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| Highlights Learn to dance to Cuban music, swim in the clean warm Caribbean seas, volunteer with island peers on farms and schools, make new friends. |
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Cities and provinces you'll visit
 Havana City and Havana Province
Viñales Valley and Pinar del Río
Varadero Beach and Las Terrazas
Historic Trinidad in Sancti Spíritus |
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Awe-inspiring Viñales Valley. |
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Trinidad beach. |
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 Volunteerism, art, music, dance, history and culture
Monday 6 March to Monday 20 March
15 days, 14 nights in safe student-friendly Cuba! |
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| SEE TOUR DAY | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | |
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Travel for change. This year's educational tour to Cuba was initiated and organized by Kitsilano teachers Ms Bonita Hoppen and Mr Yvon Raoul. Please read their Tour Overview statement. |
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Safe and educational. Explore the island, meet its people, and enjoy their culture while in the good care of a full time multilingual Cuban guide, a professional coach driver, three Vancouver chaperones, and a representative from the Cuban Movement for Peace (MOVPAZ). |
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| Air Transat schedule and luggage |
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Departing Vancouver Flight TS106 – Mon 06 March 08:15AM |
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Arriving in Varadero Mon 06 March 06:00PM |
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Departing Varadero Flight TS107 – Mon 20 March 07:40PM |
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Arriving in Vancouver Mon 20 March 10:10PM |
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Stowage luggage allowance is 22 kg per person, plus two small carry-on items. Bikes and sports equipment go free in addition to luggage allowance. |
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| Included in costs are activities listed herein unless noted as optional. |
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| Island transportation is in a modern air-conditioned tour coach. |
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| Meals B=breakfast L=lunch D=dinner indicates meals included. Your guide is available to suggest eateries for every taste and budget for meals not included. |
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| Memories of Cuba last forever. Explore the island on routes less traveled. |
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Historic Havana. |
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| Hint Blue links below offer more details and pictures. |
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| HELLO CUBA – HELLO HAVANA! |
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Get ready for plenty of entertainment… |
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…and lots of great music. |
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Arrive at Varadero's Juan Gualberto Gómez International Airport.
Collect your bags and go through customs.
You're welcomed at the airport by your Cuba Education Tours guide and coach driver.
Your Cuba Education Tours guide will direct you to a bank or exchange bureau (CADECA) to purchase Cuban Convertible Pesos.
Group transfer to Hotel Saint Johns located in the Vedado neighborhood (Havana's cultural hub) and two blocks from the Malecón seawall.
Private check-in with assistance from your guide.
Evening visit to a Casa de la Cultura in Old Havana. |
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Havana's Malecón seawall: A place for contemplation and new friendships. |
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| GETTING TO KNOW THE CARIBBEAN'S LARGEST CAPITAL |
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Remnant of an ancient wall that protected Havana from prirates and the British. |
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Consider a Cuban flamenco performance while in Havana. |
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Morning ferryboat ride across Havana harbor to the municipality of Regla. This community has a long, rich and still active tradition of African-inspired religions.
We'll visit the local church dedicated to the Black "Virgen de Regla," Yemayá, the African goddess of the sea in the Yoruba religion and the patron saint of sailors.
Meet a babalao (highest priest in the Santería religion) in his home.
Tour Regla's Municipal Museum to learn the origins of this unique community and its religions.
Afternoon walking tour of Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We'll visit four of the five historic plazas that make Havana unique in the western hemisphere.
Tonight we have a Cuban band playing for us. You'll learn how to perform and dance to Salsa, Son, Rumba, Mambo and other popular Cuban rhythms from the band members of Grupo Dulce María. |
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Plaza San Francisco in Old Havana. |
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Museum of the Revolution: old car not part of exhibit. One in ten autos are pre-1959! |
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Engage in the island's vibrant culture. |
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| MODERN HAVANA AND PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATIONS |
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Towering monument to Cuba's founding father José Martí is focus of Vedado's Plaza de La Revolución. |
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El Morro guards the entrance to Havana Habor. |
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Morning meeting with your island NGO host the Cuban Movement for Peace (MOVPAZ) at their beautiful Vedado headquarters for a presentation and discussion on the social, economic, cultural and political situation in Cuba today.
