doctors stationed in developing countries, an effort which outmatches that of all the G8 countries combined. Cuba also has the highest doctor to population ratio in the world. 

Education is highly valued in Cuba. In Havana, the Capital, the most beautiful building is not the parliament building nor the presidential palace nor a church; it is the University. Following the revolution, the elite private collage and attached Catholic church were taken over and converted into a public university. Mounted on a hill overlooking the city and the ocean, the campus buzzes with a vibrancy that can be created only by students who want to be there. Since doctors are not paid much more than cleaners, only those who genuinely enjoy it will pursue higher education. It had a great vibe. And the courses are provided free of charge. 

Healthy care is also provided free of charge, but is of low quality. While the staff and doctors are well trained and do the best they can, the resources and infrastructure are insufficient. The hospitals are in disrepair and essential equipment, medication and available beds are often lacking. For example, when I was there by friend had a motorcycle accident hitting a pothole while avoiding a pedestrian who had carelessly walked onto the road. The hospital cleaned and bandaged up his broken ribs and collar bone free of charge, but had no available beds to keep him overnight for observations, and lacked stocks of some of the medication they proscribed.

Food is also provided to the people free of charge through ration vouchers exchanged for supplies at government depots once a month, but the quantity and quality is insufficient. While the monthly quota of rice and beans may keep you alive indefinitely, "it is only enough to feed a dwarf," explained one Cuban. In reality, all families must supplement their diet with food purchased in the market. Other things provided include free housing projects, pensions and old people homes.

The Cuban government does provide a lot, so there is less need for money. This is an ideal to be aimed for in Communism. However, the income and food rations they receive are insufficient. While they are not as impoverished as their minuscule income would suggest, they are still poor. The only way to maintain a decent standard of living in Cuba, other than being Fidel Castro, is to rely on money sent from relatives living overseas. When a toilet costs more than the entire annual salary of a Doctor or Lawyer, what other way is there?

Cuba is an Island

Cuba is an island. Not only geographically, but socially, politically and physically, Cubans are cut off from the rest of the world. This takes two main forms.

The US Embargo

Propaganda billboards are the only type of advertising 

When the revolutionary government took charge they confiscated billions of dollars worth of property from wealthy private citizens, mainly US citizens and companies. The capitalist, cold-war fearing US government did not like this, and imposed strong political and economic sanctions to undermine the new government. Cuban-owned assets in the USA were frozen, US products were prohibited from export to Cuba, Cargo ships which have docked in Cuba cannot dock in the USA for 6 months, US owned companies cannot do business with Cuba and, sometimes, foreign companies who conduct business with Cuba are barred from operating in the USA. This more or less remains the situation today. At a vote 188 UN countries were against the blockade, and only 3 in favor (the USA, Israel and some Pacific island nation). It is estimated that the blockade costs the USA over $1 Billion in lost trade annually.

Photo taken 2012, not 1952

As part of the broader cold war, the Soviet Union propped up Cuba,  providing mainly grain and manufactured products. But when the Soviet Union began to fade in the 1980's and material support began to dry up, Cuba was forced to turn to a new ally. Another communist country that just so happens to be the largest manufacturing country in the world stepped up: China. Now brand new Chinese made cars can be seen alongside the old USA made ones.

But the US blockade cannot entirely be blamed for the lack of products coming into Cuba. Firstly, the government is the only party who can import into Cuba, and this leads to reduced variety of imported goods and no competition. For example, the Cuban government made a deal with a Chinese manufacturer for 5,000 of the same car. The same brand, same model, same year, same colour. Not exactly a vibrant market.  Secondly, the Cuban currency is almost worthless on the international market, so they could not afford to buy anything with or without the blockade. For example, the Chinese cars were purchased by direct exchange of Cuban made rum, sugar and tobacco, rather than cold hard cash. Similarly, Cuba made a deal with Venezuelan president Hugo Chaves for 80,000 barrels of oil daily in exchange for 30,000 doctors and teachers

With such a limited flow of new goods, Cubans have learned to care for what they have. A culture of conservation and re-use has developed. The roads are still filled with Russian made 2-stroke motorbikes and 1950's pre-revolution USA made cars, whose tires they re-groove rather than re-place. They also refill what we could consider disposable cigarette lighters.

