December 2006

I have a cousin married to a Cuban and has been insistent that I visit the country with him. I was going to go straight to Havana by myself as he thinks its too commercial an stays in Veradeo. Your site was informative and I think I will travel with him the 1st time and see where it goes.

Thanks

P.T

December 2006

To the Cuba- Junky team,

We want to thank all the Cuba-Junky team 'cause by your site we get a lot of interesting and useful information about Cuba and its Casas Particulares.
That's how we met Carlos and Neyda, they are incredible human beings and made the whole stay at their house very special. They are warm, patient, knowledgeable and never tired of saying “no problem” to anything asked of them. Carlos answered all our questions about cuban people, the country and its culture This was undoubtedly the best trip of our lives, we're totally in love with Cuba.
If we could, we would go back tomorrow !

Sophie & Torsten
Germany

Hi,
I Just came back from a 2 week trip to Cuba where I was staying in Varadero. On 2 occasions during that time I went to Habana and just dropped in unannounced at Pototo's place to get his help to find a casa.

I did not get to know him very well since I was with him very shortly on both occasions (he works very quickly), but his help was very precious to me. Hotels are ridiculously expensive in Habana (and I'm not talking about the nice ones) and finding a casa on my own seemed overwhelming for a tourist like me. Being referred by Pototo was a very smart move, it was very fast and efficient, nice casas with nice honest people and I had no bad surprises in the 2 places where I stayed.

I definitely would go see him again if I go back to Habana and you should to.

Luc
Montréal, Québec

Dear "Cuba-Junky" Team,

yes, yeah, I´m also a Cuba-Junky, but in a positive way.
Since I´m reading the very informative texts, I was able to move around safer in Cuba. You opened my eyes for some aspects. I´m speaking Spanish, but we have to be very aware at all the time.

With best regards from Europe

Mike Aigner

We wish to send you our warmest thanks for your help in our wonderful trip!
Right now we are very busy with all the work now, but soon we hope to sort all the pictures and put some of them on the web.
Pototo - there is a group of Latvian artists and Art Academy students on their way to Cuba now (through Madrid). We met 2 very nice girls from the group yesterday. I gave them your address and phone number - they will contact you during the following days and ask for your kind assistance with accomodation and travel-planning.
Our best wishes to you,
Vika & Janis

Hope all is well with you and your family! We want to thank you again for your help with our vacation - because of you, we have very good memories of our trip. Your help, generosity and kindness really helped to make this one of our best vacations!

Cheers,
Darwin & Cassandra

My friend Heywot and I was delighted to meet you in Habana. Thank you so much for arranging a place at Casa Mario for us. We absolutely enjoyed it and Mario and his family were also wonderful and I look forward to sending more visitors their way. We were looking forward to seeing you before we left however we mixed up our flight departure time, and so we had to speed off to the airport just in time to catch our plane. We were so rushed we did not say goodbye to Mario, the Malecon... we need to return soon.

Warm regards,

Yemi & Heywot

I just got back from my vacation in wonderful, beautiful Cuba. I want to thank you for helping me finding a casa in Vinales. It was very nice and the people where really friendly and the service was very good.
These people in Vinales advised me a casa in Trinidad and so on... Hotel Pullman in Varadero, as recommended on the website, was also very nice, and very friendly. Very beautiful, colonial style hotel. I also want to thank you for the useful information of the intersite Cuba-Junky.
I helped me a lot finding my way in Cuba. The trip I made was wonderful.
The people I met in Cuba are one of the the nicest, friendliest, heartwarmest people, I think, in this world.

I will definitely will go back to Cuba one day, this beautiful country (beautiful Havana, Pinar del Rio and Trinidad) with all these happy and friendly people and beautiful architecture.
Thanks again and next time I will get in contact again.

Best and warm regards,
Lisa (The Netherlands)

From the Lonely Planet Thorntree:

Thanks & a Couple of Recommendations

Had an awesome 2 weeks in Cuba. What brilliant people and a gorgeous country. Thanks to all who offered such good advice, especially Cuba Junky, Cheers Terry and Wild Bill. Pototo was brilliant, and the Rancho Florida in La Boca was a superb casa. They cooked amazing vegetarian spreads for us every night and made us feel really welcome. Stunning setting too. Being veggie in Cuba is perfectly possible if you stay in casas. An abundance of delicious fresh fruit and veg and a good imagination (which most Cuban cooks have seemingly needed) means some stunning food. Restaurants are less useful, especially in Habana Vieja but we found a couple of gems. The veggie mezze in Al Medina is huge and really tasty. Best veggie meal we had out. The paella in Hostal Valencia is really good too. The bar on the roof of the Hotel Saratoga has the most gobsmacking views. We did Havana-Trinidad-Vinales-Havana in 2 weeks and it was just right. Hoping to do Santiago & Baracoa next time.

