GlobalRelations.OurCuba.com 1-815-842-2475 Footsteps of Fidel and Ché In Cuba from Thursday October 3rd to Thursday October 10th, 2019 Day 1 - Thursday :: Arrival Cuba, Fidel's birthplace and childhood home, welcome dinner Depart to Holguin, Cuba, via your arranged flights. Arrival at Holguin (HOG) Airport. Proceed through Immigration, collect your bags and go through Customs, giving them your blue customs form. Participant’s arrival times will vary throughout the day. Airport transfers will be arranged for each flight of arriving participants. Holguin (HOG) Airport arrival hall does have bathrooms. They may not have seats or tissue. This is normal in Cuba, so you may wish to bring packets of tissues. It is suggested to use the restroom on the flight before landing. Give your ‘Health’ forms to the nurses in white uniforms after you go through immigration & screening. The important question they will ask is if you have been in Africa and exposed to Ebola. You will be welcomed at the exterior of the airport by your guide after you exit Cuban customs. Look for signage of “Cuba Explorer.” They will have your flight number and arrival time and will be waiting for you. While bags are being loaded on your motor coach, you will have time to exchange currency and get a sandwich or snack. Depart Holguin to Biran. Visit Fidel’s childhood home outside of the small village of Biran on the Castro family 25,000 acre plantation. It is the birth place of Ramon Castro in 1924, Fidel Castro in 1926, and Raul Castro in 1931. (Included) Depart Biran to Santiago de Cuba. Check-in at Casa Grand Hotel, the century old, newly renovated hotel facing the famous Parque Cespedes. View Ayuntamiento (City Hall) located on the same Plaza as your hotel. Fidel Castro gave his Revolution victory speech from its balcony on January 1, 1959. This evening you will enjoy a welcome dinner at La Fondita de Compay Ramon. A small paladare with authentic Cuban country style food prepared and served by Ramon and his wife. A wonderful start for your Cuban adventure. (Included) Evening is free to explore Santiago de Cuba. You're gonna love Cuba Copyright © 1997-2021. All rights reserved. Like us on facebook GlobalRelations.OurCuba.com 1-815-842-2475 Overnight Casa Grand Hotel. Day 2 - Friday :: Fidel's Tomb and changing of the guard, Moncada Barracks-Cuba Revolution and Spanish-American War, San Juan hill Breakfast in hotel. (Included) Visit Santa Ifigenia Cemetery and see Fidel’s tomb and the final resting place of Jose Marti. You will see the changing of the guard. (Included) Visit the Moncada Barracks where, on July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro led an armed attack which failed and he was captured. (Included) The Moncada Barracks was a military barracks in Santiago de Cuba, named after a hero of the Cuban War of Independence. On July 26, 1953, the barracks was the site of an armed attack by a small group of revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro that became widely accepted as the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. The date, 26 July, was adopted by Castro as the name for his revolutionary movement, which eventually toppled the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Lunch at El Morro restaurant; it is cliffside on the sea and adjacent to El Morro fortress. Paul McCartney enjoyed eating here. (Included) Visit San Juan Hill. (Included) The Battle of San Juan Hill (July 1, 1898), also known as the battle for the San Juan Heights, was a decisive battle of the Spanish–American War. The San Juan Heights was a north-south running elevation about 2,200 yards east of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. The names San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill were given to the location by the Americans. This fight for the heights was the bloodiest and most famous battle of the war. It was also the location of the greatest victory for the Rough Riders, as claimed by the press and its new commander, Theodore Roosevelt, who was to eventually become first vice-president and then president, and who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2001 for his actions in Cuba. (Text from Wikipedia) Afternoon discussion on the importance of Santiago de Cuba in the Revolution. (Included) Return to hotel. Dinner (Not included). This is a perfect evening to explore Cuba’s famed paladares or visit one of the many cafes within easy walking distance of your hotel. Overnight Casa Grand Hotel. Day 3 - Saturday :: Basilica of Cuba’s Patron Saint, Hemingway's Nobel prize, travel You're gonna love Cuba Copyright © 1997-2021. All rights reserved. Like us on facebook GlobalRelations.OurCuba.com 1-815-842-2475 west Breakfast in hotel. (Included) Hotel check-out. Depart from Santiago de Cuba following the path of the Cuban Revolutionaries on