City & Coast Tour

However you arrive in Santiago de Cuba, you will be met by our friendly staff and transferred to your homestay. Dinner in your homestay

After a brief lecture we will begin at the starting point of the attack which launched the revolution and follow the path of the revolutionaries into Santiago. The Moncada Barracks are now a major city high school, but the bullet holes are still there! From the city we climb into the foothills of the Sierra to the summerhouse where Castro and his triumphant revolutionaries accepted the surrender of the garrison of Santiago. Picnic Lunch and return to the city. Dinner in your homestay

Optional evening entertainment – visit to local Trova

The coming of the Spanish brought European 16th century Catholicism to Cuba and an attempt to impose it on the aboriginal population. Within a few years the aboriginal populations were decimated by European diseases, starvation and the brutal work in the mines and fields. Very quickly the Spanish starting importing African slave labourers. The Africans brought with them music, dance, art and religion. Suppression of outward displays of their religion led to a blending of cultures. This is an opportunity to explore the culture which emerged when the two great cultural streams mixed and merged.

The Afro- Cuban religion of Santeria informs much of the art (2), music and culture of Santiago and the island of Cuba. After an introduction to some of the fascinating aspects of Santeria and how they appear in Cuban art, we will pay a visit to a cultural centre with various temples from some of the major Afro-Cuban religions. Lunch in the city. Afternoon visit to the Basilica of the Virgin, Cuba’s patron saint. Dinner in your homestay.

Alternative medicine plays a large role in Cuban health care and we will visit a range of herbalists and other alternative practitioners.

Acupuncture and massage play significant roles in the management of pain. Acupuncture is also used as a substitute for novacaine and other anesthetics during dental surgery and other minor operations.

Lunch in town.

Free afternoon

Dinner in your homestay

An early start for a visit to a fascinating garden. Home to a research establishment and a collection of more than 3000 tropical ferns and a growing collection of indigenous and exotic orchids, this garden provides a magical start to this day. After the garden we leave for an exploration in the Gran Piedra. This spectacular drive will take you through gentle valleys at the foot of the Sierra Maestra and then up through Tropical Forests and Bamboo Stands to a Cloud Forest. A climb of 500 stairs takes you to the top of the rock for a panoramic view of three provinces and the warm Caribbean Sea. An old Haitian style Cafetal brings to life the coffee technology brought by Haitian refugees. A tour of the Multiflora Garden with its Bird of Paradise Flowers, camellias and beds of tropical flowers will complete our time on the mountain. Your guide will be an internationally respected botanist. For lunch we’ll visit a small sea-side town and lunch on the balcony of a cottage used by the garrison General during the revolutionary wars.

Dinner in your homestay.

Breakfast.

One of the joys of this part of Cuba is the many microclimates. Yesterday you visited a cloud forest and high altitude garden, and today we go to a large Cactus Garden. Developed by an internationally renowned cactus expert this garden displays cacti from around the world (2) and many which are indigenous to Cuba. We will start our tour in the rooftop garden of the internationally known director, who will accompany our tour.

For a lunch and a relaxing afternoon we’ll stroll around an Artisan Village. You’ll visit with the artists in their homes and studios.

Dinner in your homestay

We’ll end our eco-tours of Eastern Cuba with a trip to a fascinating lagoon. Here endemic and rare crocodiles bask in the sun and fresh water dolphins swim in the lagoon. We’ll take a leisurely boat ride among the mangroves to spot many of the wetland birds for which this area is famous, and try to photograph the brilliantly coloured crabs. Lunch in a traditional country-style dinning room overlooking the lake.

Dinner in your homestay

Evening Entertainment for groups of four or more

Breakfast.

Departure