Censorship

Impatient, but I am sure he had nowhere to be

The other source of isolation comes from within. There is not free speech in Cuba, nor a free flow of information. Internet use is very restricted, and unauthorized access can attract prison sentences of up to five years. All television channels are also Government operated, as are the newspapers. Cuba has the second highest number of imprisoned journalists in the world, second to China. A Cuban girl proudly explained to me that she had an international email address, as if there was another kind. The US spends huge amounts annually broadcasting a TV and radio station into Cuba, but the Government has been successfully able to block the signal. Cuba does receive international news, but if it is unfavorable to Cuba it will not be shown and if it is unfavorable to the USA it will definitely be shown.

But other than the gross partiality in the news, the TV in Cuba is actually pretty good. An example of the schedule for one channel I saw was this: Opera; Art for Art; University for everyone: French Level IV; Classical Piano; Acrobatics (from China); Primates (David Attenborough). There are also plenty of the popular US made TV series. Another upshot of communist TV is that it is all delivered without adverts. To watch a movie or TV program without breaks, like watching a DVD, is a pleasant change from the periodic barrage of messages to consume delivered at high volume, often accompanied by seizure inducing bright lights and flashing colours. This lack of advert breaks means that programs do not run half an hour or an hour exactly, and start at odd times like 7:52 or 8:41. This lack of advertising applies throughout the country. On the streets, in the newspapers, everywhere. It is not that advertising is banned but rather than the Government sells virtually all manufactured products and they choose not to advertise. There is no need since they virtually have a monopoly. The only advertising I saw on TV was a campaign depicting moral lessons: help blind people cross the street; how to clean your house to reduce asthma; the importance of family; cleaning your yard to be a good neighbour. The only advertising I saw on the streets where giant billboards depicting sentiments of national pride. Contrast this lack of advertising with Australia, where more money is spent on advertising than on education. But despite all this Cubans somehow remain surprisingly aware of their situation. As one Cuban said to me, "we are blindfolded but not stupid."

Freedom 

One of the common consequences of sharing the means of production is that everyone needs to be the same, and if they are not they need to be forced to be the same. Cuba has severe criminal penalties and a very high incarceration rate by world standards (some 5%). They even have a 'Vigilance Committee,' charged with "vigilance against counter-revolutionary activity" but in reality with unlimited scope. Very George Orwell 1984. A good example is Marijuana. A small amount for one joint costs $5, or half the average monthly income. It is only so expensive because the penalty for being caught selling it is so sever: 5-10 years in prison or work camps. Around this an interesting culture has developed. To avoid the vigilance committee and police, dealers usually operate only via a mutual friend, who's commission for being the middle man is to share the spoils and join you to smoke. I met a guy drinking rum on the front steps of his house, celebrating his 30th birthday and a day off work. One thing lead to another and the next moment we were smoking in a back room in his house with a shrine to his African voodoo god, who he assured me it would please. Rolling papers are impossible to find, but he managed to role something smokeable using some government receipt. He then smoked it down until he was burning his lips in the true Cuban fashion not to waste. Everyone in Cuba seems to like marijuana, except the Government.

Other things attract excessive prison sentences as well. You will go to prison for making home-brew bears (up to five years), unauthorized access to the internet, killing a cow (twice the prison sentence of killing a human) or running a tattoo studio. One of my Cuban friends went to prison for three months for carrying a kitchen knife in his bag on the way from his house to his mother's house to help cook lunch. This law against carrying a concealed weapon is not universally enforced, but my friend has lots of tattoos and does not fit the image the Government has decided is proper. Another example of control is that, until 1997, there was a policy of apartheid tourism, where Cubans were not allowed to interact with foreigners beyond a professional capacity. Now tourism is too huge for this to be enforced, but you will still be sent to prison for being caught 'harassing' tourist twice, where harassment is defined and enforced as the officers see fit. On several occasions the Cuban I was walking with told me to walk in front as we passed police, since they already had one count on their record. But I guess that's what I get for hanging out with Anarchist youth in a communist state. Some people love Cuba and love living in Cuba, while others do not. A philosophy student I talked to who was actively involved in the student union loved Cuba. He was getting a free education and enjoying the student lifestyle. An Indie anarchist tattoo artist, on the other hand, said he did not like it, and wanted to live somewhere cold. The main problem I have with Cuba is that you cannot easily decide to leave. You need official permission, which is not readily granted. Indeed, some 30,000-80,000 Cubans are believed to have died fleeing to the USA by raft, only 145 kms away by open ocean.

