General Cuba Tourist Information - Real Havana: Explore Cuba Like a Local and Save Money - page 38

City buses often travel unmarked or vaguely marked, and schedules are hugely
unreliable. Stops can be indicated in a number of different ways, usually either by
a covered bus stop shelter, or a small sign on the side of the road with a bus sym-
bol and perhaps a bench. Routes, destinations and schedules are almost never
marked. Even for many Cubans, taking the bus can be a hair-raising proposition.
Interesting Fact: During the 1990's Cuba suffered a transportation crisis. There
was a great need for public transportation, but the government had little money to
spend on purchasing buses. The Cuban government solved the problem by
constructing rudimentary buses out of old machinery. Fundamentally, they used
large tractor rigs to pull around passenger carts. These transports were
colloquially called camellos , because their shape resembled the outline of a
camel's dorsal hump. These are still used on a limited basis in some of the east-
ern provinces, but they are mostly obsolete, having been replaced by modern
buses. Smaller, antique buses, dating from the 1950's are still common on the
road in most cities during off peak hours. Many Cubans now colloquially refer to
most city buses as guaguas , because of the chugging sound they make.
Private Buses
Yet another form of cheap transportation is the Uso Particular bus. These are ba-
sically buses operated by private individuals or companies. Cost can vary de-
pending on the route, but prices are usually nominal by foreign standards. For
routes within the city, the price is usually only 5 pesos (MN). You can get off at
any point along the route. This kind of bus can come in any number of different
shapes and sizes. In large cities, they often look like regular city buses that are
painted yellow and black. In rural areas, these buses might simply be flat bed
transport trucks, like the kind that would commonly be used to move produce, ret-
rofitted with benches and guardrails. In either case, if they are independently
owned and operated buses, they will always have the words Uso Particular
painted on the side.
Important Note: In Cuba, the word particular usually refers to something which is
private or independent. A taxi particula r or a uso particular bus, simply means a
private or independently owned bus or taxi. It is simply a way to distinguish these
vehicles from the typical, state-owned buses or taxis. In the Accommodation Op-
tions section of this guide you will learn about casas particulares , which are basic-
ally just privately owned houses and rooms which you can rent out, as opposed to
rooms in a state owned hotel.
Flights
Cuba has a well developed air travel network. Cubana Airlines is the country's na-
tional airline and also the largest operator of national and international routes.
While there were some safety concerns revolving around Cubana in the past,