Cuba Guide
Seductive salsa rhythms float towards you on air thick with cigar smoke, socialist ideology and rum. Glide past crumbling, colourful buildings in Havana, Santiago and Trinidad in a classic 1950s car, then venture into a countryside lush with sugar and tobacco.
Gaze out over the faded colonial grandeur of Havana, with its Moorish touches and art deco cool. UNESCO site Trinidad has an elegant feel, while Afro-Cuban Santiago de Cuba mixes a 16th-century core with modernist landmarks, including the monument to Antonio Maceo, the second-in-command of the Cuban army of independence, in the Plaza de la Revolución. Sway through the labyrinthine rococo streets of Camagüey, sparkling 19th-century Cienfuegos and leafy, marble-centred Holguín.
Trek around the squat limestone mogote hills of the Viñales Valley and go bird-watching in eco-resort Las Terrazas. Retrace the steps of Fidel’s revolutionary guerrillas in Sierra Maestra. Bask on the white sands of Varadero’s beaches. Maria La Gorda or Guardalavaca are best for diving and watersports.
Seek out a world-class box of cigars and Havana Club rum in the capital or Pinar del Río. Pick up music in Santiago. Redistribute wealth by buying coffee from Las Terrazas, a rural community that promotes sustainable development, books on Cuba, or anything with Che Guevara’s image on it anywhere.
Mojitos are refreshing cocktails of white rum, sugar, water and minty hierbas buenas (folk medicine). For real home cooking a world away from state-run restaurants, you can eat with a family in their own kitchen, a paladares. A staple is congris (rice and black beans). Typical simple recipes are based on chicken, pork or ropa vieja (meat stew).
Absorb the evolving anti-American graffiti outside Havana’s Hotel Nacional, and in Santiago immerse yourself in the latest sounds and moves of smooth salsa, Afro-European son, slow boleros, poetic guajiras and wiggly merengue dances.