Socialising

Dominos, the national game of Cuba

Cubans are night owls. With free time as their must abundant resource, indeed their only abundant resource, they spend most of their time socialising. Whether it is spent in hole-in-the-wall bars or playing dominoes under a street light, it seems that most Cubans stay out past midnight most nights. Cubans love to party. If they were not so damn poor they probably would be the biggest partying nation on earth. Or maybe it is because they are so poor. Fortunately, booze is still very cheap. A bottle of full strength beer costs from $0.50-$1, a liter of rum about $3 (or $5 for aged Havana Club) and cola almost $3 for two liters. When rum is about the same price as beer per quantity, cola about half the price of rum per quantity and everyone is poor the result is obvious: everyone drinks straight rum. And since most liquor stores and even nightclubs are Government run the prices are the same everywhere. I have bought a bottle of rum from a liquor store and gone into a club with it, and bought a bottle of rum from a club and gone home with it. The prices are the same. Street drinking is also legal. This results in a very fascinating drinking culture. Everyone will have bottles of rum in the bars or music venues, which they pass around freely. If there was a mouth transmitted disease everyone in Cuba would have it within a few days. Alternatively, people will loiter in the street out the front of the club or in a nearby park rather than pay the entrance fee to the club. If the entrance fee is $3, that's another bottle of rum. I saw a guy walking around with a boombox on his shoulder, preferring more rum and to provide his own music and entertainment.

Cuba is a culture of scabs. You know that one friend everyone has who is always bumming cigarettes and drinks from you? Well in Cuba that is virtually everyone. If they have they will share, but they almost never have. Other interesting feature of the Cuban social scene is how they communicate and organize themselves. Since almost no one has phones or even watches, organizing when and where to meet is very difficult. But somehow, through word of mouth, patience and a lot of luck, it works. The result is like an open party held in public places almost every night of the week. Sometimes people bring musical instruments and always people bring rum. You then talk and mingle, often moving to seek a more happening place based on some rumour or feeling rather than any concrete information.

Santiago de Cuba

In Cuba its all about personal respect. With no other possessions, they defend it and care for it above all else. When someone joins a group everyone greets them, usually by standing up and shaking hands or kissing on the cheek, but at the very least with a few moments of eye contact and a nod of the head. I never felt unwelcome. I spent most of my time with anarchist youth covered in tattoos who loved heavy metal, almost like punks from the 80's, but they were some of the most respectful and gentlemanly people I have ever spent time with. Another side of this respect is the importance of image. Cubans are very fashionable, well dressed people, at least for their level of income. Imported shoes are smuggled in from Mexico and other countries and sold on the black market. Cubans would rather spend $100 on a good pair of shoes and live in poverty. Socializing in Cuba is fun. Everyone wants to escape the melancholy produced by the poverty and drudgery of their daily lives. And, at least during the night hours, they often succeed.

Music

Free classical music concert in the Plaza

Another vital feature of Cuban society, also a means of escape, is Music. Whether it is in the house, on the street, on peddle-powered bicycle taxis or little girls thrusting their hips about dancing on their balcony, music is everywhere. There are regularly free concerts in the city's plazas, cafes and bars, as well as many more that you have to pay only a small amount. I paid 8 cents for entry to an entire night of live music. The previous afternoon at the same venue was a free concert of classical string instruments. Santiago de Cuba had the most abundant music. Within a few hours of walking around I stumbled upon three music concerts in various plazas all of different styles, including a brass band of some 30 members. There were about twice as many band members as onlookers. And the music throughout was of very high quality. Cuba has the highest ratio of doctors to population in the world, and I would not be surprised if they had the highest ratio of musicians as well. With little money to spend and lots of free time, the free government run music programs make an appealing prospect.