Followed by an air-conditioned luxury coach tour of the most important sites of Modern Havana such as the Capitol building, the Grand Theatre, Central Park, Prado promenade, the Revolution Square, University of Havana, Cemetery Colon, Malecón seawall, and the Miramar, Central Havana and Vedado neighborhoods.
Tour Havana's spectacular Cemeterio de Cristóbal Colón. This graveyard covers 56 hectares (140 acres) and contains over 500 major mausoleums, chapels,
family vaults and galleries. The cemetery was begun in 1871 and is considered the second most lavish and historic in the world.
Later we'll explore the of the Museum of the Revolution, housed in the Presidential Palace, displaying the history of the Cuban Revolution.
Tonight we witness a most dramatic ceremony: the Firing of the 9PM Cannon at the Fortress of San Carlos de La Cabaña. |
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Historic facilities of the Cuban Movement for Peace, your island sponsor and host, located in Havana's Vedado neighborhood. |
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Marble angel watches over the dead at Cemeterio de Colón. |
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| HAVANA – EDUCATION, GOVERNANCE, AND LIVE MUSIC |
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Music students at the Escuela Nacional de Arte. |
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You'll confront a moat surrounding Havana's Castillo de la Real Fuerza. |
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Morning visit to the School of Music at Escuela Nacional de Arte for an exchange with students and their teachers on arts curriculum in Cuba.
Afternoon meeting with representatives of the People's Power (Cuban national assembly) from the Cayo Hueso district of Central Havana for an explanation of neighborhood projects they oversee. You'll learn about the demanding role and responsibilities of elected (yet volunteer) officials to their voter base – democracy Cuban-style.
Later we'll return to MOVPAZ to enjoy life Cuban music performed by the youth band Grupo Mayohuacan – a great opportunity to practice your new dance steps!
Evening is free to spend time with your classmates and new Cuban friends. |
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Cayo Hueso is home to the famed Callejón de Hamel, an AfroCuban cultural space. |
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| HAVANA EXPLORATION DAY |
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| Exotic plant and wildlife. |
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Today is free for you to explore Old Havana's famous open air-market, examine other sites, or rest. See 64 Things to do in Havana. |
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Junior learns to ride a horse. Cubans can truly claim that no child is left behind. |
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| LAS TERRAZAS AND PINAR DEL RIO |
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Las Terrazas pool. Be certain to bring a swim suit. |
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Consider climbing to the top of a mogote! |
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Young person staffs a farmers market. |
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Learn about the cultivation and manufacture of tobacco resulting in the world's most famous cigars. |
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Morning departure to Las Terrazas eco-community in the Sierra del Rosario mountain range west of Havana in the province of Pinar del Río.
We'll tour its rural village called Rancho Curujey and enjoy a welcome cocktail while hearing about this self-sustaining community's goals of reforestation, historical preservation, environmental balance and a good life.
We'll visit its school Republica Oriental del Uruguay for primary and secondary children and talk with teachers and students who live in this community.
Next we'll meet with local artists and craft workers in their homes and studios.
Later we'll walk the incredible ruins of a French Coffee Plantation built in 1801 worked by African slaves.
Then we continue on to La Moka, an ecological hotel with trees growing up through its balconies and ceilings.
You'll have free time to swim in the fresh waters of the San Juan River and explore the surroundings of this lush tropical paradise.
We're off to Viñales Valley and check into your Resort Hotel Aguas Claras in Pinar del Río.
