Carnaval 15 Days Cuba
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Cuba is not a holiday, it’s an Experience! Carnaval – 15 Days - Idea Private Escorted Cuba Tour Program Your Experts in Tailor Made Cuba Tours experiencecubatours.com.au [email protected] 1300 79 55 31 Remember, this is just an idea, a conversation starter. It is a totally bespoke tour for you, so let us know what you think. Come and experience Cuba; a place where time appears to have stood still. Enjoy not just the old American cars in the streets or the colonial architecture in Old Havana, feel the sense that the world of modern tourism has somehow largely bypassed the Caribbean’s largest island. Its isolation from the modern world has perhaps helped to conserve the Cuban society’s personality where you can feel like “the pulsating heart of what it means to be Latino”, with music, dance, and the fiesta being core. Come and Experience Cuba: an undeniably fascinating and unique destination. Inclusions: o Personalised welcome and greeting at Havana airport by ECT representative. Transfers from Havana airport on arrival and departure. o Domestic flight from Santiago de Cuba to Havana. * o Comfort accommodation in "casas particulares" (guesthouses or home-stays) with private bathrooms/ensuites and air-conditioning. ** o Daily breakfasts and bottle of water daily. o Private transfers as specified below. *** o Same private local Cuban guide throughout. o Activities/excursions as specified below. o Travelers Information Package with lots of practical advice (PDF). o DK Eyewitness Travel Top 10 Cuba with a pull-out map (hard-copy). **** o Cuba Tourist Map, advised by MINTUR, Minister of Tourism in Cuba. ***** o All ECT personnel tips. 1 Tailored Journeys Pty Ltd, WA, 6153. Trading as Experience Cuba Tours. 2018 Included Activities: o Old Havana walking tour. o Pinar del Rio: Selection of 2 activities included. o Bay of Pigs, Playa Giron museum (entry fees included). o Panoramic and cultural tour of Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santa Clara. o Visit to Che Guevara Mausoleum (entry fees included). o Panoramic and cultural tour of Camaguey, Bayamo and Santiago de Cuba. o Hemingway Tour with visits to Finca la Vigia (entry fee included). Not included: o International flights. o Travel insurances (required to participate in our tours). o Visas and passport fees. ****** o Meals (except daily breakfasts). o Drinks (except the bottles of water as specified in the tour). o Additional optional activities not specified in the tour below. o Tips (except ECT personnel). Itinerary Highlights: (All times are approximate and subject to change) Day 1: Havana. Arrival. Greeted and welcome at airport by our Experience Cuba Tours representatives. Look for our logo and your group leader name, which is usually the person that made the booking. Transfers to your accommodation. Day 2: Havana. Old and Modern Havana Tour: Enjoy a walking tour of the colonial district Havana Vieja (Old Havana) accompanied by your private local guide. Learn about the city’s nearly 500-year-old heart, now a pedestrian-only UNESCO World Heritage Site and discuss the city’s architecture and historic restoration efforts. a genuine living museum. This colonial and historic centre is a museum at open air of architecture, art and culture. Bask in a beautiful Classic Convertible Car, while you take in the highlights of modern Havana. Visit Central Havana, Cerro and Vedado neighbourhoods, making stops at diverse points of interest. Today’s tour is a real treat for history and culture enthusiasts. Tips: Due to its preservation degree and architectural richness of its monuments and buildings, Old Havana was acknowledged in 1982 by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Dress appropriately for the weather, wear sunscreen, and good walking shoes. Start 09:00. Duration: Walking tour 3 hours. Classic Convertible ride 1 hour. 2 Tailored Journeys Pty Ltd, WA, 6153. Trading as Experience Cuba Tours. 2018 Day 3: Pinar del Rio. Travel to the Western province of Pinar del Rio. An area of great importance, though it may not have the large cities and infrastructure that you would normally associate with importance, to Cuba as it is an area that produces some of the world’s finest tobacco. Still stereotyped as a simple area with pure country folk it has withstood the temptation to adopt the big tourist developments and remains an area of simple houses and homes in basic small villages and towns. Overnight in Havana. Select 2 from the following options: o Soroa Tour: Soroa is in the western part of the Sierra del Rosario Mountains in the extreme south-east of the province. Surrounded by exuberant nature, Soroa owes its name to Frenchman Jean Paul Soroa who at the end of the 18th century was impressed by the splendour of the local vegetation, installing his coffee plantations and naming the