The spirit of Cuba is one of pride and ingenuity. They make do with what they have and they do it with a joyful smile. They can also make anything on wheels sing. Seriously, I saw locals driving everything from mint condition Bel Airs, to bike, scooters, buses, and even a surprising number of horse and carriages. I've always had a soft spot for vintage cars and being around so many in such great condition was a small slice of heaven.
Our bus driver, Ariel, was a quiet man. Almost surly and although he didn't speak a lick of English you could tell he knew what was going on most of the time. He drove that 60's vintage bus around the tight Havanna streets like he'd been trained by James Bond himself. He was good at his job and he took pride in it. By the end of the trip I think he was my favorite person from the trip. I had an extra AUX cable laying around in my bag and on the last day when I saw that his had gone out (he'd updated the stereo so it could play mp3, smart man) I gave it to him. I smiled and asked our translator to say thanks for keeping us safe. He smiled back and that moment was worth the entire trip.