EXPLORING CUBA’S NATURAL DIVERSITY March 12–24, 2016

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EXPLORING CUBA’S NATURAL DIVERSITY March 12–24, 2016

As diplomatic and economic ties between the United States and Cuba are Travel Program reformed over the next few years, the landscape of Cuba will dramatically change, Harvard Alumni Travels making it more important than ever to experience Cuba as it is today. The 124 Mount Auburn Street 6th Floor Harvard Museums of Science & Culture is operating this educational program Cambridge, MA 02138 under the General License* authorized by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (617) 495-2463 phone (617) 496-8782 fax (OFAC). This program differs from more traditional trips in that every hour must be accounted for. Each day has been structured to provide meaningful interactions www.travel.hmsc.harvard.edu with Cuban people or educational or cultural programming. Our journey begins in Camagüey, Cuba’s largest province, rarely visited by foreigners. Its historic center, considered the largest and best preserved on the island, boasts many lavish churches and a twisted maze of streets designed to confound marauding pirates. Discover Trinidad, one of the finest colonial towns in all the Americas, although tiny in size. A few square blocks of cobblestone streets, pastel-colored 18th- and 19th-century houses, palaces, and plazas demonstrate the Trinidad that once thrived courtesy of the prosperity from the sugarcane industry. After a night in Cienfuegos, nicknamed the ‘Pearl of the South’ after its magnificent bay, we visit beautiful Cienfuegos Botanical Garden and the Zapata Peninsula Biosphere Reserve before driving to western Cuba. Here we will explore Pinar del Río, a region famous for its tobacco plantations, and 250-million year-old eroded karst towers rising from a tropical plain rich with vivid hibiscus and bougainvillea, and rice paddies. The scenes here are timeless and depict rural Cuba complete with thatched homesteads and farmers riding oxen-driven carts. We conclude our journey touring historic Havana’s architecture and urban gardens, and experiencing its art, music, and cuisine. Old Havana, with its square mile of colonial palaces, handsome plazas, and charming cobbled alleys, was once one of the three richest Spanish cities outside of Spain.

*Please note that Harvard University intends to fully comply with all requirements of the General License. Travelers must participate in all group activities. We expect the program as follows in this itinerary to change so that we can accommodate the schedules of the people meeting with the group. The following program includes examples of speakers and visits but there may be other guests and visits added as we develop the program. We will have an updated itinerary in early 2016.

GROUP SIZE: 12 to 24 guests

PRICING: $6,995 per person double occupancy / $1,095 single supplement

STUDY LEADERS:

Dr. Alfonso Alonso, Managing Director for Field Dr. Leeanne Alonso, Director of Global Programs at Smithsonian Conservation Biology Biodiversity Exploration at Global Wildlife Institute Conservation As a conservation biologist, Alfonso is passionate Leeanne is the current Director of Global Biodiversity about finding how species of plants and animals are Exploration at Global Wildlife Conservation, and distributed in different ecosystems and implementing previously was the head of the Rapid Assessment monitoring programs to assure their persistence. His Program (RAP) at Conservation International. interest in nature commenced early in his life as he Leeanne has coordinated and led over 45 scientific traveled with his parents to different regions within expeditions to document the biodiversity of Mexico, his country of origin. Alfonso’s unexplored parts of the world. She earned her PhD in undergraduate degree in biology led him to study the Biology from Harvard University in 1994, working ecology and conservation of monarch butterflies as with renowned scientist and ant expert, Dr. E.O. they overwinter in Mexico. He studied this Wilson, on the ecological interactions between ants endangered phenomenon also for his Masters and PhD and plants. degrees at the University of Florida. Her current research focuses on the diversity of ants in In his current position as Managing Director for Field tropical ecosystems across the globe. Leeanne has Programs, Alfonso focuses to integrating conservation worked in over 25 countries, mainly in the tropics, to needs with development priorities to sustain document species richness and guide conservation biodiversity. He develops assessment and monitoring action. She also does independent biodiversity programs to minimize impacts on biodiversity during consulting, primarily for the International Finance oil and gas mega-infrastructure projects. For this, he Corporation (the private lending arm of the World organizes expeditions and assembles teams of Bank) to advise the private sector on how to minimize researchers with specialties in different animal and the impacts of their development projects on the plant groups. These conservation and development environment. Leeanne recently founded the Women partnerships work towards avoiding, mitigating, for Wildlife Network, which aims to strengthen the restoring and offsetting project impacts and develop role of women in conservation and natural resource best practices to protect biodiversity and maintain management around the world. ecosystem services.