The best concert I went to was Candido Fabre and his band, playing in a public park in Havana at a free Government organised event. Best described as Cuban Charanga, the music was melodic, percussive and had a driving rhythm that made you want to move. Way in the back where small groups of friends talking and passing around bottles of rum, but as you moved closer the crowd got progressively more animated. In the middle where plain looking woman with children moving their hips like sexual animals, and in the front it was full on party. Almost everyone was drunk, which tends to happen when you drink straight rum from the bottle. And everyone was dancing, or at least moving in their own way. Many were dancing salsa, but most were free-styling. Old men were dancing and swaying with arms around each other like they were teenagers getting drunk for the first time. It was a great atmosphere. Everyone was there to forget about their dreary lives and have fun. The front man was a real showmen and his banter between songs held the attention of the crowd as much as the music. He started testing the crown with anti-Government sentiments, and by the end he was passionately shouting anti-Government solgans, all to roaring applause. According to my Cuban friend, more than half the population is openly anti-Systemic. He also believes that within 10 years the Communist Party of Cuba will be no more. The people already want change, but they are scared of fighting the Government. Another revolution is coming, and music and rhythm, the life blood of Cubans, will help drive it along. If it comes soon, the grandmother who I lived with for almost a week, who was born before the revolution, may yet live to see another attempt at Communism come to an end.

Conclusions

Cuba is a fascinating country. It is materially poor but culturally rich. Where even doctors don't always have enough money to replace the light bulb or fix the toilet, but can go to a free concert with excellent music and get drunk for $1 with rum they brought from home. They go without food to afford the new imported shoes they bought on the black-market with money sent from relatives working overseas. They don't have much, but what they do have they will share with an open heart. Music and passion still flow in the veins of the people, and I wish them luck. When the current establishment comes to an end they will need to change to survive; but I hope they don't change too much. If you are planning on visiting Cuba, the sooner the better. It is already changing.

Authors Note: I cannot verify any of the information in this article, and I apologize if I offend anyone. Most of the content for this article came from my own observation or informal conversations I had with Cubans, mostly conducted in Spanish. Cut me some slack.

Turtle Power!

Watching a baby turtle make its mad rush to the ocean is one of the many magical moments that exist on Earth. Running on nothing but instinct, they seek the ocean like their lives depended on it. However, it is closer to the other way around. For most species of sea turtle the survival rate is about 1/1000. Sadly, the global populations of many sea turtle species is dropping to dangerously low levels. This is mostly the result of commercial tuna fishing, loss of suitable nesting sites, and egg poaching for sale as a delicacy.                                                                                                                    I recently had the opportunity to visit a turtle sanctuary on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. Near Monterrico, the beach resort town for rich Guatemalans, is the biggest turtle sanctuary in Guatemala. Leatherback and Olive Ridley turtles arrive year round, but mostly between the months of August and September. Leatherback turtles, the second largest reptile in the world, are now endangered, and nesting is now quite rare (only two reported times at this site last year). Even the Olive Ridley, the most abundant sea turtle, has experienced a serious drop in population, and is now considered vulnerable.

                                                        As the sun was setting a bale of young hatchlings were released into the ocean. If they are kept for a few days after hatching they become stronger, but if they are kept for more than two weeks they will loose their instinct to make for the ocean. I was able to ´adopt´ a turtle for a small donation to the foundation and release it myself. For such little turtles they were so strong. Their black, rubbery flippers struggled against me with astonishing strength. I tried to make him rest for the big journey ahead of him. Whenever I turned by body or hand, he would re-align himself to be facing the ocean. He was anxious to get going.

Her you can see little Timmy making a run for the ocean.

So I set little Timmy down amongst his 100 or so brothers and sisters and wished him good luck. He would need it. When he reached the water he got wiped out by a wave and dragged back into the sea. He was on his way. All things going well, and if he was a she, he would come back to this very beach in many years time and lay his own eggs. If hatchlings are released directly into the sea they will generally not come back to the same beach. That few minutes of charging down the beach is enough to orientate them enough to return, no matter how far afield they go.

That night I went with a guide from the sanctuary to search for mothers arriving to lay their eggs. A famous characteristic of the Olive Ridley turtle is how they arrive en mas for laying eggs. These groups, called arribadas, can number in the hundreds. I was not lucky enough to witness this spectacle, but when I had almost given up hope of seeing any, we saw one. A distinct trail led up from the water to the beach above. We had to wait for the turtle to finish digging the nest before we went to watch, otherwise we might disturb her, causing her to abandon her attempt and come back the following night to try again. Once they start laying the eggs, however, they go into a trance and are very difficult to disturb. She was a medium sized one, weighing no more than 50 kgs and being no more than 70 cms in length. She was beautiful.  

