Colourful, Charming Cuba
Cuba is such a incredible, fascinating (and often mind-boggling) country, that is completely different to everywhere else I've been, and there is no doubt about the beauty you can find there every day (in many senses of the word). I highly recommend getting to know this wonderful part of the world!
Here are some visual tasters from my time in Cuba in March-June 2017.
Cuba gallery
Some traditional items used in the Santería religion in Cuba. Santiago de Cuba. May 2017.
One of the typical cars (taxi colectivos) that does the tourist drive out to Cayo Jutías, from Viñales. Each of the cars has three rows, to seat 8 passengers plus the driver (yes, one passenger sits in the middle up the front, next to the driver and almost on top of the gearstick). The drive should take 1 hour, however it typically takes 2 hours due to the road being so bad - in fact its so bad that much of the time is actually spent driving off the road along side it (obviously not this part). Though they’re great to look at, the cars are so old and many of them are struggling. During our trip we passed 3 other colectivos that had broken down on the way, and we stopped to pick up 2 extra passengers from one of them as it was unable to restart. Although we often felt that ours would break down, it managed to survive both trips, there and back, quite likely thanks to an early stop during which the driver had his head in the bonnet for quite a while, only to emerge with oil or petrol dripping from his mouth. The Cuban ingenuity, perseverance, and belief in themselves and their ability to fix things is fantastic, and most of the time it pulls through successfully (often surprisingly). Cayo Jutías, Cuba. April 2017.
One of the typical cars (taxi colectivos) that does the tourist drive out to Cayo Jutías, from Viñales. (Read more about this at the next image). Cayo Jutías, Cuba. April 2017.
Rolling Cuban cigars, known locally as "puros". These ones are artesanal cigars that have almost no nicotine in them due to the removal of the vein that contains 98% of the nicotine. Che Guevara enjoyed the cigars from this local producer. Macondo Tobacco Farm, Viñales, Cuba. April 2017.
Dawn from the window of our casa particular, in Habana Vieja (Old Havana), Cuba. March 2017.
Cuba in video
Cuba is such a lively country, that it just doesn't do it justice to show pictures without music.. so here's a bit more insight into what you'll experience in Cuba
