Day 1 :
Hola Havana
- Welcome to Havana:
Meet your Tour Director and check into hotel.
- USS Maine Memorial:
On February 15, 1898, battleship USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, killing more than half of the American crew members onboard and leading to the start of the Spanish-American War.
- La Maestra Documentary Discussion:
Meet with Norma Guillard, who is featured in the documentary film La Maestra. Enjoy a screening of the film (running time 33 minutes), which tells the personal stories of the youngest women literacy workers who went to the mountains and valleys across the island to teach, and found themselves deeply transformed in the process.
Day 2 :
Old Havana
- LEAP Cuban School Visit:
Visit a local school for a round table discussion with faculty and students.
- Old Havana Sightseeing:
Explore the bustling city center, once a major ship-building port, with its five large plazas and former city walls.
- Lunch:
Enjoy lunch with your group.
- Callejón de Hamel Neighborhood Visit:
Engage yourself in Afro-Cuban culture. Visit Havana's funkiest neighborhood and meet with a local Santeria practitioner.
LEAP Activity | Cuban School Visit
Interact with students from a local school in Havana.
Day 3 :
Havana - The Viñales Valley
- Viñales Valley Excursion:
The Viñales Valley is a breathtakingly beautiful region, famous for its tobacco plantations and sheer sided mogotes, which are limestone hills rising from a tropical plain rich with hibiscus, bougainvillea and flame trees, tobacco plantations and rice paddy fields.
- Finca Agro-Ecologica Agricultural Cooperative Visit:
Meet with local farmers at this organic farm in Vinales.
- Lunch:
Enjoy lunch with your group.
- Orchid Farm Visit:
Visit the Orchid Farm at Soroa, which is maintained by the University of Pinar del Río. The hilly grounds contain over 800 species of plants, including 200 native to Cuba, all thriving in the humid climate.
Day 4 :
Havana
- Round Table Discussion on US-Cuban Relations:
Enjoy a round-table discussion on U.S.-Cuban Relations to be given by Professor Raúl Rodríquez from the University of Havana. Dr. Rodríquez has written extensively on U.S.-Cuban Relations, including an article for the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies Working Papers Series 1-10 (Harvard University 2010) entitled Canada, the United States and Cuba: Triangular Relations as seen in Cuban Diplomatic History 1959-1962.
- Museum of the Revolution Visit:
Located in the former Presidential Palace, the Museum of the Revolution features exhibits on Cuban history and the revolutionary war in the 1950s.
- Granma Memorial:
Walk to the Granma Memorial, located just behind the Museum of the Revolution. The memorial preserves the vessel that brought Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and other revolutionaries from Mexico to Cuba in 1956.
- Lunch:
Enjoy lunch with your group.
- Meet with a Former Ministry Official:
Meet for a round-table discussion with a former member of the Ministry of Agriculture to learn about contemporary life in Cuba.
- Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana Visit:
Explore fine arts collections ranging from colonial times to contemporary Cuban works.
Day 5 :
Havana - Trinidad Area
- Travel to Trinidad via Cienfuegos City:
Depart for Cienfuegos City, stopping at Fiesta Campesina Farm and Zapata Swamps where you’ll encounter endemic flora and fauna and beautiful rural landscapes. Continue toward the area of Guama to view its crocodile breeding farm. Then enjoy panoramic seascape views of Playa Giron, Playa Larga, and Punta Perdiz as you travel through small towns and vibrant rural life.
- Peninsula de Zapata National Park Visit:
En route to Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs), stop nearby the Zapata Peninsula Biosphere Reserve for a chance to spot the world's smallest hummingbird. The region boasts a great diversity of ecosystems, including mangrove forests and coastal lagoons.
- Museo Girón Visit:
Learn more about America’s failed invasion of Cuba in April 1961 at this two-room museum.
- Lunch:
Enjoy lunch with your group.
- Cienfuegos City Walk:
Founded by French settlers in the 19th century, Cienfuegos is named after its bay, which is located on Cuba’s south coast. Admire the city’s neoclassical architecture and its beautiful boulevards as you immerse yourself in the local culture.
- Local Art School Visit:
Learn more about traditional and contemporary Cuban art.
- Choral Performance:
Attend a performance of Cantores de Cienfuegos choral group.
Day 6 :
Trinidad Area
- Trinidad City Walk:
Located in central Cuba, Trinidad is a former sugar-producing town full of quaint cobblestone streets and colorful colonial buildings.
- Visit the home of Julio Muñoz:
One of Trinidad's most dynamic and charismatic personalities, Muñoz comes from a line of prominent Spanish immigrants and the house has been in his family for generations, though they lost their other properties and businesses after the revolution. Today, Julio, is a renowned photographer and a proud Workers Union representative. However, he has more recently become known for his skills as a "horse whisperer," a skill he discovered by chance when he began working with horses on a photography assignment. He believes passionately that his skills stem from his belief in using the horses' psychology and observing how horses communicate with each other and their natural world. He also runs the Diana Project, which promotes better equine care and educates local farmers and cowboys in humane horse-training techniques. Enjoy a chance to chat with him and learn more about his life and his role as one of Trinidad's most prominent entrepreneurs.
- Valle de los Ingenios:
Drive to the Valle de los Ingenios to see the remains of sugar plantations and the spectacular landscape of Cuba.
Day 7 :
Trinidad - Santa Clara
- Travel to Santa Clara:
- Lunch:
Enjoy lunch with your group.
- NaturArte Community Project Visit:
Explore an urban farm and admire arts and crafts made from recycled materials.
Day 8 :
Santa Clara - Havana
- Che Guevara's Mausoleum Visit:
Learn about the famous revolutionary’s life and socialist activism at this historic memorial site.
- Lunch:
Enjoy lunch with your group.
- Travel to Havana:
- Hemingway House Visit:
Purchased by Ernest Hemingway in 1940, this home is where he wrote famous works like From Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea.
- Farewell Dinner:
Enjoy your last evening in Cuba.
Day 9 :
End Tour
- Return Home:
Board your flight back to the U.S. and reflect on the incredible memories you’ve created!
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