place after himself. The area has a mountainous section made up of low and medium elevations with narrow valleys between the mountains developed along the rivers. The most famous attraction in Soroa is the Orchid Botanical Garden which contains more than 700 species from all over the world, of which 250 are endemic from Cuba. o Tobacco Plantation: Visit a tobacco plantation in the area, where you will learn how Cuba’s world-famous cigars are made. The fertile land and favourable climate of this area make for perfect cigar tobacco growing conditions. o Viñales Prehistoric Mural: Visit to Mural de la Prehistoria, an outstanding natural and man-made site, which was given status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. The mural is the work of the former Director of Mapping at the Cuban Academy of Sciences, Leovigildo González Morillo. A master of neo-caveman artistry. Morillo undertook the massive project of portraying world history up until the age of humans on a rock wall in the Viñales Valley. Spanning from early molluscs and other ancient sea-organisms, the rock face mural moves through the age of the dinosaurs and ends with three giant red human figures. o Indian Cave: Continue with a visit to “La Cueva del Indio” (Indian Cave), with a boat trip through a subterranean river. It was here that the Guanajatabey Indians built their primitive homes in caves 3 Tailored Journeys Pty Ltd, WA, 6153. Trading as Experience Cuba Tours. 2018 hollowed out of the limestone mogotes, where relics of this nomadic people have been found along with fossils of Pleistocene mammals embedded in the rock. Deep inside the caves, albino fish swim and butterfly bats flit. o Las Terrazas: Visit this small ecotourism community and nature reserve founded in 1971 in the municipality of Candelaria, Artemisa Province, Cuba. It has many arts and crafts workshops and a beautifully restored 19th Century coffee plantation – Cafetal Buenavista it is in the Sierra del Rosario mountains, which was designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1984. Day 4: Havana – Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) – Cienfuegos. Departing from Havana, travel to Playa Giron. One of the two main landing sites in the ill-fated April 1961 CIA-sponsored attempt to overthrow the new Cuban government led by Fidel Castro and was the last occupied area of the invading force. Located in the beautiful Cienaga de Zapata, this area has become better known to most as the ‘Bay of Pigs’. Today there is a small museum dedicated to this pivotal time in modern Cuban history, the Museo Girón. Continue to Cienfuegos, also known as ‘the Pearl of the South’. This city earned a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing in 2005 and owes its founding and large parts of historical architecture to French settlers from Bordeaux and Louisiana. Founded in 1819 it has a steeped nautical and musical history with a monument dedicated to one of its favourite sons, Beny Moré who was born in the province. It is also the site of one of Cuba’s oldest and finest theatres, Thomas Terry. Enjoy a panoramic and cultural walking tour around this vibrant, eclectic city. Overnight in Cienfuegos. Day 5: Cienfuegos – Santa Clara – Trinidad. Cultural panoramic tour Travel to the rebellious and revolutionary city of Santa Clara. Now the resting place of one of the most famous of modern day ‘guerrillas’ Che Guevara who in December 1958 led the assault on Batista’s forces and ‘liberated’ Santa Clara. This proved pivotal in the revolution and ended Batista’s regime. There is now a dedicated memorial/museum to Che Guevara and 29 fellow guerrillas. Many personal effects of Che’s and the revolution are contained in the museum such as his personal gun, binoculars, water bottle, and many pictures of times during the revolution. Continue to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Trinidad and enjoy a panoramic and cultural tour of Trinidad city. Founded in 1514 by the Spanish it was known as the “Villa de la Santisima Trinidad” but has now just come to be called Trinidad. It has undergone great restoration and conservation works which has made it one of the best-preserved colonial cities of the Caribbean and South America. The oldest part of the city, comprising of an area of 55 blocks, is one of its greatest attractions containing some beautiful churches and public squares. Cuban music fills the streets from the almost countless cafes, bars and restaurants giving it a very lively and jovial atmosphere. Overnight in Trinidad. 4 Tailored Journeys Pty Ltd, WA, 6153. Trading as Experience Cuba Tours. 2018 Day 6: Trinidad. Free day. Refer to our Catalogue of Activities for tour ideas. Day 7: Trinidad – Camaguey. Travel to Camaguey and enjoy a cultural panoramic tour of this city. Enjoy a stroll along the UNESCO heritage and rich in colonial-style Camaguey city centre.