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6-Nights Cuba: A Cultural Odyssey - Land Journey from $6,390
Tauck
OFFER ID 1524579
Cuba: A Cultural Odyssey
Meet face-to-face with local residents from different professions, share thoughts, gain knowledge, and connect with Cuba's cultural heritage as you discover the traditions of Cuban culture through music, sports and more!
Through cultural exchange activities built around key themes including Cuban culture and the arts, history, architecture, agriculture, cigars, vintage cars, baseball and more, you'll interact directly with the people of Cuba on Tauck's Havana-based trip. Meet Cuban students, educators, entrepreneurs, architects, artists and artisans, dancers, musicians, technicians, baseball players and coaches and more. Explore Ernest Hemingway's life in Cuba at his preserved home. Discuss art and private enterprise with artists in their studios. Visit with agricultural workers to talk about agrarian reform, tobacco production and organic farming. Interact with members of Havana organizations about their work, from dance to historic preservation to baseball. Learn about Cuban cultural traditions… have meals at paladares (small, privately operated Cuban restaurants)… and connect with the people of Cuba, their passions and their culture in many ways through unique Tauck Experiences.
Why is Tauck offering travel to Cuba?
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has granted Tauck a license to provide People-to-People educational exchange travel to Cuba. Our 8-day small group cultural educational trips will enable travelers to meet face-to-face with local Cuban residents from different professions to share thoughts, gain knowledge, and connect with Cuba’s deep cultural heritage over six days of People-to-People educational and cultural exchange. Our long experience has shown that the power of travel brings people the world over closer together. In the words of Arthur Tauck, Jr. – “It is my strongest conviction that travel is a key to world peace. By exploring new lands and new cultures, we increase our understanding of others and their understanding of us. It is fortunate that man has always had an innate need to explore the world. By facilitating this appetite, we fulfill a fundamental need of humanity and we make the world a better place.
What does “People-to-People” travel mean?
People-to-People travel is an initiative allowing U.S. citizens and others to travel to Cuba on a limited basis to participate in cultural experiences and have direct contact with the Cuban people in order to learn more about them and their culture. A highly rewarding educational experience, People-to-People travel encourages your direct engagement with the Cuban people you will meet during activities focusing on education and cultural exchange. Our experience has found Cubans to be interested in and well-informed about world events and open to frankly discussing the pros and cons of their country, as long as you are open to the same.
6 nights from $6,390 per person
Tauck World Discovery: Cuba: A Cultural Odyssey
Day 1 Miami, Florida
Arrive Miami
Tour starts: 5:00 PM, Hyatt Regency Coral Gables.Travel from Miami International Airport to The Hyatt Regency Coral Gables in a taxi that we will reimburse you for. Join us for a welcome reception to meet your fellow travelers and hear the details from your Tauck Director about the next 6 days in Cuba.
Meals:
Day 2 Havana, Cuba
Bienvenidos a La Habana
After an early breakfast, your group boards an included flight from Miami to Havana's José Martí International Airport, where your local Cuban guide greets you as you head to a local paladar (restaurant) and learn about authentic Cuban cuisine. Visit Cuban artist Kadir Lopez's artwork in an exclusive showing open to Tauck guests only. His work continues to illuminate the city streets highlighting the livelihood of its patrons from the Republican years, which you will learn at his studio. Meet the teachers and students at La Casa del Nino y Nina, an after school program that helps young boys and girls develop language skills and cultural awareness. After dinner, enjoy time in your hotel as you please.
Meals: B, L, D
Day 3 Havana, Cuba
Historic Havana, baseball and cars
After breakfast, chat with a local scholar on Cuban Revolution history and what it looks like modern-day. Step into the pedestrian-only UNESCO Heritage Site of Old Havana with a local expert on a walking tour to see the city's architecture and restoration efforts before heading to lunch with a former baseball legend. The sport of baseball was introduced to the country by Cuban students returning home from U.S. colleges back in the 1860s. Drive to a vintage American car club well-known from the popular tv series Cuba Chrome, meet the Club members and ask questions regarding the challenges they face as part of the new emerging entrepreneur sector in Cuba nowadays. Learn about Cuban dance during a visit to meet the instructors of a private dance company, then enjoy dinner and live music at a local restaurant.
Meals: B, L, D
Day 4 Havana, Cuba
Agriculture in the Viñales Valley
Today is about exploring the Vinales Valley countryside, and learning how this landscape is optimal for growing tobacco, and sustaining crops and livestock. Head for lunch on an organic farm in a private restaurant to exchange in conversations with the farmers and hear about their entrepreneurial endeavors as a private business in Cuba. Visit Benito Camejo Tobacco Farm where Mr. Benito himself will share stories about this craft and processes of how tobacco farming works. Visit the despalillo to learn about stripping and grading the tobacco. Enjoy the evening as you wish in your hotel.
Meals: B, L
Day 5 Havana, Cuba
Afro-Cuban cultural heritage
Connect with Afro-Cuban culture heritage and island identity with a visit to Project Beyond Roots - an organization whose mission is to inspire, empower, and create a positive change in the lives of Cuban people. After you'll have the chance to explore local goods and connect with artisans in the 19th-century storage houses that are now the Almacenes San José Artisans' Market. Following lunch, visit Vi Humos, a private project focused on the manufacturing of purses out of recycled cigar wood boxes, along with guayabera shirts designed by Vivian Acosta, the project owner. Experience a cigar rolling tutorial and tasting, while listening to great music and Vivian's personal story in the world of high-end habanos. Next, meet the teachers and students at La Casa del Nino y Nina, an after school program that helps young boys and girls develop language skills and cultural awareness. Back at your hotel, meet with a group of classic American car owners as they explain how their process of maintaining these relics of the past. Dinner tonight is at a local paladar.
Meals: B, L, D
Day 6 Havana, Cuba
Hemingway's Cuba & Centro Habana
Join a local scholar this morning for an open discussing on Cuban history, the econonmy and the country's modern-day diplomacy with the United States. Next, you're off on a visit to the Hemingway Museum. He was an American novelist well known for his short stories, a prolific fisherman who actively monitored the Cuban coastline when he wasn't at his desk writing For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea, and the locals often called him "Ernesto." Ernest Hemingway spent much of his life in Cuba, from 1939 to 1960, and today you'll have the chance to visit his home of 21 years. See the author's 9,000-volume library, and his beloved typewriter, and talk with a docent about his life here and the strong connections to Cuba and its people. Visit an outreach musical program where you'll learn their special approach teaching youth how to develop vocal and instrumental skills with traditional music. Join us tonight for a farewell reception and dinner at a rooftop restaurant overlooking El Morro Castle.
Meals: B, L, D
Day 7 Miami, Florida
Journey Home
Tour ends: Miami, Florida. An early morning transfer is included from your Havana hotel to José Martí International Airport for your return flight to Miami. Please book flights from Miami to your final destination no earlier than 3:00 PM.
Meals: B
Vacation Details
* This departure has been designated a guaranteed departure by the operator, meaning that the minimum number of guests has been met, although still subject to weather and other conditions.
Fine dining, on-site bars or lounges and room service with extended hours are characteristic of deluxe establishments. Guest services usually include valet parking, concierge services, baggage assistance and laundry services. Other on-site facilities often include shops and boutiques, full service spas, full fitness facilities with pools and tennis courts. Business amenities may include available up-to-date technology and support staffs available for services. Attention to detail is apparent in the guestrooms which typically have stylish furnishings, quality bedding and bath products and often provide an evening turn down service.
All fares are quoted in US Dollars.
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Merced Travel
(209) 383-1511 Alternate (209) 658-6518