Alfonso enjoys giving lectures and working with people, and has extensive research travel in North, Central and South America, Africa and Asia.

EXPLORING CUBA’S NATURAL DIVERSITY March 12–24, 2016

(B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner) ITINERARY End the morning at the wonderfully created model of the city

built after Camaguey’s recent awarding of the UNESCO status.

Friday, March 11 After lunch at a local restaurant, try your hand at dominoes with Independent arrivals in Miami some local domino experts. Since the flight to Havana may depart early on Saturday, March Before dinner at a local restaurant, enjoy a private Salsa class. 12, we suggest you arrive in Miami by Friday, March 11. The Salsa movements originate from the Cuban Son dancing of the 1920s with strong influences from various Afro-Cuban You are responsible for your own travel arrangements to Miami folkloric dancing. Today's Salsa dancing is a rich blend of and for your own hotel reservations on March 11. We suggest Latin-American and Western influences. the Miami Airport Hotel as it is located within the airport and will allow you easy access to the charter flight check-in area, Overnight: Gran Hotel (B, L, D) but there are several other hotels in the airport vicinity.

Monday, March 14 Saturday, March 12 Camaguey / Trinidad Depart Miami, U.S. / Camaguey, Cuba This morning begin driving west, passing through rural villages Depart on a charter flight from Miami to Camaguey, Cuba. and glimpsing the kind of life lost in the rest of the Caribbean Upon arrival, transfer to the Gran Hotel. Enjoy a welcome such as oxen ploughing fields and farmers sowing crops by dinner with two of Cuba’s most creative and prodigious hand. Stop at a tobacco farm to learn more about the process. contemporary painters—Joel Jover and his wife, Ileana Sanchez. Enjoy lunch in Ciego de Avila, a small city of shaded Their magnificent home is itself a piece of art and there will be colonnaded shop-fronts. Ciego de Avila is the most modern of time to admire the home as well as some of the artists’ work. Cuba’s provincial capitals, founded in 1840. Overnight: Gran Hotel (D) After lunch, continue towards Trinidad. Along the way, stop at

