15 months in South America | part #1 | Solo hay una Cuba (There is only one Cuba)

I started my journey in Cuba in February 2015 on a mission to learn Spanish.

It was like going into a time warp back into the 50s of old cars and colonial towns. There was no advertising, no fancy cars, no sign of urgency, no sign of immense wealth, but most importantly, no sign of extreme poverty or crime like in Central America. Cuba is a rarity, it is unlike any place I have been to.

It is beautiful but is changing rapidly. When I was there, there were the largest numbers of tourists, and there were signs of big changes and greater freedoms. Only recently did the government allow private enterprises to allow people to start their own businesses up.

Every citizen still has to go through University which is provided for free by the government and work for the government for 2-3 years. The highest government wage is a Doctor who can earn $60 a month. It doesn’t sound a lot, but everyone gets basic fundamental care, food and education for free.

However, with the tourist influx, and the freedom of running your own private small business, many people can earn far more money driving tourists around, so you will find some of the most well educated taxi drivers on the planet.

Old Havana is beautiful but my favourite place is the beautiful town of Trinidad and the countryside around. It is touristy but you don’t have to go far to escape the crowds.

Music and salsa are part of the culture here and you will generally hear it before you see it.

People live a basic but content life.

They generally look after each other and there is a great sense of community.

However, not everyone is happy, there is still contempt over freedom of expression and the restrictions the government impose as well as other civil rights. Needless to say, Cuba is a remarkable and unique place, and there are not many places like them left.

All photos are my own and most are captured with an old but fabulous (mainly for its shallow depth of field and aesthetically pleasing bokeh) Soviet Union lens, which is, in a way, fitting given Cuba's history.