Classic Journeys Cuban SoulHollywood depictions of post-revolutionary Cuba–streets lined with vintage 1950s American cars; walls plastered with revolutionary slogans; ox-drawn plows tilling tobacco fields; sizzling salsa-filled nights–only hint at the country’s larger-than-life persona.

To truly understand how the country’s colorful history has stamped its people during a cultural tour of Cuba, you must spend time getting to know the diverse and vibrant individuals who proudly call this small island nation home.

Luis Enrique Gonzalez, for example, is a one-man encapsulation of Cubans’ post-revolutionary scrappy creativity.

Read all about him, and my friends savvy entrepreneur Julio Muñoz Cocina and vivacious artists José Rodríguez Fuster, in my latest feature–“Cuban Soul”–published in Classic Journeys.

56

Christopher P Baker

website

Christopher P. Baker, one of the world's most multi-talented and successful travel writers and photographers has been named by National Geographic as one of the world's foremost authorities on Cuba travel and culture. Winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2008 as 'Travel Journalist of the Year,' he has authored more than 30 books, leads tours for National Geographic Expeditions, Edelwiss Bike Travel, and Jim Cline Photo Tours, among other companies, and is a Getty Images and National Geographic contributing photographer.