A Cuban Christmas!

Hi Guys!

Well what a crazy couple of weeks it´s been!! I´ve just returned to the ´real world´ after spending 2 weeks in Cuba.....

We arrived into Habana late on a Monday afternoon and arrived to our Casa Particular. In Cuba tourists mainly stay in the houses of the local people as it´s a lot cheaper - these are the casa particulares. It´s really good as you can really get to know the local people. We had our first night out in Habana that night, which was very interesting!!

Tuesday I was a little hungover, too many mojitos!! So we just chilled out in the day and in the night we checked out a local jazz club which was really good!!! Wednesay we went for a little history and checked out Museo de la Revolucion which was also really interesting! We just wandered around in the night and took in the sights and sounds of Habana´s night life. Very cool.

Thursday we had an adventure at the local market buying some fruit and veges (good fun) and after this treated ourselves to a lovely lunch in a cafe with a great band. We really got into the music in Cuba (it´s hard not too, its everywhere!!) - Salsa, Afro Cuban, Jazz - it was great! That night went and saw a salsa band play and danced the night away!

Friday and Saturday we went and checked out Habana´s closest beach. It was really lovely and relaxing after being in the city for so many days. We went out Saturday night with some of the local Cubans we kept bumping into.

Sunday we jumped in a taxi to Trinidad, on the south coast of Cuba. It was a really lovely Colonial town with a beautiful beach, and we really enjoyed our time there. We had a lovely family we stayed with there as well =) Monday night we spent in the main square of the town where they have live salsa music and dancing every night. It was really cool to see - the Cubans dance amazingly! We met a magician too (random) who showed us some magic tricks - not your typical Christmas Eve thats for sure! Tuesday (Christmas Day) we spent on the beach which was lovely =)

Wednesday we did a tour to Toppes de Collantes - and hiked through the jungle to a beautiful waterfall. We swam in the pool by the waterfall - ah it was so nice! That night we checked out the main square again and randomly bumped into our friend Pete from Mexico. So we danced the night away in the local night club with Pete and his mates, good fun =) We met the magician again and he helped us to talk to a Mute man we met. Very random!

Thursday we chilled out and checked out Trinidad. We went out in the night and ended up in the local disco - which was in a cave. It was SO cool!! Friday we jumped on a bus back to Habana and Yesterday we flew out of Cuba!

I had such an amazing time in Cuba - it´s so interesting. The people seem so opressed - they aren´t allowed to speak with tourists, they can´t go on the internet (only email) and they can´t leave Cuba - among many other things. But they are some of the most happy, warm and genuine people i´ve ever met. It´s such a strange place! It´s a place you hate and frustrates you so much at times, and place you love and don´t want to leave. A land of contradictions....It was really the highlight of my trip so far.

We arrived in Cartagena, Columbia last night and we´ll ne here for the next couple of weeks. We haven´t seen to much of the city yet but so far it looks really beautiful =)

Happy New Year Everyone!!! xoxoxoxo