Cuba is best known for world class rum, cigars and music. Throw in two of the world’s most iconic revolutionary figures – Fidel Castro and Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, mix it with tropical heat and warm, friendly vivacious people and Cuba is an intoxicatingly unique destination that is, for now, a largely undiscovered gem. Contradictions are everywhere. Crumbling soviet style buildings next to painstakingly preserved colonial architecture. 1950s Chevys rumble alongside horse-drawn carriages and asthmatic rickshaws. Towns seemingly in colonial time warps. The Cuban people are warm, engaging and genuine. There is a resilience born out of necessity. Despite the hardships there is an irrepressible spirit that is reflected in the community and carried in the energy of the music. Life is not easy but it is perennially colourful and rarely dull. Staying with Cubans in their homes is a wonderfully rewarding way to see and feel the real Cuba. Before the embargo it was a hotspot of Caribbean tourism and now Cuba is slowly coming back onto more traveller’s radars. Come see the real Cuba before everyone else discovers it too.