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cubaphototrip

Casa
Cuba
Havana
cubaphototrip

Cuba photos and tips. Smartphone photography workshops. Available for hire. Been to Cuba five times.

19/02/2026

The situation in Cuba. Some lifesaver vehicles.

Cuba is currently in an exceptionally difficult situation.

The US has imposed a complete blockade on oil shipments and is threatening all countries that send oil with tariffs.
Cuba can only produce a third of the oil it needs.

If you read the media, the end of this country is near.
I will not go into political details and discuss why it is the way it is.

Transportation in Havana is extremely complicated, and people have problems getting to work, if there is any work at all.

A large online platform announced its closure because there is no fuel to distribute orders. Some airlines are stopping flights to the island because there is no jet fuel, while others continue and refuel in Panama, for example.

Three-wheeled bicycle taxis have become an important means of transportation that works. One young man said that if he works 12 hours, he can even earn $10 a day delivering goods, which is a lot of money in the conditions there, compared to the salary. All business running on WhatsApp.

There have also been quite a few electric tricycles that carry 4-8 people. As the owner of one of these machines said, his boss is the battery. These electric ones are charged from solar panels.

Cubans are resourceful.

At the same time, in the center of Havana, electricity is available almost all the time, but in the suburbs and rural areas, there are extremely long outages. The outages do not affect tourists very much, but the lives of locals who do not have currency or relatives sending money from abroad are in an extremely difficult and sometimes tragic situation.

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25/01/2026

Yes, it still works.
Let's make a call from Havana.

20/01/2023

This was a picture during my first trip to Cuba. I stayed in a homestay near Vedado and Havana Centro.

On Sunday morning I saw this wonderful young girl. She was not the child of the family I was staying with. I said, look how nicely the child is dressed on Sunday morning.

The host sighed and said, yes, women, women, they start to charm early...

On one of my next trips, I found this place. It was difficult because I didn't remember this place anymore.

I took a few bars of chocolate, printed photos on paper, and a picture frame and asked them to give it to the girl next door.
As a thank for the emotions, that I feel when I look at this picture.

Photo Jaak Nilson
cubaphototrip

20/01/2023

Havana Colonial Cemetery. Created in 1876.

The cemetery is one of the most important in Latin America. In terms of history and architecture, it is second only to La Recoleta in Buenos Aires.

Area 57 hectares and over 800,000 graves. I saw that someone was buried in one place as early as 2019.
A total of 56 thousand tombs and over 500 mausoleums. In total, more than a million people are buried here, according to some estimates, it may reach up to two million.

For example, Amelia Goyr's grave is so popular that there is sometimes a queue to see it. It's called "La Milagrosa," which means "The Miraculous Woman."

In 1901, Amelia Goyri died in childbirth and was buried here with her stillborn child.

The story goes that the child was laid at her feet, but when the tomb was excavated a few years later, Amelia's body was well preserved.

Word of this miraculous event spread very quickly, and her husband commissioned a statue of a woman holding a child.

For over a century, it has been a place where people have come to pay their respects, leave gifts and pray for their hopes and dreams to come true. People do different rituals for this.

One can inform Amelia of one's presence by knocking on the grave with a metal ring and then saying one's name out loud and silently asking for a "miracle", leaving an offering, usually flowers, and then leaving the grave with one's back to the front. Followers of the Santería faith visit graves that are important to them. Rum and flowers also play a part in the rituals.

One unique tomb has a giant marble chess piece. For one of the greatest chess players who ever lived, Jose Raúl Capablanca. Sometimes called "Chess Mozart" y "Chess Machine", he was the world champion from 1920 to 1927.

In the geographical center of the cemetery, there is still a functioning octagonal chapel that can accommodate 700 people.

It is a difficult place to photograph because the snow-white graves must still have some tonality, not totally white.

Photos Jaak Nilson
cubaphototrip

20/01/2023

Sometimes It's good to go to the roof.
There are many of these options in Havana and one of them is Hotel Paseo del Prado.

This is an extraordinary area. Old American cars pass you on the street. The sunsets, and often waves hit the famous Havana concrete waterfront of Malecon that protects the land from the ocean.

Early in the morning, I went for a walk there alone when the sun is rising. A couple of people catch fish while snorkeling, even though it is officially prohibited. There is no wind, everything is quiet, and the city is still waking up.
Morning and evening moods are completely different. One gives the opportunity to look inside of you, while the other offers evening passion. I am with the ocean and my thoughts.

Although I didn't stay at the hotel, I frequented the rooftop bar up there several times. You take a cocktail and look down. On one side is the castle of El Morro, while on the other are the buildings of a decaying Havana. It makes you unhappy, it shakes your soul and mind.

All this creates a mood and the feelings experienced are difficult to describe, you have to experience them yourself.

Text & photos Jaak Nilson
cubaphototrip

20/01/2023

Hello.

I am a professional photographer Jaak Nilson from Estonia.
I start my journey on the Cuba Photo Trip page.
All photos are taken by me, during five trips to Cuba.
Since I am the creator of phone photography workshops, all the pictures are also taken with the phone. These were all Huawei phones.

I will post this picture of Havana as the first post.
My English is not ideal, it is not my native language.

This is a picture I've always wanted to create. A little dimming street and the sky in its beauty before sunset.
The evening light brings out the character of Havana.
A little mysterious, although very open on the surface.
Cuba and Havana are very multi-layered.

It takes time to understand them, and most of the time the tourist never catches these nuances.
Communication with locals is important.

Unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish more than one beer, please.
If somebody asks if I speak Spanish. Yes, of course, again and again, that sentence about ordering a beer. I also do a few salsa steps, which I already know quite well. I started to learn it some years ago.
And contact with the locals is established.

One beer, please...

Text and photo

Dirección

Havana

Página web

https://www.cubafor.com/e-book

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