the Valle de Los Ingenios, a living museum of the sugar

Sunday, March 13 industry featuring 75 ruined sugar mills, summer mansions, Camaguey barracks, and other facilities related to the field. See the famous Manaca-Iznaga Tower, built in 1816 and 45m high, whose This morning begin exploring Camaguey, which began life as tolling bells once marked the beginning and end of working the Spanish coastal town of Santa Maria del Puerto Principle in hours on the sugar plantations. 1514. (It was relocated inland just 14 years later after battles Transfer to the Las Cuevas Hotel in the late-afternoon. Dinner is with the local Indian population). Unlike other Spanish colonial at the hotel this evening. cities, Camaguey is not built on a grid system with square plazas. Instead, to confound the pirates who plagued this part of Overnight: Las Cuevas Hotel or similar (B, L, D.) Cuba in the 16th century, it has labyrinthine streets and narrow alleyways. Today these twisting lanes keep out motorized vehicles so we will tour the town by bicitaxi (the Cuban version Tuesday, March 15 of a bicycle rickshaw). Trinidad Camaguey is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and contains Spend the day exploring Trinidad, the fourth of the seven cities more old buildings than any other Cuban city except for founded by Diego de Velasquez in 1514 as a base for Havana. Visit a number of buildings including the Casa Natal de expeditions into the “New World’. Today it is maintained just as Ignacio Agramonte, the birthplace of the patriotic hero and the the Spaniards left it in its period of greatest opulence. It is the mansion where his family lived for many years. crown jewel of Cuba’s colonial cities with its fine palaces, cobbled streets, and tiled roofs—and, since 1988, a UNESCO In the Plaza del Carmen, see a 19th-century church as well as a World Heritage site. series of bronze sculptures created some years ago by Cuban artist Martha Jimenez. As a result of the wealth that the sugar industry brought starting in the 18th century, Trinidad’s cultural life flourished. Schools Visit the main theater, home to the Ballet of Camaguey, the of languages, music, and dance were opened and a wide variety most respected Cuban dance group after the Ballet Nacional, of artisans set up businesses, including gold and silversmiths. In and enjoy a chance to watch a morning rehearsal. 1827 the Teatro Candamo opened its doors. The well-off patricians built huge mansions for themselves (now museums) Cuba’s national flower). There are more than 40 indigenous and sent their children to European universities. However, species of orchids and 100 species of ferns, of which seven are during the second half of the 19th century the Industrial tall palm-like tree ferns, wild plantain and banana trees, several Revolution and increased sugar beet production in Europe led to representatives of the ginger family, and around 40 species of the decline of Trinidad’s slavery-based economy. Construction coffee are growing under the shade of giant 40-meter tall pine ceased and the city remained frozen in time. The maze of trees. There is also a large variety of animal and bird species cobbled streets is lined with terra-cotta tiled roofed houses in including the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and several unique soft pastel colors. Much of the architecture is neo-classical and species of hummingbirds. baroque, with a Moorish flavor reflecting the town’s heritage of Have lunch at the Hacienda Codina followed by a visit to conquistadores. The exquisite buildings are fronted by Altar’s cave, in which a secret passage ends in a natural lookout mahogany balustrades, fancy grills of wrought iron, turned facing south of the mountain system and the Valley of the sugar wooden rods, and massive wooden doors with postigos (small mills, Trinidad, and Ancon can be seen. windows) that open to let the breezes flow through cool, tile floored rooms connected by double-swing half-doors. Dinner is at the hotel this evening.

Begin at the Plaza Mayor in the center of town and elegantly Overnight: Las Cuevas Hotel or similar (B, L, D.) adorned with glazed earthenware urns. Around the plaza are the Museo Romántico, the Museo Arqueologia, and the cathedral, Iglesia Parroquial de la Santisima Trinidad, renowned for its Thursday, March 17 acoustics. Trinidad / Cienfuegos Continue to Museo de Arquitectura, which is the former This morning drive to Cienfuegos, stopping en route at the mansion of the Iznaga family. This museum tells the history of Cienfuegos Botanical Garden, once known as the Atkins Trinidad’s development. Maps, model structures, and sections Institution. The garden was a center for tropical plant research in of houses in miniature demonstrate city planning, colonial the early 1900s, combining research on sugar and other construction techniques, and the fine craftsmanship of the commercial crops with a tropical garden that included thousands period. of species. In the early 20th century it became the Harvard Botanic Station for Tropical Research and Sugar Cane Meet with artist Carlos Mata and also enjoy a chance to visit the Investigation. In 1924 the Harvard Biological Laboratory was Trinidad library. constructed at the garden. For more than 30 years it was used by Also explore the Palacio Cantero, a former mansion with professors, students, and visiting fellows to study tropical breathtaking views over the square from the upper floor botany, and was tended to by local citizens who made up the balconies. For those who feel like a climb to a marvelous vista grounds crew. With the Cuban revolution and the trade there will be a chance to visit the Antigua Convento de San embargo, the garden reverted to the government and is now Francisco de Asis. The tower and church are all that remain of known as the Cienfuegos Botanical Garden. Recent meetings the original convent. between staff and American academics have resulted in a revived garden—and have led to our visit, which will be Enjoy a lunch at a newly opened paladar, a privately-owned and accompanied by Clarivel Guerrero Moreno, chief education operated restaurant. officer at the gardens as well as Orlando Garcia, director of the This afternoon, visit with the city historians office to learn more Provincial Archive of Cienfuegos. about their conservation program. After lunch at the Jardin de los Laureles, explore the city of Dinner is at a local restaurant. Cienfuegos, which was founded by French settlers in 1819. Its historic center was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in Overnight: Las Cuevas Hotel or similar (B, L, D.) 2005.

