Ten Things You Didn't Know About Cuba

by Brendan Sainsbury
March 3rd, 2010

Headlands below Hotel Nacional (Photo: thirstyboots07)

Think you know all about Cuba? Think again. Check out our 10 fascinating facts

There is so much more to this Caribbean nation than rum and all-inclusive resorts.

Enlighten yourself with these 10 cool Cuba facts:

1. There are more than 3,000 casas particulares (private home-stays) in Havana letting out rooms to foreigners for US$20 – $40 per night.

2. One in four cars on the road is a Russian Lada.

3. There are no poisonous snakes.

4. Cuba is home to the world’s smallest bird and the world’s smallest frog.

5. Hitchhiking is legally enforced in Cuba. All government-owned cars are obliged to stop at official pick-up points.

6. There are only two golf courses in the whole country.

7. Sex-change operations are legal and free to qualifying parties.

8. Cuba was the second-last country in the Americas to abolish slavery, in 1886.

9. The colony was occupied by the British for 11 months in 1762 and 1763, before being swapped with the Spanish for Florida.

10. More than a quarter of Cuba’s foreign visitors are Canadian.