When Bill and Kathy McDonald mentioned to their doctor in Belize, Dr. Lerida Rodriguez, that they’d love to visit Cuba one day, her reply came without hesitation: “When we going?” Bill recalled, “Two months later, we were flying into Havana for a two-week adventure.”

With Dr. Rodriguez as their guide—alongside her sister, Anna, and brother-in-law, Ray—the McDonalds got a rare experience of Cuba through the eyes of locals. “During our time in Cuba, we didn’t encounter any other people from the USA,” Bill said. “But there were plenty of Canadians and Europeans.”

Their journey began in Varadero, a resort city east of Havana, after a long midnight taxi ride. Once there, they rented a pink Cadillac convertible and cruised the town in style. They visited Al Capone’s house, the Dupont mansion, and the Bautista Gardens. The Cadillac itself was a showstopper. “While in the pink Cadillac we were a hit,” Bill remembered. “All the other tourists wanted to have their pictures taken with us and the car.”

The trip was filled with variety. Kathy spent a day shopping with Lerida while Bill went scuba diving at the Bay of Pigs. From Varadero, they boarded a bus for a six-hour ride to Cayo Santa Maria, where sparkling blue waters, white sand, and delicious food awaited them. At night, they could even see the lights of Key West and Nassau in the distance, reminders of how close freedom felt to Cubans trying to escape by raft.

One excursion took them to Santa Clara, “the heart of the Revolution,” where they visited the Che Guevara memorial. Strikingly, both their guide and taxi driver refused to enter. “They remembered Che as being a ruthless murderer,” Bill explained, a sobering reminder of Cuba’s complicated history.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip was a stop in Remedios, where they visited the Church of San Juan Bautista. Built between the 1500s and 1600s by settlers from Seville, the church contains thirteen golden altars and a rare statue of the Virgin Mary while she was still pregnant. “It was the most beautiful church we saw in Cuba,” Bill said. Despite the communist regime, the church still stands intact and active, a remarkable preservation of faith and history.

Their final days were spent exploring Old and New Havana with a private guide. They marveled at the contrast between grand museums and churches, restored for tourists, and the crumbling neighborhoods where locals lived under strict watch from neighborhood “Block Captains.” Grocery shopping was limited to poorly stocked government-run bodegas.

Reflecting on the trip, Bill said, “We were glad we made the trip and appreciated the beauty of the country, the food, and the people. But we were saddened by the conditions people were living in.”

Their advice for future travelers? Do plenty of planning, hire local guides, and consider staying in bed-and-breakfasts instead of resorts. As Bill put it, “Our resorts were nice, but we would’ve gotten more in touch with the people if we’d stayed in the B&Bs.”

The McDonalds’ Cuban adventure left them with vivid memories of colorful cars, golden altars, and breathtaking coastlines, along with a deeper appreciation for both the beauty and struggles of a country that feels worlds away yet is just 90 miles off the Florida coast.