The Mystery & Magic of Cuba

The Mystery & Magic of Cuba
Santa Clara, Trinidad, Bay of Pigs, Vinales & Havana

April 27-May 4, 2019

Your Investment:

$4,269 pp based on double occupancy (King bed or 2 beds)
$4,744 pp based on single occupancy (your own room)

Space is extremely limited. Rooms will be assigned on a first come, first-served basis

How To Join Us:

Guidelines for payments to my travel partners in Cuba are quite stringent. Please ensure you review the cancellation penalties below.

$500 Non-Refundable Deposit due at time of booking (link below)
50% of total trip cost due Feb. 6, 2019
Balance of total trip cost due Mar. 6, 2019
Cancellations between Feb. 25-Mar. 26, will receive 50% refund of total land portion pricing (less deposit)
No refund for any cancellation for any reason within 30 days of arrival in Cuba (Mar. 27 onwards) or for any reason during the actual operation of the tour in Cuba

We've made pricing as all-inclusive as possible to minimize the need to carry excessive cash as Cuba does not accept U.S. credit cards.

Trip cancellation insurance is always recommended to protect your investment. We recommend Allianz Insurance and can help you select a policy which makes the most sense for you. Contact Kiron Dhaliwal for quotes on trip insurance after your deposit has been submitted.

Click below to make your deposit, and Kiron will be in touch shortly after to discuss details! Please note: rooms are on a first-come, first-served basis.

Questions?
Contact Kiron at 925-237-9669
or
[email protected]

What's Included:

7 nights double or single accommodation.
Meals per day as noted (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner). Included meals are presented from a prefix menu. Additional a la carte items may be purchased with cash if desired.
Drink(s) per included meal, based upon the individual restaurant’s prefix program. Any additional drinks can be ordered and paid for in cash.
Private English speaking national guide throughout the tour.
All transportation as noted in itinerary by private modern air-conditioned vehicle.
All entrance fees to included tour sites.
2 bottles of water per day per person onboard the motor coach (except transfer days).
Gratuities to guides, drivers, hotel maid service, hotels porters, restaurant waiters.
Cuba visa.

What's NOT Included:

International flights from the U.S. There are only 2 airlines which currently fly to Cuba: JetBlue and American Airlines. The schedule for our first day is based upon Jet Blue's arrival time of 12:12 pm into SNU (Santa Clara, Cuba).
Cuban departure tax: $25 per person (normally included with airfare to Cuba).
More than the allotted drink(s) at meals which are included in the program at restaurants.
Expenditures of a personal nature (laundry, telephone, internet fees, shopping, etc.).
Optional excursions mentioned in the itinerary below (nominal fee to be paid locally to provider)
Anything not mentioned in “Included” above.

Detailed Trip Itinerary

Saturday, April 27: USA – Santa Clara – Trinidad

Fly to Santa Clara’s Abel Santamaria International Airport (SNU). Your private National Guide will greet you after you clear Cuban Customs outside the terminal.

Arrive Santa Clara around 12:15PM this afternoon
Lunch will be included today at Paladar Finca de Ta (private enterprise restaurant) on the outskirts of Santa Clara known for its international cuisine and personalized service.
Start your Cuban experience off with a visit to the Che Guevara Museum and Mausoleum. This national monument houses the remains of the revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara and twenty-nine of his fellow combatants killed in 1967 during Guevara’s attempt to spur an armed uprising in Bolivia.
Transfer directly to Spanish Colonial Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Known for its charming old town and cobblestone streets, its neo-baroque main square, Plaza Mayor, is surrounded by grand colonial buildings.
Time permitting this afternoon we visit a Cuban ration store where we see how rationing is handled all over Cuba as well as the country’s two currency system.
There will be a little down time to relax and get ready for dinner this evening. Feel free to visit the Artisans’ Market if you wish.
Welcome to Cuba dinner is included this evening at a local paladar located within walking distance of the hotel.
After dinner, your guide will direct those interested to the steps of the main plaza to enjoy music and dance with the locals or you will be able to head back to the hotel to recharge for the next day’s activities.

