Havana History and Music

Walking Havana, Day 4
Friday 6 January 2012

San Carlos de la Cabana Fort

“Pay $0.10 CUC, no more, to take the ferry across the harbour,” admonished the attendant at the wharf. “Gracias,” I replied. This was our return trip on the small ferry taking passengers from the city side of the harbour across to where the Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña, a fort museum was located. When we had departed in the morning there were no signs indicating the cost of the ride and the couple in front of Ray and I didn’t know the price. We observed several local people giving small coins to the attendant before getting on a ferry going to another destination, so we guessed the ride didn’t cost very much. When our ferry arrived, I gave the attendant $1 CUC for the two of us, thinking we would get change back. No, the attendant demanded another $1, which I paid. I guess the other attendants are fed up with complaints that the city attendant is gouging the tourists, unfamiliar with the true cost of the ferries. Oh, well, live and learn, again.

We spent several hours exploring Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña and admiring the views of Havana from its ramparts. The fort was built in the 18th C on a long, high ridge on the east side of the city, to strengthen the defence of Havana. In 1762 the British had captured Havana by taking control of this ridge, but lost the city to the Spanish just 11 months later. The Spanish built Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña, the largest Spanish Colonial fort in the Americas, to repel future invaders. It was so impregnable it was never invaded. Instead it became a jail and place of executions for the last two dictators, Machada and Batista and Che Guevara used it as a headquarters immediately after the revolution. Che exacted his revenge by executing many of Batista’s officers.

Within the fort is a museum dedicated to Che Guevara and, of course, Fidel Castro, and an armaments museum. We toured both but preferred the battlements with their long lines of cannons, some from the 18th C. We were still at the fort at lunch time so we took advantage of their small restaurant on the site. The only problem was the rest rooms. This was the first time we encountered rest rooms that closed for the lunch hours. Fortunately they opened again when we were ready to return to the city at 2 PM.

Once back in the city, we walked through the Plaza des Armas, where musicians were warming up for an afternoon concert, due to start at 4 PM. We decided to sit in the shady park and wait for the music to start. We were glad we did. The orchestra was all woodwinds, brass and percussion instruments, led by a young woman conductor. There were no seats for the audience but it didn’t matter. We all happily stood to hear the orchestra play a classical selection, followed by Cuban and jazz selections. The musicians were all excellent. Several got their chance to shine during the jazz numbers, adding their own flavour to the selections. It was a great way to end our visit to Havana.