Evening festivity at a local Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR). CDRs are responsible for community well-being, education, sanitation and safety. These events are a highlight of any Cuba stay! |
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Animal partners help out on the farm. Eco-friendly practices result in tasty organic produce and high productivity. |
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We'll attend a community CRD party tonight and get to know the extended families at the block level who keep their neighborhoods safe and clean – free of crime and drugs. |
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Once deforested and mired in poverty, Las Terrazas today is a self-sustaining eco-community. |
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| RECREATION AND RELAXATION IN PINAR DEL RIO |
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Nature at its best. |
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Today is for hiking, horse riding and other outdoor activities in Viñales Valley. All activities are optional to be arranged on site with hotel tour desk assistance from your tour guide. |
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Cuban SUV (just kidding!).
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| WORKING WITH PEERS IN PINAR DEL RIO |
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Help fellow students raise food for their school lunches. |
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Cubans come in all colors and are proud of it! |
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Morning meeting with students at Federico Engels High School in Pinar del Rio.
Lunch at school.
Exchanging and working session with students.
Visit Cigar factory in Pinar del Río.
Evening is free to spend time with you classmates and new Cuba friends. |
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Fresh fruit stand in Pinar del Río is Cuba's alternative to 7-Eleven. |
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| HELPING OUT ON THE FARM IN PINAR DEL RIO |
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Cuba education tours are an ocassion to make new friends in foreign lands. |
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Morning meeting with Moncada cooperative members at Viñales.
Full day working at local cooperative Moncada.
Lunch with members.
Return to hotel.
Dinner at hotel included.
Free evening: Your guide will keep you updated on night venues (optional). |
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Island billboard reads: 200 million kids in the world sleep in the streets, none of them are Cuban. |
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| TRINIDAD AND HEALTHCARE IN CUBA |
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Neighborhood clinic staff with humanitarian aid donated by North American friends. The island has the highest percentage of doctors to population in the world. |
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Morning departure to Trinidad. Today we explore on foot one of the oldest cities founded by the Spaniards in the West Indies, Trinidad, declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
We will visit its Plaza Mayor, Museum of Architecture, Museum of Romance, the main parish and other amazing sites, some dating back centuries.
Afternoon visit to a Community Clinic and Family Doctor Office to learn and talk about the system of free public healthcare in Cuba.
Check in to your Trinidad hotel.
Evening activity: Afrocuban performance at Las Ruinas. |
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Music abounds. |
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| TRINIDAD TO MEET AND HELP HIGH SCHOOL PEERS |
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Work exchanges are special experiences where one learns of differences and commonalities. |
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Full Day Working / Exchange Experience with students of High School in Trinidad countryside.
Free evening. |
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Sunset on Trinidad's Playa Ancón. |
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| TRINIDAD – FIVE CENTURIES OF HISTORY |
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Trinidad's Iznaga tower was built to keep watch over cane-field slaves. |
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Full Day Working / Exchange Experience with students of High School in Trinidad countryside.
Evening activity: Cuban popular music live on the steps of Casa de la Trova (optional)!. |
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| CHE DAY IN SANTA CLARA EN ROUTE TO VARADERO |
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The most famous face in the world after Jesus Christ. |
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Morning departure to Varadero via Santa Clara.
In Santa Clara we'll visit the Plaza de la Revolución Ernesto Che Guevara and the Memorial containing his remains and those of his fellow freedom fighters struck down in Bolivia in 1967.
Upon arrival to Varadero we check-in to the Hotel Acuazul and the remainder of the afternoon is yours to explore the beach with your classmates. |
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Che Guevara: dad, doctor, military leader, writer, thinker, humanist and baseball fan! |
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| VARADERO AND THE BEACH |
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Just go for it! |
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Free day to enjoy the warm waters of the Gulf of México Sea, or explore the sights in Varadero. Snorkel equipment and bicycle rental fee not included in tour price. |
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| Left Hatchling poised to become a gentle giant: Cuba protects endangered sea turtles, along with other marine life, thus all flourish. |
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| VARADERO AND INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURES |
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Free morning on the beach.
Afternoon transfer to Varadero's Juan Gualberto Gómez International Airport for your return home.
We'll miss you and hope you'll return soon! |
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