Take a walking tour of the historic area around the Parque Wednesday, March 16 Marti, the central square. Admire the lavish cathedral and the Trinidad town theater which was built with materials and craftspeople imported from Europe. Stop in at the magnificent Tomas Terry Five kilometers west of Trinidad, a turnoff from the coast road Theater (assuming renovation has been finished), with seats leads north and begins to climb into the southeastern Sierra made from Cuban hardwoods and an impressive ceiling fresco. Escambray, whose slopes are swathed in Caribbean pines and an abundance of ancient tree ferns, bamboo, and eucalyptus. This Visit the Taller Grafico cooperative of young Cuban artists who area is within the Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes. The can be found working on their lithographs over stone matrices in wet winds coming off the Caribbean Sea have made the north the large, airy building. The variety of colors, sizes, and content face of the mountains a luxurious refugee for plants and of the prints are wide and include pieces with recognizable animals, while the drier south face hosts important ecosystems. Cuban icons, bold black and white woodcuts. Nature is the big attraction here. Enjoy a performance by the Cienfuegos choir followed by Spend the day exploring caves, rivers, falls, grottos, canyons, dinner at Case Verde. natural pools with crystal clear water, and mountain hills Overnight: El Jagua Hotel or similar (B, L, D) surrounded by Mariposa (Butterfly lily, Hedychium coronarium, Friday, March 18 realized Pinar del Rio guarded a treasure: soil and climate which Cienfuegos / Vinales produced the world’s best tobacco. The scenes here are timeless and depict rural Cuba—thatched homesteads and guajiros This morning drive to Pinar del Rio, stopping at the UNESCO (farmers) riding on oxen-driven carts with their faithful dogs Biosphere Reserve of Cienaga de Zapata. Remotely situated on trotting at their heels. Inside the factory, rows of men and the southern coast of Cuba at Matanzas province, the reserve is women sit side by side, tenderly rolling and pressing cigars for one of the largest and most important wetlands in the Caribbean local consumption. region. It comprises a great diversity of ecosystems: grasslands, mangrove forests, Ciénaga forest, semi-deciduous forest, Dinner is at a new private restaurant in Vinales. evergreen coastal and sub-coastal forest, coastal and sub-coastal Overnight: Hotel La Ermita (B, L, D). matorral, and coral reefs with principal coral species and coastal lagoons. A local naturalist will join us as we explore the various habitats. Sunday, March 20 Resuming our transfer to Vinales we will have lunch en route. Vinales / Havana We arrive in Vinales late in the afternoon. This small town in On the drive to Havana, stop at the Orchid Farm at Soroa, the west part of Cuba is located in an area of jungle-covered located in the biosphere and maintained by the University of summits dropping down limestone cliffs to verdant valleys. It is Pinar del Rio. The hilly grounds contain over 800 species of part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Sierra del Rosario, plants, including 200 endemic to Cuba, all thriving in the humid located at the eastern part of the mountain range of climate. In addition to the orchids, nearly 100 species of birds Guaniguanico, between Pinar del Rio and Havana’s provinces of can be spotted here, including over half of Cuba's 22 endemic Cuba, where both north and south coasts can be seen. This species. The region is also the natural habitat of one of the reserve shows a complex geological structure, with a great smallest frogs in the world. diversity of rocks that produce different and special soils, which Stop for lunch at Las Terrazas, a sustainable development in part determine flora endemism in its landscape. Here one can project that is also part of the biosphere. The buildings in the find the little orchid Bletia purpurea, considered a symbol of Las Terrazas community have been designed to blend with their this reserve. surroundings. The project began in 1968 with the main goal of Upon arrival, transfer to Hotel La Ermita. reforestation, but it has expanded to work toward improving the living conditions of the populations scattered in the mountains Overnight: Hotel La Ermita (B, L, D). and improving ways of communication. More than 5,500 people

live in the biosphere reserve, mainly working in handicrafts,

agriculture, raising cattle, and reforestation. In addition, a Saturday, March 19 number of national and foreign scientists are involved in Vinales research and monitoring at the Institute of Ecology and After breakfast, begin exploring the Sierra del Rosario Systematic. Biosphere, focusing on the great topographic variety. This Arrive in Havana mid-afternoon and transfer to the Melia breathtakingly beautiful region is famous for its tobacco Cohiba Hotel. plantations, rice paddy fields, and sheer sided mogotes (limestone hills rising from a tropical plain rich with hibiscus, Overnight: Melia Cohiba Hotel (B, L, D) bougainvillea and flame trees).

