Well I'm back and can certainly recommend Caledonia Languages for anybody interested in this sort of holiday. The 'homestays' in both Santiago and Havana were both excellent - basic but spotlessly clean with very friendly and helpful hosts - thank you Anna and Marisa :-) The food was simple but plentiful but the best bit was how centrally placed they both were in both cities.

The dance tuition in each city was excellent too, especially in Santiago - it makes such a difference having a dance partner who is a professional dancer. Also, I don't think that we'd have seen half as much or been given such an entree into Carnival without them. Some of the dancers came out with the group everynight and took us to areas and sound stages we probably wouldn't have ventured to without them. I've come back feeling that I've really experienced a slice of Cuban life and my confidence in my dancing has improved no end. And I dropped a dress size while I was away - it's amazing what a 3 hour daily dance class does for toning the muscles!

And any worries I had about being the only singleton in a sea of couples were totally confounded when I realised that everybody in the group was travelling on their own. There were only 14 of us which was ideal - big enough to mean that there was usually a choice of companions and things to do at different times but not so large that inner circles and little cliques formed. They were a great bunch to holiday with and so varied in ages, interests and occupations that one of the pleasures of the holiday was actually getting to know my fellow salsaholics.

I won't go into more detail here because I realise that this is quite a specialised topic but if anyone has any particular questions to ask - including good places to dance in Santiago and Havana, do ask.

SM