Anyway, thanks again. Some photos here .

I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you Pototo. My time in Havana Centro was over way too fast and I want you to know that it was because of you everything turned out marvelously for me. I couldn’t have hoped for a better Casa Particular and duenos. They were so sweet, helpful and concerned about me. Please say Hi to Dahlia and Mario for me. And Isabel, the Spanish profesora was not only accomplished and talented, she was a lot of fun. If I would have taken her back with me if I could have. But then I would love to take everybody home with me. I had absolutely no problems because there was always someone to take me by the hand (being a single woman in Cuba was not a bad thing!) I’d love to return again, and I hope that Cuba stays its beautiful self. Thanks so very much Pototo!

Jeannie

Greetings,
Just arrived back form my first trip and it was a blast! Went thru pototo on cuba-junky and he made everything so smooth it really took the worry out of everything the casa was very secure and pototo gave me heads up on travel in havana the what not to do and how to keep safe! This would have been impossible without his guidance it helps so much to have someone there to rely on for questions and advice.
The cuban people were wonderful and genuine met a few hustlers but you can spot them a mile away just say no gracias and keep moving they will look for an easier target cheers terry has a great post on scams read this it will give you insight on the street scene and above all else use your built in shit detector for trouble and just avoid.
The city was amazing sights beautiful people and charm This was my solo trip so got a little lonely but made great friends and went to birthday parties and drank until the sun came up! I will write a complete trip report later , just to tired to write now!

Thanks
greg

Just a quick note to say a very big "MUCHAS GRACIAS" for all your invaluable assistance.
Sadly we're back in Ireland now, but we had a wonderful time and loved Cuba and will most certainly be back.
The hotel in Varadero was lovely. Havana was Havana, fantastic.

Thankyou once again, and we will not hesitate in recommending you to our friends.

Kindest Regards


Angela & John.

Joe and I arrived home last night, sad to leave the many new friends we made in Cuba. I want to thank you for making our Havana experience so interesting. It was heartbreaking for me to see what has become of such a beautiful city and I can only hope that one day Havana will be totally restored to her former glory. Our evening with you, Milagros, the children and Randy was a very special one for us and it was a pleasure to meet you all. The dinner was delicious and if you ever want a job cooking for my family, you are hired. I intend to write about you on Tripadvisor as soon as I have a few minutes. So thank you again for everything and please send our warmest regards to Milagros.

Anne

David from Canada wrote us:

Thank you, my Cuban friend, for all your work on making our tour a great success!

I forgot to tell you how impressed I was with the hard-working people in your country and, despite the many adversities that they face, they still retain a friendly, happy outlook. Some of the whiners and complainers here in Canada should take a lesson from your countrymen!

Also, again, thank you for Bucky's birthday surprise - he was stunned, as were all the others. Such a nice thing in a foreign country - you, your lovely wife and children, and your Aunt did good. I hope that you were as pleased with us - none of us are rich, but we live on our pensions and save up to do things like this as we are able, and to have you do what you did for us was priceless!

I made a post on 'The Lonely Planet' and hope that you don't mind. I just had to let future Cuban travellers know what a good experience we had.

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/categories.cfm?catid=14&startpage=1#1008906

Until we meet or E-mail again, I remain;

Your Canadian friend,

David.

Gracias por todo tu ayuda con mi visita a Cuba, y deseo a ti y a toda tu familia un año prospero. Podrias hacerme el favor de avisar a Argeo que, gracias a su ayuda y preocupacion por mi, sali sin problema ayer en taxi de Habana. Esta mañana aqui en Washingon esta nevando; entonces ya extraño el calor, humano y meteorologico, de Cuba.

Un abrazo, David

Manfred from Vancouver Canada wrote us:

It is now three weeks that I left Cuba and after a few days in Montreal with my daughter, I am back in Vancouver. My stay in Cuba was very memorable and I wished I could go back soon to see more of your beautiful country. However, for now, it is back to work and for my next vacation, I have to wait until next year. So far, I have no plans where to go on next year’s vacation but another trip to Cuba is right at the top of my list.