Begin with a walk along the Coco Solo Palmarito trail through a Monday, March 21 dreamlike landscape rich in plant and birdlife—and shaded by Havana 250-million-year-old loaf-shaped mogotes and eroded karst towers. The limestone mounds are part of the Cordillera de This morning begin exploring Old Havana by foot. Admire the Guaniguanico, a low range of hills that extends about 40 miles many squares, its cathedral, and a scale model of Old Havana, northeast from Mantua and comprises the Sierra de los Órganos which serves as an excellent introduction to the lay-out of the and the Sierra del Rosario range. city. After lunch visit the Cueva del Indio (Cave of the Indian), one Of all the capital cities in the Caribbean, Havana has the of the many caves in the region. The tour includes boarding a reputation of being the most splendid and the finest example of small boat for a trip along the underground river for a fantastic a Spanish colonial city in the Americas. Restoration work in the view deep inside the cave. The Guanajatabey, indigenous to the old part of the city helps reveal the glories of the past. Many of region, originally cut into the limestone for shelter—and its palaces were converted into museums after the Revolution eventually used the caves to hide from Spanish colonialists. The and more work has been done since the old city was declared a Cueva del indio is believed to have the largest system of UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982. While much of Cuba's underground caves in not only Cuba but in all of Latin America. infrastructure has crumbled and its economy has limped along, more than 300 landmark buildings in Old Havana have been End the day by visiting a tobacco farm. It was only with the refurbished. From fortresses built in the colonial days to famous development of the European tobacco market in the early 19th nightspots and hotels of the city's swinging era just before the century and the perfection of the Havana cigar that Cubans Cuban revolution, the key to the renaissance of the old city has been a strategy of restoring old hotels, restaurants, and historic dialogue with both Cuban and international cultural sites to attract tourists, then using the revenue from tourism to communities and acts as a cultural center to encourage the finance more restoration. End the morning at the Plaza Vieja, a creation of bridges of understanding in Cuba and abroad. beautiful old square whose former decay is being reversed Several artists from the Foundation will be at the reception. through caring restoration. Dinner is on your own this evening. Restaurant Lunch is at La Moneda Cubana near Plaza Vieja. recommendations and reservation assistance will be provided.

After lunch, take a city orientation tour by bus (and foot) led by Overnight: Melia Cohiba Hotel (B, L, D) Ayleen Robaina, an architectural historian. See the city garden of El Vedado and stop at the steps to the University of Havana. Drive along Avenida 23 (La Rampa), climbing past the offices Wednesday, March 23 of Cubana, the Hotel Havana Libre (the former Havana Hilton), Havana and several Art Déco and streamline moderne apartments This morning visit the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes: Arte influenced by South Beach in Miami, to Parque Copelia, an Cubano (Cuban Collection). The museum’s origins date back to entire block of lush, green park that hosts the iconic ice cream 1842 when the San Alejandro Art Academy started its parlor of the same name. A highlight of the tour is the Riviera collection, forming the nucleus of the museum founded in 1913. Hotel, considered a marvel of modern design when it opened in It expanded greatly after Castro took over in 1959, notably with 1958. Parts of the public areas of the hotel have recently been works from the private collections of Julio Lobo and Oscar restored to recapture its 1950s ambience. Cintas. The tour this morning will be accompanied by Lucila Dinner is at Café Oriente, an elegant government-run restaurant Hernandez, a contemporary art curator. in Old Havana. Enjoy a private lunch at the home and studio of artist Jose Overnight: Melia Cohiba Hotel (B, L, D) Fuster, who has turned his neighborhood into one enormous piece of mosaic art. Fuster is dedicated to his creations, a vast array of artwork from ceramics evoking the nation’s African Tuesday, March 22 roots, as represented in the Santeria religion, to whimsical Havana paintings drawn from ordinary life in Cuba. After breakfast this morning attend a lecture and discussion with After lunch, drive to see the campus of the Instituto Superior de Professor Ricardo Torres on The Changing Forces of Cuba’s Arte (ISA), a center of advanced studies in the fields of theatre, Economic Structure. Professor Torres is a macroeconomist at dance, music, visual arts and communication art. Originally the the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy at the grounds of the Havana Country Club, President Fidel Castro University of Havana. He has also been a visiting professor at converted it into an arts complex in 1961. Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American This evening the farewell dinner is at La Guarida. This well- Studies. known restaurant served as the setting for the main apartment in Continue on to Vivero Alamar, a co-operative research garden, the film Fresa y Chocolate. Please note that there is no elevator to learn more about urban gardening in Havana. Meet with in this building and the restaurant is located on the 3rd floor of manager Miguel Angelo Salcines and other staff at the garden. the building. Cuba's urban farming has been a stunning, and surprising, Overnight: Melia Cohiba Hotel (B, L, D) success. Today in Havana, 90% of the city’s fresh produce came from local urban farms and gardens. Have lunch at El Ajibe before visiting the Natural History Thursday, March 24 Museum. Havana / Return to U.S. Later in the afternoon, attend a reception and talk at the Ludwig Transfer to the airport for international Foundation, an autonomous, non-governmental and non-profit flights home. (B, Meals Aloft) institution in Cuba created to protect and promote contemporary Cuban artists and culture. The Ludwig Foundation encourages

