Baracoa [3], Cuba´s oldest town, was settled in 1511 but remained isolated from the rest of the country for 450 years until a road was constructed.  Near the church is the wooden cross Columbus erected in 1492.  We arrived just in time for the 500 year celebrations; a really good excuse to party.  The heat brought everyone out in the evenings and the sound of music drew us to a live band in the street outside a small bar.  Dance and music is in the soul of Cubans – the singing bus driver, the dancing waiter, the little old lady on her walker swaying to the beat, even the tiny children have the moves.  Another mojito and we would have been dancing!  

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Enroute the bus stopped at Guantanamo, not far from the famous (some would say infamous) US Naval Base of Guantanamo Bay.  A Guantanamera is a woman from Guantanamo and that legendary song tells of a woman that the writer loved.

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Typically seafood is cooked in a delicious coconut sauce.  We had the most mouth-watering meal of Caribbean style prawns at our Casa Isabel Castro.  As well as excellent chocolate, Baracoa produces a super sweet treat called Cucuruchu consisting of coconut, honey, guava, mango and a few other ingredients served in a cone of palm leaves. 

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