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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
Las Terrazas ecocommunity
Havana's Regla AfroCuban district
Beaches of Playas del Este |
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Awe-inspiring Viñales Valley. |
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Trinidad beach. |
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 Peer-to-peer encounters in art, music, dance, history and culture
Thursday 9 March to Saturday 18 March
10 days, 9 nights in safe student-friendly Cuba! |
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| SEE TOUR DAY | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
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Travel for change. This year's educational tour to Cuba was initiated and organized by VanTech teachers Mr Pierre Grenier and Mr Jason Lauzon. Please read their Tour Overview statement. |
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Safe and educational. Explore the island, meet island peers, and learn their culture while in the good care of a full time multilingual Cuban guide, a professional bus driver, and two VanTech chaperones. |
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| Air Canada schedule and luggage |
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Departing Vancouver Flight AC0162 – Wed 08 March at 11:45PM (with stopover in Toronto) |
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Arriving in Havana Flight AC0988 Thu 09 March at 03:30PM |
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Departing Havana Flight AC0989 – Sat 18 March 04:30PM (with stopover in Toronto) |
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Arriving in Vancouver Flight AC0149 Sat 18 March 10:37PM |
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Stowage luggage per person is 45 kg, two bags of 22.5 kg each, plus two small carry-on items. |
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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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Lunch served on airplane flight from Toronto.
3:30PM arrival at Havana's José Martí 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 is free to inspect the neighborhood around your hotel with your classmates. |
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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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Morning 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.
The balance of the afternoon free for you to explore Old Havana's famous open air-market and its colonial-era streets.
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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| MODERN HAVANA AND CENTRAL HAVANA |
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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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Consider a Cuban flamenco performance while in Havana. |
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This morning we take 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.
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| After lunch we'll visit to Havana's Parque Central and surrounding buildings such as: |
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The Capitol Building designed by Cuban Architects and built by the American construction company of Purdy & Henderson. This monumental building is one of Cuba's most outstanding architectural patrimonies packed with artwork from Cuban and foreign artists. |
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Centro Asturiano, inaugurated in 1927 designed by Spanish Architect Manuel del Busto features solid heavy façades constructed in Capellania Stones with clear influence of Spanish Renaissance. It houses the most majestic staircase of Cuban Rrchitecture. It houses the new Museum of Fine arts inaugurated in 2001. |
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Centro Gallego, built in 1915 by Belgian Architect Paul Belau. The facades have a rich decoration based derived from baroque and renaissance styles. Today the centre houses the Great Theatre of Havana. |
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Tonight is free to enjoy music venues around your hotel. Your guide is available to suggest the best spots. |
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El Morro guards the entrance to Havana Habor. |
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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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| HAVANA – AFROCUBAN LIFE |
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Music students at the Escuela Nacional de Arte. |
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Engage in the island's vibrant culture. |
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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.
Visit the home studio of painter, master printmaker and designer, Antonio Canet.
Returning to Havana, we'll attend a rumba performance at Callejón de Hamel, an alley where all the buildings display mural paintings inspired by AfroCuban religions.
We'll also meet alley artist Salvador Gonzales at his studio.
Evening venue: Enjoy the best Jazz live at La Zorra y El Cuervo Club (optional). |
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Cayo Hueso is home to the famed Callejón de Hamel, an AfroCuban cultural space. |
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You'll confront a moat surrounding Havana's Castillo de la Real Fuerza. |
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| HAVANA ARTS EXPLORATION |
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| Left AfroCuban folk art at Callejón de Hamel. Right Fantasy studio of acclaimed artist José Fuster. |
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Morning visit to ISA, the Institute of Superior Arts, for an exchange with students and their teachers on arts curriculum in Cuba. A great opportunity to meet the coming generation of Cuban artists.
Lunch hosted by José Fuster, one of the most important Cuban ceramists and painters today.
Afternoon visit with other local artists at the studios to discuss ideas and their work.
Free evening to enjoy local music venues. |
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Master artist Antonio Canet. |
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Music abounds. |
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This morning we'll visit the Museum of Fine Arts' Cuban Collection where witness the evolution of Cuba's visual arts over the last 300 years. The collection accounts for the richness of our Spanish, French, Chinese, African cultural roots (optional, not included in cost).
Lunch: your guide is available to advise on venues and cuisines to meet your tastes and budgets.
Afternoon is free to explore the city with your classmates and new Cuba friends. See 64 Things to do in Havana.
Evening venue: Peña del Chan Chan at Casa de La Amistad to hear a traditional septeto band playing live (optional, not included in cost). |
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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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Just go for it! |
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Free day to enjoy the warm waters of the Gulf of México on the white sands beaches of Playas del Este. |
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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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| LAS TERRAZAS AND PINAR DEL RIO |
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Las Terrazas pool. Be certain to bring a swim suit. |
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Cubans come in all colors and are proud of it! |
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Young person staffs a farmers market. |
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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 Hotel Los Jazmines.
Evening is free to enjoy the amenities at your hotel. |
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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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Once deforested and mired in poverty, Las Terrazas today is a self-sustaining eco-community. |
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Learn about the cultivation and manufacture of tobacco resulting in the world's most famous cigars. |
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| EXPLORING CUBA'S RURAL WESTERN PROVINCE |
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| Nature at its best: Consider climbing to the top of a mogote! |
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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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Fresh fruit stand in Pinar del Río is Cuba's alternative to 7-Eleven. |
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| HAVANA AND INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURES |
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We'll miss you and hope you'll return soon! |
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Hop onto your bus for Havana's José Martí International Airport for return flight to Vancouver via Toronto.
Lunch and dinner served on airplane.
Keep in touch with your new Cuban friends – exchange email addresses! Take pictures and keep a journal. Upon your return, we'll post them on this website for all to see and enjoy. |
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