their move to Camaguey and eventually Havana, via Bayamo and Las Tunas. Visit Basilica de Nuestra del Cobre. This is the country’s most sacred pilgrimage site since the Virgin of Charity is the patron Saint of Cuba. In the Afro-Cuban religion she is associated with Ochun, the Yoruba goddess of love. This is the home for Ernest Hemingway’s Nobel Prize medal for literature. (Included) Rest stop in Bayamo, a city predating both Havana and Santiago. It is known as the city of horse carts because nearly half the population use horses for daily travel. Lunch in Bayamo. (Not included) Depart Bayamo to Las Tunas. Rest stop in Las Tunas, a sleepy agriculture town and provincial capital. Arrive in Camaguey, Cuba’s third largest city. The colonial center is a World Heritage site. Check-in at Hotel Santa Maria in Camaguey, a boutique hotel on the historic Plaza del Gallo. Dinner at Santa Teresa Restaurant, a mix of options between Italian and Cuban. (Included) Evening free to explore Camaguey. Tour by bicitaxis. (Optional) Overnight Hotel Santa Maria. Day 4 - Sunday :: CDR, Ciego de Avila y Santa Clara Breakfast in hotel. (Included) Hotel check-out. Group discussion with your guide about the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (Included), a network of neighborhood committees across Cuba. The organizations, described as the "eyes and ears of the Revolution," exist to promote social welfare and report on counter-revolutionary activity. As of 2010, 8.4 million Cubans of the national population of 11.2 million were registered as CDR members. Depart Camagüey to Ciego de Avil. Stop at Rancho Rio Azul outside of Ciego de Avil to freshen up. Time for a refreshment and a snack. (Not Included) You're gonna love Cuba Copyright © 1997-2021. All rights reserved. Like us on facebook GlobalRelations.OurCuba.com 1-815-842-2475 Depart Ciego de Avil to Santa Clara. Che Guevera’s liberation of Santa Clara in 1958 marked the end of the Batista regime. Check-in Hotel Central Santa Clara, newly renovated vintage hotel on the plaza. Walking tour of the plaza and central Santa Clara. Dinner at the Hotel Central Santa Clara, options for a fine meal and accommodating staff. (Included) Overnight Hotel Central Santa Clara. Day 5 – Monday :: Cigar factory, Armored Train Monument, Statue of Che, Decorative Arts Museum Breakfast in hotel. (Included) Visit Cigar Factory (Fabrico de Tabaco Costantino Perez Carrodegua), one of Cuba's best, that makes Montecristos, Partagás and Romeo y Julieta cigars. (Included) Visit the Armored Train Monument, a memento of one of the most relevant events near the end of the Cuban insurrection against the Batista dictatorship, and see the American made Caterpillar bulldozer used to rip-up the railroad tracks in Santa Clara. (Included) 18 men under the command of Che Guevara, equipped with rifles and grenades, captured a 22-car armored train containing 350 heavily armed Batista troops. Amazingly, this battle, which took place on December 29, 1958, only lasted 90 minutes. This is a unique site for those interested in Cuba’s Revolution history. In 1958, troops led by Guevara struck a hard blow to Batista’s tyranny by derailing an armored train carrying reinforcement soldiers to fight the Rebel Army in the eastern area of the island. The monument consists of four original train cars, the Caterpillar bulldozer used to rip out the railway and a steamroller. Visit Statue of Che holding a child. (Included) A life-size model of Che with hidden symbols all over. Sculptors took their time to create intricate details. You will find small models of 38 men who were killed with Guevara in Bolivia hidden in his belt buckle, a girl looking out through the window on his left rib, a small boy riding a goat on his right shoulder and a man riding a horse on his shirt pocket. All are symbolic references acknowledging different parts in Che’s life. Visit the Decorative Arts Museum (Museo de Artes Decorativas) . The former home of a Cuban born countess was abandoned just prior to the Revolution. She was a true collector of the arts and it is now open to the public. (Included, optional) You're gonna love Cuba Copyright © 1997-2021. All rights reserved. Like us on facebook GlobalRelations.OurCuba.com 1-815-842-2475 Return to hotel. Explore the plaza and surrounding area and lunch. (Not Included) Afternoon free to discover Santa Clara. Dinner at Complejo Gastronomico Cultural Santa Rosalia (Santa Rosalia Cultural Gourmet) across the Plaza from your hotel. (Included) Overnight Hotel Central Santa Clara. Day 6 – Tuesday :: Che, Bay of Pigs, Revolutionary Armed Forces Command Museum-Cuban Resistance, vintage American cars Breakfast in hotel. (Included) Plan for a long day of travel. Hotel-check out. Visit the monument, mausoleum and museum of Revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara.