Yet more Cuban photos

Hi gang,

I've been busy over the Easter break - it's time to release the next set of photos. Still Cuba and Spain, but next time the focus will move to Central Asia...

Cuba 2002. Set 07 - Santiago Pre-Carnaval
Setting up for the Carnaval in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's southern rhythym capital! The 'El Rapido' is one of my favourite photos - Fast Food, Cuban Style.
http://flickr.com/photos/h4ppy/sets/1016716/

Cuba 2002. Set 08 - El Salton y El Cobre
El Salton is a waterfall in southern Cuba - behold backflips through the stream and a pig slowly roasting on the shore. On a trek up behind the falls we encountered some locals growing coffee and cacao. The pigs are sleeping, not dead! Finally we stopped off near el cobre, an afro-cuban monument full of symbolism and a sporting a giant phallus.
http://flickr.com/photos/h4ppy/sets/1016822/

Cuba 2002. Set 09a - Santiago Carnaval
Carnaval! For 7 days 3 districts of Santiago become a 24/7 party district. Things slow down a little during the day (when most of these photos were taken) but almost every side-street, for two miles, has a stage, and a dj, and a throng of bodies sweating and swaying to the salsa/cuban r&b/latin pop beat.It may not be Rio (or Port of Spain) but it's an amazing experience!
http://flickr.com/photos/h4ppy/sets/1016837/

Cuba 2002. Set 09b - Santiago Carnaval
Kids playing on the death-trap fairground rides, the semi-naked performers in the carnival procession and finishing with some candid shots of some geezers playing dominoes under a street light.
http://flickr.com/photos/h4ppy/sets/1016837/

Cuba 2002. Set 10a - Back to Havana
After the excesses of Santiago Carnaval, it was a return to Havana. Coco-taxis, fountain swimming, walking the dog (Havana style) and the monument to the Maine. Which the Americans say was blown up in Havana and the Cubans maintain was sabotaged to give the Americans a pretext for war. If you look carefully you can still see the rust-marks of the original text, before the Fidel replaced it with the new message.
http://flickr.com/photos/h4ppy/sets/1016856/

Cuba 2002. Set 10b - Back to Havana
Street Kids, Bits and Pieces from some of the museums, my favourite Red Sofas and a Cuban take on Park Life (Pork Life?)- have you ever seen a bigger pair of tourists?
http://flickr.com/photos/h4ppy/sets/1016856/

Cuba 2002. Set 10c - Back to Havana
As the sun set on Havana, so my time in Cuba came to an end. Some shots of the Maracón in twilight, then random pics on my last day.
http://flickr.com/photos/h4ppy/sets/1016856/

Cuba 2002. Set 11 - MAD to home
Stopped off in Madrid on the way home. And happened across a match between (an injury depleted) Liverpool side and Real Madrid. Real won the day, even before they signed Ronaldo :) The photos are of the game, sandwiched between Mohsin and Selima looking cute together.
http://flickr.com/photos/h4ppy/sets/1016864/

*** NEXT TIME - CENTRAL ASIA: O'ZBEKISTON and KYRGHYZSTAN ***

Christian