After laying about 100 ping-pong ball sized eggs, they were collected by the guide to be incubated in the nursery and then released, the same as the ones earlier that evening. The turtle then filled in the nest, and compacted the ground by repeatedly dropping her heavy body on it. She then cleaned up the site with her big flippers, trying to leave no trace of the nest site for predators. She then made her way back to the ocean. She was hit by a big wave, and then disappeared under the water, where she would again be a graceful swimmer with no resemblance to the cumbersome creature she is on land. I was so grateful to have witnessed this miracle of life.

 

While I was not lucky enough to see a mas arribada, this is what they can look like.

Turtles nesting on Escobilla, Oaxaca, Mexico

Vipassana Meditation Retreat: 10 days of silence

Hello my name is Zack and I am addicted to craving. I read addictive, page-turning books, follow the occasional addictive TV series and obsess about food and sex. When the weather is hot I want it cold and when it is cold I want it hot. I hate mosquito bites, waiting for buses, being hungry and the last 5 minutes of an exercise routine. I eat when I am bored. I just want the suffering to end.  I can rarely enjoy something nice, like a sunset, without craving something that would make it nicer, like a beer. Sometimes, even when I am satisfying a long-anticipated craving, I am already thinking about the next thing to crave. I am obsessed with the past and future and spend little time truly in the present. If you don't think these things apply to you, try sitting still and quiet for an hour. Even a minute.

So how does one overcome this addiction? The options available are the same as for breaking any addiction.  You can gradually wean oneself off little by little, or you can quite cold turkey. I opted for the latter. I recently participated in a 10-day residential meditation course in Nicaragua. The Nunnery used for the course was set in beautiful gardens, surrounded by cloud forest. The only distraction I would encounter from the outside world in those 10 days would be the resident howler monkeys demonstrating their namesake ability each dawn and dusk. The group of 60 or so students were a mix of travellers and locals, old and young. For most of us it was the first time, but some were returning for a second or even tenth time. One guy was a recovering cocaine addict. Most were just hippies. Vipassana meditation is not a religion, and people of various faiths attended, as well as many atheists. 

When we arrived we handed over our contra ban items to be locked away. For the duration of the course we were to abstain from as many things conducive to craving as possible. We were to give up talking, non-verbal communication, physical contact, alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, reading, writing and music. The two genders were separated and where possible divided by screens. Even the mere comfort of eye contact was denied to us. They could not quite deny us the pleasures of food and sleep, but they sure tried. Food was confined to two small meals a day consisting of plain, unspiced vegetarian food without added salt, sugar or oil. Dinner was a small banana. As to sleep, the last refuge, I got 6 1/2 hours to lie down on my thin mattress on the hard floor. We also received a copy of the daily schedule: 10 hours of meditation per day every day. We had lost more freedoms than most prisoners in the world, and we had done so voluntarily. At the last moment, after the silence had begun, I was moved to another room and therefore did not know the names or nationalities of the two guys I would be sharing with for the following days. The stage was set. It was going to be a difficult 10 days as we faced our addiction.

The basic premise of this meditation technique, common with Buddhism and Hinduism, is that most suffering is the product of our own cravings and so is purely mental. It is rooted in a deep-seated tendency of mind that wants things to be different from what they are. The technique is to observe the bodily sensations and practice reacting to them with equanimity and objective detachment; with neither revulsion nor attraction. To do this you need immense amounts of patience and concentration. Thus we started by developing our concentration. On the first day, for all 10 hours, we observed the breath: watching the air come in and out of our lungs. On the second day we narrowed the area of attention down to the nose and nasal passage. On the third day, again for 10 hours, we narrowed our attention down to the small area between the nose and the upper lip. By then I could notice all sorts of subtle sensations concerning the workings of the body that I had not previously been aware of. We were then instructed in the specific Vipassana meditation technique and for the remaining week, day in day out, we observed the sensations of the entire body.

At 4:00AM, like every morning, I was woken by the morning bell to go meditate on the sensations of the body for two hours. But I already knew what the body felt: tired and hungry. I had only been lying on my thin mattress on the floor for 6:30 hours and had not eaten a proper meal in 17 hours. Then, on one such day, a new rule called 'Sittings of Firm Determination' was added. For a minimum of three designated hour-long sessions we were to sit without moving. When kneeling or sitting cross-legged on the floor, this becomes very uncomfortable very fast. In your private bubble of closed-eye silence, it was pure, unequivocal, agony. But with it comes a constant opportunity to practice non-identification with cravings - in this case the craving for the agony to relent.

