On the shores, in Cuba.

In a way, I hate to start any set of pictures from Cuba with its beaches – the country is too complex and interesting to be simplified with captures from its most frequented tourist destinations. The country’s revolution, now some 50 years later, has endured to create, for better or for worse, in many ways one of the most unique countries on earth.

Traveling to Cuba is a different experience. It’s the only country I’ve visited with their own two separate currencies; one used almost exclusively for foreign visitors. Your car and hotel will both be built pre 1959 thanks to a strict embargo initiated by the United States – foreign goods are hard to come by in Cuba.

Cuba has a national history that is exceedingly interesting, with both Spanish and American occupations (and a war between those two countries on human soil), revolutions, isolation, and a missile crisis. Most of us will travel to Cuba for the beaches, which are indeed worth the trip. It doesn’t take much effort, however, to appreciate what makes Cuba truly soar.

Varadero is the premier tourist area in Cuba. A narrow peninsula lined with beaches stretches itself into the Atlantic. It may not be the world’s most exclusive beach, with a million visitors a year, but with clear turquoise water and 20km of white sand, it is no less beautiful.

Click Here for the gallery.

I’ll be back with some pictures of Havana, the 16th century Spanish colonial capital of the country.