GENERAL INFORMATION

Price: $6,995 per person, double occupancy refunds shall be issued for occasional missed meals, Single supplement: $1,095* sightseeing tours, or any unused services. *Should you request to share a twin room, we will Cancellation of air reservation is subject to the attempt to find a roommate for you; however, if at rules and regulations of the respective air carrier the time of final payment no roommate is available, companies. the single supplement fee will be charged. Tour Size: This tour, exclusively designed for the Airfare: Airfare from your home city to Miami is Harvard Museums of not included. Airfare from Miami to Camaguay on Science & Culture (HMSC), is limited to 24 participants March 12 and from Havana to Miami on March 24 is on a first-come, first-served basis. The minimum group included. size is 12. Should the minimum not be met, we reserve the right to cancel the program, levy a small group Tour Includes: Round trip airfare between Miami surcharge, and/or send the program without a and Cuba; Cuban visa; Cuban departure tax; HMSC representative. accommodation as listed in the itinerary (not including the overnight in Miami on March 11); meals What to Expect: This exclusive expedition is as listed in the itinerary: one drink (bottle of water, designed for HMSC members and friends who are soda, beer, or wine) is included with lunch and one interested in learning about the history, culture, with dinner; beer, wine, and soft drinks at the and natural history of Cuba. This is a moderately welcome and farewell dinners; bottled water on active program. Some walks are potentially long the bus; all sightseeing and excursions as listed in and over uneven terrain. There will be a lot of the itinerary, including entrance fees; private walking in old cities and natural areas. Typically, coach for touring and transportation per the weather is warm during the day with cool but itinerary; local English speaking guides, and tour pleasant nights. Since some of the travel will be in manager throughout itinerary; special cultural remote areas, everyone must be flexible concerning features as stated in itinerary including special time schedules, food, insects, weather, road meetings and private concerts; gratuities to tour conditions, and dust. In order to enjoy this trip, a manager, local guides, and drivers; baggage spirit of adventure and anticipation, and the desire handling at the hotels; mandatory health and to explore spectacular natural areas are musts. evacuation insurance required by the Cuban There are a couple of relatively long drives. Travel government ($25,000 medical, $7,000 evacuation)— is by chartered jet aircraft and private motor please note this insurance does not provide coach. Accommodation is in comfortable but basic coverage for pre-existing medical conditions; lodging. $200,000 of emergency medical and evacuation Trip Insurance: We highly recommend the purchase insurance provided by Harvard. of trip cancellation insurance. An application for trip cancellation insurance will be sent upon Tour Excludes: Airfare between your home city confirmation. The pre-existing medical conditions and Miami; recommended overnight in Miami on exclusion is waived if the insurance is purchased March 11; excess baggage charges (NOTE strictly within 15 days of initial deposit. Neither Harvard enforced in Miami); pre- or post-tour services; University, HMSC, nor the tour operator accept passport fees; trip cancellation insurance; medical liability for any airline cancellation penalty immunizations; food or beverages not included in incurred by the purchase of a non-refundable group meals; items of a personal nature such as airline ticket or other expenses incurred by tour laundry, alcohol, telephone expenses, excess baggage participants in preparing for the tour. As a service fees, photo/video expenses inside museums (where to our travelers we automatically provide allowed); other items not expressly listed as emergency medical evacuation insurance. You will included. receive detailed coverage approximately 30 days prior to your departure. Reservations, Deposits, and Final Payment: To reserve a space on this program, a $1,000 deposit is Emergency Medical & Evacuation Insurance: As a required per person. Please make checks payable to service to our travelers, Harvard automatically Harvard University and send along with the provides basic emergency medical evacuation completed reservation form to: Travel Program, insurance. At the time of publication, this policy has Harvard alumni travels, 124 Mount Auburn Street, the following schedule of benefits: $5,000 6th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138. Reservations are Accident/Sickness Medical Expense; $200,000 Emergency acknowledged in order of receipt. Balance of Medical Evacuation & Return of Remains; $3,000 payment for all land and air costs is due by check Emergency Reunion; $5,000 Accidental Death & only by January 12, 2016, 60 days prior to departure. Dismemberment. This insurance covers travelers for the Harvard-sponsored program dates, but not for Cancellations and Refunds: Cancellations are any extensions or independent travel plans. You effective when received by the Travel Program in will receive detailed information on this coverage writing. Should you have to cancel the following approximately 30 days prior to your departure. charges will apply: Notice received more than 60 Should you also purchase the optional trip days prior to departure: $500 per person insurance, it will provide you with benefits cancellation fee; notice between 60 and 30 days additional to those stated above. This insurance is prior to departure: 50% of the land tour cost; no secondary to any insurance the traveler may refund shall be issued if cancellation is received less already have. than 30 days prior to departure date. No refunds shall be issued after the tour has commenced. No Physical Health: Participation on an HMSC program requires that passengers be in generally good health. It is essential that persons with any medical problems and related dietary restrictions make them known to us well before departure. We can counsel participants on whether an expedition is appropriate for them.

