Ayna had a true 20th Century Cuban upbringing — raised in and around Havana but born in Leningrad, as it then was, while her father was studying marine engineering in the former USSR.

It was in Leningrad that Ayna’s father met her mother, a Mongolian also studying at the university. Her father moved the family back to Cuba after graduation. The port city of Mariel became Ayna’s hometown, although she boarded at school in Havana while studying ballet at Escuela Nacional de Ballet Alicia Alonso.

Ayna has a degree in computer science from the University of Havana, which is how she came to be working as an IT consultant in her mother’s homeland. It was in Mongolia that she met Nick, and together they moved to Australia.

With travel and bringing cultures together embedded in her story and that of her family, starting a travel agency specialising in tours of Cuba was an easy decision for Ayna. Her favourite part of the business is the photographs that clients send to the team after their trip, especially those of Mariel.