The Caribbean is crammed with delicious and delightful little islands bathed in the warm gentle waters of the Caribbean Sea, and long ho sunny days, but one of the least visited gems, almost our little secret, is the island of Cuba.

We first went to Cuba in the early 90's, and unlike most other tourist destinations, nothing much has changed in all those years. What will happen now that Fidel has gone is a matter for conjecture, but Cuba has it all apart from modern day amenities. Also, I think it is the only country of its size in the world that does not boast at least one MacDonald's restaurant.

Since the People's Revolution in 1959, Cuba has stood still. In fact, for a while it spun crazily backwards in time, while the excesses of the American Fat Cat hotels, casinos, and many other seedier ways of life were swept away in a great puritanical reform. All traces of American capitalism were removed, and many of the inhabitants of great cities like Havana were forced to go back to the countryside to earn their living.

What this meant was that vast tracts of cities like Havana fell into disrepair and disuse, and all of the then 'trappings of capitalism' were frozen for nearly 50 years as they were when London was just becoming 'The Swinging Capital' of the West. So, while the Austin Mini took to the streets of London, mid-50's Cadillac's, Fords, General Motors, and other massive gas guzzlers became entrenched in a time warp, so that Havana these days represents a working museum of yesteryear, with all sorts of home-made repairs and replacement parts on these cars, some only running on a few of their 8 cylinders, and belching out massive plumes of black exhaust. Mind you, with their links to the East, many small, newer but horrible Russian 'utility' cars intersperse with these massive American museum-pieces.

But the beaches, the countryside, the scenery, the history - Cuba has them all, and the people are so friendly you can be sure of a welcome wherever you go If you can speak Spanish, (or even if you can't) you will be inundated by locals desperate to be kept up to date with the outside world.

And cigars! Well, when we first went to the island, we would very often get approached by people who would start to talk to you about anything, then very quickly the conversation would move around to 'Habana's' - Cuban cigars. Now I have never been a keen smoker, but even I succumbed to the taste , smell, and smoky heaven of a large Cuban cigar (Bolivar, Cohiba ,Cuaba , El Rey del Mundo , H. Upmann , Juan Lopez , Montecristo , Partagas , Punch , Romeo y Julieta , San Cristobal ,Sancho Panza to name but a few), but where in London you would be paying upwards of £25 each, in Havana you could get boxes of 25 or so for as many dollars!

We made many trips to Cuba, usually encompassing at least one night in Havana, so fascinating we found it, and we would really recommend anybody with a spark of adventure to try it for yourself.