Hello,

We have come to the end of our travels with an extremely enjoyable last 10 days in Cuba.

As we were leaving the airport, we caught our first glimpse of the numerous "yank tanks" that chug along the Cuban roads. We found it incredible that there were so many of these 1950s American cars still around and it is testament to the Cuban people's ability and determination to fix and repair things. Our hotel, Tropicoco, was situated right on the beach and, although it looked a bit like a colourful factory on the outside, we found it quite amusing and the hotel itself was really fun in a weird, communist sort of way. We were definitely sold on the unlimited 24 hour free bar that was part of our "all inclusive" room, and served everything from beer and wine to delicious rum based Cuban cocktails. The only drawback of the hotel was the number of elderly Canadian men who appeared to have come to Cuba only for the "chicas" who frequented the area the hotel was situated in!

The first couple of days we were there we spent enjoying the sun and the bath like sea water on the beach next to the hotel. This turned out to be a wise choice as the weather soon changed and overcast skies and thunderstorms meant that our beach holiday was over. Luckily, we spent much of our time in the incredible city of Havana, which was everything we thought Mumbai should have been! The colourful city featured brilliant colonial architecture and enthusiastic locals who were very friendly. We always felt safe and we spent several days exploring the city. We visited the Havana Club Rum factory, the Museo de la revolucion, Revolution Plaza and many other interesting sights around the city. On Simon's birthday we went in to Havana in the evening and enjoyed a delicious meal on a rooftop restaurant in the beautiful cathedral square. Simon had what we were told was a "typical Cuban meal" of lobster, shrimp and fish, while Olivia enjoyed about half a cows worth of wonderful beef. After dinner we had a little wonder around the square and went into a little mojito bar where we enjoyed some very entertaining live music. At one point Olivia was asked to dance by a Cuban local who was not taking no for an answer. Only after a good few songs did he release her and Simon got a turn! The next day Simon was delighted to discover he would be able to watch the Champions League final in our hotel room and almost broke the bed from jumping up and down when Drogba scored Chelsea's winning penalty! He even got a hug from a Cuban in the streets of Havana the next day when discussing who his favourite team was.

Our way back to the airport from the hotel was one of the most terrifying moments of our entire trip. Although dry when we set off, it quickly started to rain and before long the whole road was flooded and many of the old cars had been forced to a halt. The downpour became so bad that when our crazy taxi driver attempted to overtake the lorry in front, a large amount of water was hurled at the windscreen preventing us from even being able to see our own windscreen wipers, let alone anything else on the road! This was scary enough without the lightning strikes that occurred about every ten seconds! Despite this, we arrived safely at the airport and were surprised to find our flight back to London was going on schedule.

It is hard to sum up nine months worth of travelling. Although we had some real lows, we had such fun and overall really enjoyed every country we have been to without exception. It was a fantastic year away. We are already planning our next trip...