Hotel Iberostar Trinidad (L, D)

Sunday, April 28: El Cubano – Architecture Museum – Casa del Alfarero & Casa de la Trova

Breakfast at the hotel.
We’re off this morning to the nearby Topes de Collantes where our guide leads us on a short hike through the scenic Mountains to El Cubano waterfall. Feel free to swim in the crystal clear waters before we enjoy lunch at a local farmhouse in the mountains today.
Returning to Trinidad after lunch we visit the Casa del Alfarero where family members for generations have produced some of the finest ceramics in all of Cuba.
A visit to the Architecture Museum located in the former Sanchez Iznaga home we see how wealthy Sugar Barons of yesteryear lived during much of the 19th century.
We drop by Trinidad’s Casa de la Trova this afternoon to enjoy some great Cuban sounds as well as the contagious energy of the local dancers.
There will be time late this afternoon to stroll the cobblestone streets of this UNESCO World Heritage city and browse the local artisans street market.
Dinner this evening is included at one of Trinidad’s paladares.
After dinner, your guide will be happy to introduce you to the nearby Casa de la Musica where you hear locals perform some great Cuban music and, by all means, put on your dancing shoes and join in salsa or rumba dance with the locals.

Hotel Iberostar Trinidad (B, L, D)

Monday, April 29: Trinidad – Bay of Pigs – Vinales

Breakfast at the hotel.
After breakfast, depart for the Bay of Pigs (Bahia de Cohinos), the site of the failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on April 17, 1961. Launched from Guatemala and Nicaragua, the invading force was defeated within three days by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces under the direct command of Prime Minister Fidel Castro.
Upon arrival, embark on a panoramic boat ride on Laguna del Tesoro followed by a light scenic hike. According to legend, Taino aboriginals dumped gold and other loot in this lake to hide it from the Spanish. No treasure was ever found, although Taino relics have been recovered from the lake.
A buffet style luch is included today at Fiesta Campesina, an open-air restaurant on an active farm.
Arrive Vinales this afternoon in time to view the incredible changing of colors of the “Mogotes” (mountains) surrounding the scenic Valley of Vinales in Pinar del Rio Province. The area is known for tobacco and other crops that are cultivated on the bottom of the valley, mostly by traditional agriculture techniques. Many caves dot the surrounding hill faces and the conspicuous limestone cliffs rise like islands from the bottom of the valley.
Check-in to your hotel.
Welcome to Vinales dinner is included at a local paladar.

Hotel Central Vinales (B, L, D)

Tuesday, April 30: Bike Tour – Tobacco – Indian Caves & Mirador del Valle

Breakfast at your hotel.
Drive through the valley this morning and enjoy the impressive landscape where tobacco, cassava and caro are grown.
A bicycle ride through the valley can be arranged by your guide at an additional nominal cost to be paid on site in cash. You’ll visit places of interest in Vinales and learn about Afro-Cuban religion & the history of the slaves in the 19th century.
Visit a local tobacco farm and see firsthand how rural families live and work. You’ll see first-hand, the secrets that make Cuban tobacco the best in the world. Visit all of the stages and processes including the seedbed, plantation, harvest and drying.
Lunch today is included at a local paladar.
After lunch, get ready for an adventure in Vinales where you’ll board a motor boat and tour through the Cuevas del Indio. Travel on a subterranean river through this cave ending up on the other side in a lake and learn about the refuge the natives sought in these caves long ago.
Enjoy an afternoon hike through the area known as “Del Mirador al Valle” (View of the Valley). There is simply no better way to experience the magnificent “mogotes” in the late afternoon – caution … cameras ready!
Dinner this evening is included at a paladar in Vinales.

Hotel Central Vinales (B, L, D)

Wednesday, May 1: Vinales – Havana - Revolucion! - Habana Vieja & El Floridita

Breakfast at the hotel.
After breakfast it’s a 3 hr. drive through small villages and Cuba’s Autopista Highway to Havana.
Your first visit will be to Revolution Square (Plaza de la Revolucion). The plaza is where political figures address the Cuban people. Fidel Castro addressed more than a million Cubans here on many important occasions.
We'll enjoy lunch at a paladar in Old Havana. Afterwards our guide leads us on a walking tour of Old Havana including such sites as the Plaza de la Catedral, the Plaza de Armas, the Old Booksellers Market, past the Ambus Mundos Hotel where Ernest Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls, down Obispo Street (Havana’s version of Rodeo Drive), ending at El Floridita Bar where, according to local legend, Papa Hemingway “discovered” the Daiquiri.
We check into our hotel around 5PM this evening.
Dinner is included this evening at a paladar located within walking distance of our hotel.

