Welcome in the big Island of Cuba, the largest in the Antilles. With almost 6000km of beaches of white sand, its tropical flora covering its many mountains, its colonial cities and its peaceful countryside, it is easy to fall under its charm. The European and African influences, mixed with the aboriginals and Asians, gave birth to a very characteristic and diversified people. They are a warm people and very sympathetic. Their blood is hot, especially when the hypnotic rhythms of Cuban music are heard nearby. The Cuban economy consists mainly of sugar cane, rum, tobacco, coffee, exotic fruits, fishing, pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries, nickel mining and especially tourism. Education is free for all the levels and is obligatory until the end of high school. Medical services are free for all Cubans.

 

The Cuban kitchen blends Spanish and African influences with a dash of Chinese. Aliaco is the national dish: a kind of stew including vegetables, meat (traditionally pork) and seasonings. Other traditional dishes include seafood, roasted pig, fried plantains, black beans with rice, tamales and baracoa chicken. The national drink is rum, whether it is refined, white, amber or aged. If one likes to drink it alone or with ice, it is preferable to choose an amber or aged rum. For cocktails, on the contrary, the white rum (carta blanca or carta plata) is preferred because it is at the base of most cuban cocktails such as the Cuba Libre, the Mojito, the Daiquiri, the Cubanito and the Saoco.