So I dont have the mental faculty to begin writing the post, or posts in which I can tie together all my thoughts on Cuba. The return to work has not been as horrific as I expected, but there was still a horribly deflating feeling from taking my suit out of the office this morning. In place of a thought out post I offer some images.

We snorkelled twice, but as the first trip involved me feeling like death in a hot tub because of some serious alcohol consumption the night before, I’ve chosen a shot of coral reef in Varadero, the second location we snorkelled. Itself a gorgeous 25km stretch of white sand and turquoise, the reef beyond the beach opens up into epic valleys and crevaces,  full of shoals of gorgeoulsly coloured fish. One jet black fish, gorgeously bejewelled with blue studs, I was reliably informed looks like the roof of a night club in Galway.

Our guide around Trinidad city, Leci, was an eloquent and informed guide, offering us a detailed account of the city’s history, its economic collapse serving as a microcosm for the fate of Cuba over the years. The city is a beautifully terracotted relic, full of casas, some restored, others in disrepair – each showing signs of the wealth and decor of the country’s colonisers. Caught in a rain shower, we walked up cobbled streets with the rain teaming down the slanted streets, hungry dogs sheltering from the warm rain while street traders finished up theirs days activites. We retired to a local bar for some salsa and a gorgeous mix of rum, honey and lemon.

The picture above is of Vinales valley, one of the great views of my life and all I had to do was sit on the balcony of my hotel room to enjoy it. The triangular shaped houses are used for drying tobacco leaves. We rode horses down into the valley, rolled and smoked cigars, ate fresh pineapple and drank hot Cuban coffee. Bliss. My horse directing skills need a bit of fine tuning, I found myself dragged head first into some hanging vines and lost my sunglasses as a result.