Responsibility: The tour operator, its owners and employees act only as agents for the various independent suppliers and contractors providing transportation, hotel accommodations, restaurant and other services connected with this tour. Such travel and services are subject to the terms and conditions under which such accommodations, services and transportation are offered or provided, and Harvard University, HMSC, and the tour operator and their respective employees, agents, representatives, and assigns, accept no liability therefore. Harvard University, HMSC, and the tour operator, assume no liability for any injury, damage, loss, accident, delay or other irregularity which may be caused by the defect of any aircraft or vehicle or the negligence or default of any company or person engaged in carrying out or performing any of the services involved. Additionally, responsibility is not accepted for losses, injury, damages or expenses of any kind due to sickness, weather, strikes, local laws, hostilities, wars, terrorist acts, acts of nature or other such causes. All services and accommodations are subject to the laws of the country in which they are provided. Harvard University, HMSC, and the tour operator reserve the right to make changes in the published itinerary whenever, in their sole judgment, conditions warrant, or if they deem it necessary for the comfort, convenience or safety of the tour participants. They reserve the right to withdraw this tour without penalty. The right is also reserved to decline to accept or retain any person as a member of the tour, or to substitute another qualified leader or special guest. Baggage and personal effects are the sole responsibility of the owners at all times. The price of the program is given in good faith based on current tariffs and rates, and is subject to change. Any tariff, exchange rate, or fuel increases will be passed on to participants. Harvard University, HMSC, and the tour operator assume no liability for any airline cancellation penalty incurred by the purchase of a nonrefundable ticket. The air ticket, when issued, shall constitute the sole contract between the passenger and the airline concerned. As a part of the consideration and right to participate in this tour, each participant will be asked to sign a liability release which will be provided to confirmed participants and is available upon request.

Administration: Registrations and initial administration for this trip is handled by the Travel Program in the Harvard Alumni Association. Further administration and trip operations are handled by Distant Horizons, LLC

Questions: Please call the Travel Program at (617) 495-2463.