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Guantanamo to Pinar del Rio

Travels by train. Nick Hancock crosses Cuba. Along the way he meets boxers, ballet dancers, faded divas and a fascinating array of failed revolutionaries.

After more than forty years of Castro's revolution, Cuba's infrastructure is crumbling and the trains no longer run to time. Despite this, comedian Nick Hancock decides to cross the country by rail, only to have his plans disrupted by the arrival of Hurricane George. Stranded at Guantanamo, Nick acts like a Cuban and improvises. Instead of travelling on a fractured inter-city network, he gets around the island on steam-driven freight trains that normally transport sugar, the Hershey chocolate train and a variety of other vehicles such as stretch Ladas and bicycles powered by lawnmower engines.

Along the way Nick meets boxers, ballet dancers, faded divas, fickle dolphins, cigar rollers and revolutionaries old and new. With Cuban sun and salsa music as an almost constant accompaniment, it's an odyssey with a Latin American beat.

55 minutes

Credits

RoleContributor
PresenterNick Hancock
ProducerJohn-Paul Davidson
DirectorJohn-Paul Davidson
Executive ProducerDavid Taylor

Broadcasts

  • Tue 2 Feb 199921:25
  • Christmas Day 200909:00
  • Tue 7 May 202419:10
  • Wed 8 May 202401:40