In January 2024 I traveled with a PhotoWorkshopAdventures group of 8 guests, founder Michael Chinnici, and "fixer/translator" Katya Bleszynska to the Eastern Cuba cities of Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa. Our group flew to Santiago from Miami under a visa "Support for the Cuban People." As such, we stayed in privately-owned casas particulares, ate in privately-owned restaurants, and traveled by privately-owned cars and/or buses. Of the 8 guests, I had already traveled with 5; so only 2 guests and Katya were new to me. We were in Santiago (on the south side of the island) only one day before traveling 5 hours across mountains to the small city of Baracoa on the southeast tip of the island. We spent 4 days in and around this city before returning to the Santiago area for our final 3 full days. On our last day we traveled 3 hours to the city of Hoquin for our flight back to Miami. The trip was a photographer's dream with very friendly people, great architecture, rain forests, special visits to a sculptor and a retired professor of architecture in their homes, and boat rides/beaches. I had visited Havana and nearby cities in 2015. The area of Eastern Cuba is much less of a tourist mecca; so we experienced "real Cuba" this time. While the lives of the people are hard and the economically difficult, there is a happiness and friendliness perhaps not as evident in the "tourist" Cuba. Children go to school ready to learn; art is prevalent; skill in keeping their classic cars and other vehicles in working order is amazing; and their welcome of guests is phenomenal.