Santiago de Cuba

As we head East deeper into the countryside we experience first hand power cuts that can last all day and roads that haven't been repaired for years.

Despite that, each place we visit has a special magic. And, music, always, and often loud enough to rattle the windows. Cubans like their music and they prefer it loud. Everywhere we eat in the evenings we are serenaded by fabulous musicians and of course we dance.

Cuba doesn't have the archaelogical sites but the Spanish and French settled here building stunning homes full of treasures from their home countries - furniture, glassware and porcelain, much of it still there.

Of course, Fidel and Che are everwhere. This is a country of revolutions and invasions, fighting and patriotism. There are monuments everywhere to those who have shaped this country.Read more