Hotel Parque Central (B, L, D)

Thursday, May 2: Alamar– Hemingway- Cojimar- A Marriage - Old Havana – Clave del Sol – Fusterlandia & BVSC

Breakfast at the hotel.
After breakfast we drive through the district of Alamar outside Havana to see first hand the Russian influenced self-sustaining community where over 100,000 Cubans live and work.
It’s only a short drive to Finca Vigia, Ernest Hemingway’s Cuban home and currently a national museum. The house was built in 1886 by Catalan architect Miguel Pascual y Baguer on a hill about 15 miles east of Havana. From the back veranda and the adjacent tower, one has an excellent view of downtown Havana.
Panoramic drive through the local fishing village of Cojimar, the setting for “The Old Man and the Sea”.
Lunch is included today at the open-air Paladar El Ajiaco in Cojimar.
After lunch we have the rare opportunity of being hosted by Pedro Zuelata, Havana’s Cigar Sommelier of the years 2012 and 2013, to a “marriage” of a fine cigar with excellent rums, Cuban coffee and chocolate.
Returning to Havana this afternoon we visit the wonderful community project known as Clave del Sol where professional musicians teach and train youngsters from the local community on stringed instruments, primarily the guitar. It’s a heart-warming experience to see these youngsters perform for us!
Before returning to our hotel late this afternoon we visit Fusterlandia, where Jose Fuster the “Picasso of the Caribbean” creates his masterpieces. We are able to view both his art studio as well as the surrounding neighborhood in which we see some of the finest street art in Havana (if not the world!).
Dinner is not included this evening, allowing you some free time to relax and eat where you please. Your guide will provide recommendations for wonderful paladares in the area or you can choose to dine in the hotel.
Later this evening, you’ll be on your way to the Buena Vista Social Club to enjoy the sights and sounds of Havana’s music scene in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. The Buena Vista Social Club was a members’ only club in Havana that held dances and musical events becoming a popular location for musicians to meet and play. Now the vibrant music of this era lives on in performances held nightly.

Hotel Parque Central (B, L)

Friday, May 3: Museo des Belles Artes – Miramar- Santacana – Dance- More Revolution & Classic Cars!

Breakfast at the hotel.
After breakfast this morning we have a docent-guided visit to the Museo des Belles Artes (Cuba’s Museum of Fine Arts) concentrating on the Cuban fine arts section of this massive museum.
We drive down the Havana’s Malecon to the Miramar neighborhood where we see some of the finest examples of mansions of the wealthy from “back in the day”, many of which serve as consulates and current foreign embassies.
Before lunch we have the privilege of visiting the private home and studio of Beatriz Sala Santacana where we view her highly unique ceramics, oils and sculptures.
Lunch today is included at the always lovely Paladar Rio Mar overlooking the river in Miramar.
After lunch, we visit a rehearsal for Habana Compas Dance Company. Recognized nationally and internationally for combining dance and percussion, this dance company has accumulated more than a decade of creativity in the flavor of Cuban culture. Founded in 2004, Spanish dances and Afro-Cuban rhythms are fused.
Before we return to our hotel for a bit of well-earned down time before dinner this evening, we visit the Museo de la Revolucion (Museum of the Revolution) where, amongst many other artifacts, we view the ship Granma which carried Fidel Castro and his band of revolutionaries from Mexico to Cuba prior to the revolution.
We depart our hotel this evening in classic convertible American cars for a panoramic tour of the Malecon and Vedado. Step back in time in a perfectly restored vehicle from yesteryear as you enjoy the sights and sounds of Havana.
Farewell dinner is included this evening at Paladar Los Naranjos in Vedado. Make sure to wear your dancing shoes!
Our farewell event is center orchestra seating to the performance at Havana’s iconic Alicia Alonso Gran Teatro de Habana. The performance this evening, be it the Cuban National Ballet or possibly a rendition of a Broadway musical or even an orchestral performance, will not be known until sometime during the month of November.

Hotel Parque Central (B, L, D)

Saturday, May 4: Havana – USA

Breakfast at the hotel.
Transfer to the Jose Marti International Airport with your guide and check-in for your return flight to the USA.
After check-in, you will have VIP Departure Service. You will have access to a private VIP Lounge with comfortable furniture to await your flight, an open bar with a variety of soft drinks, fruit juices, coffee, tea and complimentary snacks. The VIP Lounge also has a television, concierge and magazines and newspapers and a private restroom. You will have updated flight information available to you and priority boarding for your departing flight.

Safe Travels Home!