Cuba Havana

Hemingway in Cuba: His arrival and Love for the Island

On April 1928, the steamship Orita coming from France docked in the port of Havana Bay. Among its many travellers, the American writer Ernest Hemingway was on the ship in his transit for Key West. It was his first time in Cuba and spent on the island only a few hours. He returned in 1932 and again in 1933 staying during his two visits in the Ambos Mundos Hotel, located on Obispo St, in the very heart of Old Havana. This hotel was both his house and office for nearly 10 years. He liked it so much due to the view he could get of the old city, the hustle and bustle of the people, the closeness to his boat (docked in the port), and the places he worshipped the most in Havana: the bars and coffee shops where he got together with his friends, both national and foreign. He was also fascinated with the flavor of the tropical fruits, especially those of pineapple and mango. He used to say that Cuba “filled him with juices”.

Hemingway loved the nature of the island as well, especially the nature surrounding the sea and the nearby keys. In the articles and books he would write during that period he described with admirable perfection the coralline bottom of the sea, the virgin beaches, and the hard work that the humble fishermen passed through day to day; fishermen he helped out so much. In 1933 his second wife, Paulina, was involved in a street shooting and Ernest decided to go away for some time. They decided to go to Santander, Spain and when departing he said to his friends that he hoped that the days of that “miserable tyrant Machado” were over soon.  During the trip he found out by the radio that Machado had been defeated by a popular revolution. A part of that experience was expressed in his novel “Have and Have Not”.

In 1939, married to Marta Gellhorn, he began to think of having his permanent residence in Cuba. Marta was not very fond of the bohemian life they were living in the Ambos Mundos Hotel and she found the Vigía Farmhouse (in San Francisco de Paula, 9 miles away from Havana City) while looking for a rental. At the very beginning Hemingway did not want to move out, but after the reconstruction and arrangements his wife made, he decided to move in and a year later he became the owner of the estate. In the quietness of his new home, the author wrote his most fascinating novels: “The Old Man and the Sea” and “For Whom the Bells Toll”.

The Vigía Farmhouse is a three-story building, very spacious and illuminated, surrounded by a exuberant and fresh garden, full of palm trees, 18 varieties of mango trees and a huge ceiba. In the first story of the building there was a room that housed more than 50 cats (some of which are buried in the garden with tombstones). The decoration of the house was bungalow-like, having a great number of the trophies he earned during his safaris in Africa and a very important library that housed more than 8 thousand books. Nowadays, the Vigía Farmhouse (donated by his last wife Mary Welsh) receives a large amount of visitors who can see the rooms with the original furniture and personal belongings of Hemingway much as he left them when he departed for good from the island, in 1960.

About the Author

This brief history of Hemingway in Cuba was written by a Cuba travel expert from Cuba For Less, a specialist in fully customizable Cuba vacation packages.

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