Half way through the course we were a comical bunch to behold. We would hobble out of the meditation hall with stiff joints and walk to the furthest limits of the campus, delineated by a thin yellow string tied between trees. Lining up along this invisible force-field, we looked like a group of liberated Holocaust survivors that didn't know what do with their newly found freedom. But we were also looking around like people tripping on psychedelics: people were following ant trails, finding bugs on the ground, flowers or just looking out onto the jungle that surrounded us. I saw one old man stand perfectly still and grin with child-like delight when a butterfly had landed on his shoulder. With heightened awareness and an almost complete lack of visual stimuli, everything seemed so vivid and vibrant.
I was making progress day by day. I was managing the discomfort better and becoming more and more aware of my thoughts and more disconnected with my cravings. Indeed, it was only by non-identification with my cravings that I could survive through those hours without moving. Whenever my concentration lapsed and I thought about how much longer must be left to hold the position, or how much longer my grumbling stomach had to wait until its next meal, my agony would spike to nearly unbearable levels. I was forced to detach from my cravings as the only way to survive. However, I was still not getting happier, just less miserable. 

Most participants make some breakthrough, usually coming immediately after their lowest point. For some it happens on day 5, for some day 10. For me it happened on day seven. I was envious and resentful of one roommate and annoyed and resentful of the other. The first was a handsome young man with long blond hair who could sit for hours without moving, apparently without the slightest trace of suffering while I was in a world of pain. The other was constantly fidgeting and irritating me as he would go to the toilet sometimes more than once an hour, just to break the monotony. He would also shower thoroughly, working a thick lather through his body, shave, clean his ears with Q-tips and trim his toenails almost every day. Then all of a sudden, during one particularly difficult meditation session, it just shifted. I felt inspired by the good meditator and compassionate for the suffering of the other. I was excited about making the most of my remaining days and even started feeling, well... good.

I don't know what happened, but I cannot help but make comparisons with overcoming other addictions. After going through the withdrawal of a week without almost any endorphin hits, the body adjusts to this new state of equilibrium. Just like overcoming heroin withdrawal, eventually the body starts producing the endorphins again, but now without the presence of the previous trigger. For the heroin addict he no longer needs heroin to feel good. For me I no longer needed food when I was bored, no longer needed to talk if I had nothing to say and no longer needed a beer to accompany the already beautiful sunset. I was already content.

It was hard to compare progress when we could not speak, but I felt that it was getting better for everyone. On the eighth night, when we were listening to a recorded talk by a past master, the closest thing we had to entertainment each day, the power went out. The stereo turned off and the lights went black. For any other group this would have been a drama, but not for us. Without any apparent signs of even noticing, we calmly sat in silence in the pitch dark until the power came back on. We then continued as if nothing had happened.

So it was, in essence, 10 days of practicing how to suffer well; how to react to sensations of craving with equanimity and objective detachment. By the end you are no longer resisting the craving, but rather observing it passively. The automatic connection between a craving existing and the need to act on it had been broken. I looked forward to meditating (although never at 4:00 AM) and even papaya, the blandest of fruits, seemed sweet and full of flavour. It was a full-on detox - body, mind and soul.

I am still addicted to craving, and I always will be. It's fun to crave every now and then, and chocolate is still better than papaya. But now I have the tools to establish a more healthy, sustainable and satisfying balance. The road will be long and will require constant vigilance and hard work. But I am so glad I have taken these first steps. Those of us who survived to the end of the course were now privy to the greatest secret to happiness: As soon as you truly stop searching for happiness, it will find you.

Vipassana courses are available on a donations only basis all around the world. http://www.dhamma.org/

A flower that I looked at every day during the course

Daily Schedule 
4:00 Wake Up Call
4:30-6:30 Meditation
6:30-8:00 Breakfast and Rest
8:00-9:00 Full Group Meditation
9:00-11:00 Meditation
11:00-12:00 Lunch
12:00-1:00 Rest and Meetings with the Professor
1:00-2:30 Meditation
2:30-3:30 Full Group Meditation
3:30-5:00 Meditation
5:00-6:00 Tea (one small banana) and Rest
6:00-7:00 Full Group Meditation
7:00-8:15 Lecture
8:15-9:00 Full Group Meditation
9:00-9:30 Question time with the Professor
9:30 Lights Out