Thank you very much for your assistance it made things quite easier for me. Please say hello to Yoaris (spelling?) for me, she has been a very pleasant guide on that enjoyable trip to Vinales. I would like to ask you to giver her my e-mail address to stay in touch.

Thank you again for your help and if things work out I may see you next year.

Best regards,

Manfred

Isabella from Vienna-Austria wrote us:

I did not have the chance to see you again and thank you for your perfect organisation before leaving.
Everything worked wonderful and we enjoyed - despite of the weather - Pinar del Rio and Vinales a lot.
In fact we liked Vinales and Baracoa best.

Have a good time.
As I was swimming in the honey river in Baracoa, I will come back anyway :-)

best regards from Vienna
Isabella

Leif from Canada wrote us:

I have been back from Cuba one week. I've had fever and rash from the Carribean Sea, but am very, very glad for my visit. I am already planning for two and a half weeks in January.

I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the assistance and guidance you offered to me in Cuba. Your friend Luis Ulacia was a great person to get to know in Havana and his neighbour's Casa was perfect for me. I loved just sitting at the Malecon at night. Tell Luis that he needs to leave his telephone at home sometimes and relax. Your friends Rogelio and Dayneris in Trinidad have a fantastic Casa and a wonderful family... they took very good care of me. Although I did not get to stay with your friends at "Vista al Mar" in La Boca, I did visit your friends there and may get to stay there another time.

Pototo, I need to apologize to you for not managing to save enough to offer you a present for your help as I would not have easily managed my trip without you. As it turned out, I could have taken less money or more money and it is likely that Cuba would have pulled it all out of me either way, but I regret ending up so tight before leaving. I will try to make this up to you when I return.

I loved your city. I did not step foot in a museum in the short time I had there as there was far too much to see in the streets.

I will keep in touch to let you know of my plans for January. Let me know what you might need from Canada.

Thank you again, Pototo.

Alison and Ian from Canada wrote us:

Just a note to let you know how much we enjoyed our recent holiday in Cuba and to thank you for arranging our bookings with Luis Miguel in Havana and Eloy in La Boca. The accommodation in Havana was very comfortable and ideally situated - we loved being so close to the Malecon. We particularly enjoyed getting to know Eloy and his family and ended up extending our stay in La Boca because we liked it so much. Sonia's cooking was fantastic.
Good luck in all you future endeavours.
Kind regards Alison and Ian

Tine from the Netherlands wrote us in Dutch:

Ik zou je sowieso nog eens extra willen bedanken voor je hulp, in het begin wisten we echt niet waar te starten maar nu hebben we toch een boel informatie waar we vooral praktisch iets aan hebben. Fantastisch die website!

Liz from the Netherlands wrote us in Dutch:

Ik heb geen woorden voor al je informatie, absoluut geweldig en ook nog betaalbaar. kritiek is helemaal uitgesloten. ik heb wel al heel veel informatie van cubapagina gehaald, maar zo had ik het toch nooit kunnen bedenken.

Liz went to Cuba with her husband and 2 kids in December 2005, we planned and organised their trip

Niven from the UK wrote us:

Just a quick note to pass on our thanks to
Pototo for helping us find two Casas Particulares for our holiday in September.
Please say thank you to him, we have asked Paypal to send a small token to show we very much appreciate his efforts.

Ruppert from Germany wrote us:

Now we are back in germany and I want to thank Pototo.
He help us very comfortably and I recommend to eat his Pizza! It´s really the best in Havana!!

So, thanx a lot, see us again next year...

Melody and Ben wrote us:

it's melody here...you helped us find our casas in havana and la boca.

i want to thank you very much, pototo. we had a wonderful time in cuba because of you! we enjoyed la boca so much we stayed there for most of our trip. we stayed with manuel and maria durango and felt like part of their family. it was a very special experience.

thank you for your kindness, and thoughtful recommendations for us. we would like to support the work that you do so please let us know how we can help. as you know i am a teacher so i have some access to the school supplies like the ones i brought you, as well as notebooks and paper.

thank you again! muchas gracias!

melody and ben

We had Pototo help us, and he was wonderful! We also enjoyed dinner at his house. Keep up the great website, it is an excellent resource! First time to Cuba and can't wait to return!

Jessie from USA