Almost totally devoid of high-rises, this is a photo shows an area of Santiago de Cuba (taken from the Santiago de Cuba Hotel). The city is very different from Havana because there is much more open space, few big buildings, and a lot of trees. The flavour of the city is more relaxed and "Carribbean" than Havana – and cruising around it on a hot day in the back of a big old American car, with fading paintwork and no side windows, is a real experience!
In Spanish colonial times, Santiago was a big sugar-producing area, and there were many large plantations – and a lot of African slaves. As a result, there are many more Afro-Cubans here than in Havana. As in Haiti, which is not far away, the traditional African religions merged with christianity to produce voodoo cults – some of which are still evident today. If you are lucky enough to see a voodoo dance they are very impressive (though kind of eerie).
The yellow buildings in the top-left of the photo are the Moncada Barracks, which saw the first fighting of the Cuban Revolution (and still have the bullet holes to prove it!). At 5.30am on 26 March 1953 a group of rebels, led by Fidel Castro, descended on the barracks (some rebels arrived by taxi!) and launched an attack against the soldiers who were stationed there. Despite fierce fighting, the attack failed, and Fidel Castro and others were later captured, put on trial, and sent to prison. At the trial, Fidel Castro (who had been a law student) delivered a famous speech called "History Will Absolve Me". After several years in prison, Castro was released and sent to exile in Mexico where he set about preparing the revolution.