Robert Dacešin: How I Got “Stuck” in Cuba

He arrived in Cuba on March 3 and spent 25 days there. He couldn’t have imagined that his trip would turn into a real-life adventure.

“There was no sign of COVID when I arrived in Cuba. Everything felt amazing at first. The city was full of life. I spent my days with friends wandering through the colorful, dusty streets of Old Havana, discovering new, equally beautiful corners every time. We visited markets, tried unusual fruits, and ate churros with chocolate topping. I think I know Havana better than any other foreign city. But when we returned to our accommodation, we were met with bad news. Cuba’s borders would soon close, and no one would be able to enter or leave the country,” Dacešin recalls.

In the meantime, they heard that the Government of Serbia was planning a charter flight to Moscow to pick up passengers from Havana, but there was no information about when or how.

“At sunrise, I said goodbye to my Cuban family. We went to the airport and spent hours trying to change our tickets for that day so we could catch the flight to Moscow. A very polite Cuban man in a white shirt and perfect hairstyle told me it was possible, but the system had ‘crashed,’ and we should come back in an hour,” he says.

They spent that hour lying on the grass outside the airport, watching people in masks being taken into quarantine. It was the first time he saw masks in Cuba.

“It reminded me of my trip to Chornobyl. Even though we didn’t have the tickets yet, I was already convinced we were going home that day. The man said there were tickets… But if there’s one thing we learned in Cuba, it’s that there’s always a ‘but’ (‘pero’). The situation is good, but… The food isn’t bad, but… Prices are affordable, but…” he continues.

And that’s exactly what happened - the tickets were sold out within that hour. The next day, they returned to the airport. Rumors spread that the charter flight had indeed been sent from Serbia to Moscow and that everyone would be going home. About 30 passengers were waiting. The Serbian ambassador told them they still had to wait, as nothing was certain.

Soon, the first passenger received a boarding pass. One by one, people went to the counter. Everything was moving slowly, and boarding was nearly finished. Robert says he didn’t understand what was happening. His friends got their tickets, but his passport remained the only one left on the table.

“They told me I couldn’t board because I had a Bosnia and Herzegovina passport. The flight was reserved only for Serbian citizens. Then they told me to come back in two days, and if there were seats available, they would send me on another flight to Moscow,” he says.

Soon after, he learned that ETECSA, the company that sold internet cards, had closed, leaving him without internet access. An acquaintance from Qatar Airways informed him that Turkish Airlines had a flight from Havana to Istanbul, and then to Sarajevo. He remembered someone he knew who worked at Turkish Airlines.

He explained his situation again. He wrote that there were no more flights, that Cuba was closing its borders. He didn’t even know how a near stranger could help, but he was running out of both internet and options. Shortly after, he received a ticket from someone he had never met for the last flight out of Cuba and the last connection to Sarajevo from Istanbul.

“On the day of the flight, even more things went wrong. The police called and said they would soon come to search the house. No taxi wanted to take me to the airport because they were forbidden to transport foreigners. All restaurants and food places were closed, and I hadn’t eaten for almost 20 hours. But I made it to the plane. I made it back to Banja Luka - and I owe it to a man I have never met in my life,” Dacešin said.

• Written by Goran Dakić / HEDONIST
• Originally published in HEDONIST magazine 01, 2020.