Still I remember those days when it was usual hear saying that the Caribbean was the impossible thing, something that only the very rich could make and I certainly didn't include myself in that group, for the customary image I had, was that of the traveling and adventurous cousin found in almost all the families.

Now life has largely changed and on occasions I wonder if this is good since at present the impossible things are less and less as well as more dreams are likely to come true. In general things are more accessible at present for a larger number of people and this is wonderful and is happening in the Caribbean. Now no longer we think about if some day we will go but instead, which will be the first or next destination, since flights makes time closer to us and there is a wide choice in prices and assorted offers from where to choose. We like to think that we also play a small role in this change with information, an information aimed to be complete and interesting, since we want to preserve this spirit with which we were born, to make a product by which we enjoy being welcomed by others.

We all like special things with certain meaning and perhaps that is why our 30 issue is different. It`s different for several reasons since our third year has elapsed and we are more acquainted with the Caribbean and we increasingly fall in love with such a fantastic area that we like to share. And for this issue, we have determined to write a monograph on Cuba "The Large Island" where the Havana Convention is to take place, a very important event in the field of tourism, not to mention the affectionate bonds that unite us to this country, where we have presented for the first time our magazine some time before and it seems that it was yesterday. We invite you to tour Cuba over these pages from one tip to the other where we tried to cover the highlights of each province and what is more important, a way of being, a way of living, so genuine of the Cuban people that made it unique. Join us in this visit, we are sure you won´t be indifferent.

Consuelo Elipe

Beyond doubt it is a fact that life is very fast or slow and totally depends on the circumstances, colors and tastes. Trips are like life itself, fast or slow, depending on the direction of the trip, leaving or returning. Because illusion makes that everything looks like a whirlwind and the merriest moments just happen, as a dream that ends almost before beginning. And if life is like a mirage, just imagine a week in paradise! Fully aware that the places we advertise are wonderful, you should go with instructions on how not to lose a single minute to entirely enjoy without blinking. Why is this philosophy followed? I don’t know, maybe November is a somewhat melancholic or intelligent month and what is ephemeral gives you the strength to live and discover. Open your eyes, look around and be seduced by the unknown. CARIBBEAN excellences gives you the key.

My Caribbean is not always blue. The people not always smile. Food is not only lobster and palm trees sometimes don’t have coconuts and are not so tall either. In my Caribbean, people don’t live wearing bikinis at all time nor their bodies fit on size ten. They are not always black nor blond nor dance endlessly. My Caribbean is not always a booklet where the sun is always shining and couples are in permanent honeymoon while the rest is sailing, swimming or diving. though a paradise, my Caribbean is like the rest of the world, because in paradise the people live, is different, work, struggle and feel beyond the patterns of a stereotype. My Caribbean is wonderful because in it, and through the eyes of its people I have discovered forgotten things that I loved to recover. just because each island, each country—large or small—is different and everyday at dawn people face the mystery of existence as every human being in any corner on Earth. My Caribbean is mine because this is the way I see it. And how is yours? Why don’t you look inside and tries to discover something else. I’m sure you will find it.

Have you ever thought that life is a rhythmical repetition of events, people and places? I assume that this is the logical way to be, but still I cannot stop thinking that human beings need, in certain way, monotony to feel more or less safe and secure or more or less comfortable. Can you imagine if every day we will go to a different job, or that Christmas were celebrated in a different month every year or tourism fairs were held according to our will and mood? Perhaps this is impossible and that’s why the routines and topics were created. Now in January, FITUR will take place and those engaged in tourism are ready to attend and then the Holy Week and then the summer and that’s the way it is and will be and we’ll continue talking about it. And in the midst of this atmosphere we leave a space to break paradigms and sometimes we travel to more or less known places, topics that have been more or less dealt with. And if you belong to the group of the "less", come to the Caribbean, the only place where the unrepeatable is repeated.

Consuelo Elipe.