A Maverick Cuban Way: How to connect with the Caribbean's largest island, its culture, and its people / Mary Jane Walker

A Maverick Cuban Way is a flowing narrative of Cuba after the Castros.

In her Maverick fashion, Mary Jane went to Cuba on a whim. A solo traveller, she met someone who suggested a casa run by a woman named Mikalena. Mary Jane travelled around the Island on local buses.

She went to the Bay of Pigs museum and discovered that American-backed rebels had landed in a crocodile swamp. No one told her the Cuban Flag was American in origin.

Her most memorable experience was of hiking to Fidel Castro’s hideout from the CIA in the Sierra Maestra with a guide discussing socialism, the Revolution, and every fifteen minutes a different type of plant.

Mikalena’s son was a doctor, as one in every 150 people in Cuba are. Mikalena practised voodoo black magic.

Mary Jane went to the Cuba’s Guantanamo lookout and took photos of secret photos from inside the American base. Later, she met the son-in-law of one of the American marines in the photos.

Most importantly she met people who were happy, given food by the Government, saw no homelessness and children who are all well.

She danced Salsa in Havana, smoked cigars and hung out in Hemingway’s hangout, the Café Floradita.

With 247 maps, photos and other images.

BY THE AUTHOR OF A MAVERICK NEW ZEALAND WAY, FINALIST IN THE TRAVEL CATEGORY, INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS, 2018.