Gay Cuba Tour – Salsa in Spicy Cuba

Please note that this is not a regular vacation. Travelers who envision days full of sunbathing and sipping mojitos should be forewarned. The current regulations mean traveling with U.S. and Cuban government-authorized operators that allow for “person-to-person” travel that facilitates interaction with locals and an understanding of Cuba’s culture. While this may make the tour seem more “educational” than a typical vacation, you will have the amazing opportunity to dive into a part of the world that has been cut off for more than half a century. Enquire with us to book your gay Cuba tour!

Book a flight from your home city this morning to Miami, Florida (airport code MIA). Please time your arrival by mid-afternoon so you may participate in our Welcome Dinner this evening. If you are not able to arrive by 4:00 pm at the very latest, we suggest you plan to depart a day early, on Tuesday, March 1 and spend an extra night in Miami. For those who wish to arrive a day early, please indicate this on your reservation form so that we can hold a room for you at our hotel. (Welcome Dinner included)

We depart our hotel after breakfast and transfer to the airport this morning for our short flight to Cuba. Magical Havana is a city suspended in time with classic cars driving past colonial houses, with local Habaneros dancing to the rumba beat and cigar smoke filled wood-lined bars. Our first stop is to the Cuba’s Gaudi-inspired neighborhood of a mosaic tile artist Jose Rodriguez Fuster, known as the “Picasso of the Caribbean.” The entire area is surreal, with over 50 houses decorated in Fuster’s unique style of mixing painting and ceramic mosaics. At the Revolution Square, take an elevator to the top of the 357-foot tall tower for spectacular views of the city.

Take a group photo under the iconic mural of Che Guevera, the first Minister of the interior appointed by Fidel Castro, before you leave. Enjoy lunch at La California restaurant, and then check in at our hotel, the Saratoga, Old Havana’s grandest and most iconic hotel. Tonight enjoy a special Welcome Dinner at Café Elite to celebrate our arrival in Havana. Afterwards there is the opportunity to sample some of Havana’s lively nightlife at one of the city’s famous bars, La Esencia. Overnight in Havana. (All Meals)

Havana Vieja, the old city with some of the most stunning Spanish colonial architecture in the world, received designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Visit some of the city’s iconic sights, including: Capitolio, Obispo Street and the Cathedral Square with a local historian/architect. Continue with your educational overview of the City and its people with a visit to a Graphic Arts Studio for an overview of the importance of art in Cuban life through interactions with students and staff. Next, we take a special tour of the Museum of Fine Arts’ Cuban Collection, housed in the beautiful Palacio de Bellas Artes. Cuban art is the perfect way to understand both the island’s culture and history.

Enjoy lunch and then experience Afro Cuban culture. Our first stop today is Callejón de Hamel (Hamel’s Alley) where Cuban artist Salvador González Escalona turned the entire neighborhood in a display of African influences in Cuban culture using an explosion of colors, Afro-Cuban imagery, and sculptures. End your day’s touring with a visit to the unique Cuban National Zoo where many of the animals move freely in special areas that mimic their natural habitats and visitors view them from special buses that drive around the zoo grounds. After sunset, enjoy dinner at La Fontana and then hear great music at a private bar in Miramar neighborhood to interact with the locals. (All Meals)

Visit CENESEX, the National Center for Sexual Education, whose director is Mariela Castro, an activist for LGBT rights in Cuba. During your visit, duties permitting, Mariela Castro may join us to discuss her work with the CENESEX Project. Continue to Las Terrazas National Park, 45 minutes from Havana, where habaneros head for a breath of fresh mountain air. Hiking trails, small lakes, waterfalls, sulfurous springs and colonial-era coffee estates await exploration. This is ideal place to enjoy outdoor sport activities (optional), such as easy hiking trails, horseback riding, rowing on the lake, birdwatching, and an exciting zip line over the lake.

Several well-known Cuban artists are based at Las Terrazas, including Lester Campa, a political artist whose work has been exhibited internationally. You will enjoy lunch at “Casa del Campesino” before heading back to Havana in the afternoon feeling truly inspired. We end our touring today with a half-hour ride in a fancy, classic, exclusive, vintage car. Its then time for classic Cuban cocktail at the garden terrace of the National Hotel while you watch the sunset. Dinner is at La Moraleja Paladar where the menu is a mix of Cuban Creole cuisine with international mixes. Overnight in Havana. (All Meals)

Leave Havana behind today and drive into the center of the island country. After a stop at Finca Fiesta Campesina farm where we learn about the customs of Cuban farmers, we arrive at Criadero de Crocodilos, a huge crocodile farm and research facility working to save endangered species.
The farm has more than 100,000 reptilian residents, kept in a variety of pools, which you can observe from a viewing platform. Enjoy lunch at Casa Enrique, a private house, where the family owners offer an in-depth view of the challenges and benefits of owning a private business in Cuba.

We continue our drive in the afternoon, stopping at the Bay of Pigs (site of the failed 1961 U.S. invasion), where each spring millions of land crabs pour out of nearby swamps and into the shallow waters to breed. We tour Cienfuegos, whose Historic Center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its many domes and neoclassical architecture. Finally we arrive at Sancti Spiritus, a charming colonial city painted in blue with colonial architecture and narrow cobblestone streets. The evening is free with dinner at our hotel tonight. (All Meals)

Our day begins with a visit to El Cubano Park in the Escambray Mountain range where we enjoy a walk along various hiking trails, visit a farmer’s house, and take an informative bird watching and river walk. Afterward, we will have lunch at the park at a rustic restaurant. Travel on to Trinidad where we tour the city’s Historical Center, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, which boasts a wealth of architectural buildings dating from the 18th and 19th centuries around Plaza Mayor. Walk around historic Trinidad and visit with artists in their own galleries. Return to Sancti Spiritus in the late afternoon for a free evening. (All Meals)

We drive to Santa Clara City, founded in 1689 but remembered throughout history for the Battle of Santa Clara in 1958. Visit the monument of Che at the Plaza de la Revolucion Ernesto Guevara, where the remains of Che and his comrades who fell in Bolivia have been interred at this site. We will have lunch at a community center for the elderly. We will get to experience El Mejunje Club with its traditional Cuban music and dancing, and then we visit the School of Music and Art to enjoy dance, theater and music performances by the students. Finally, we depart for Cayo Encenachos, an island located north of the main island of Cuba in the “Jardines del Rey “(King’s gardens) archipelago. The evening is free to enjoy our all-inclusive resort. (All Meals)

We visit the fishing town of Caibarién and visit the Proyecto de Arte Por la Costa to meet with artist Madelin Perez Noa to learn about the importance of art in this community. Next, engage in a conversation on fishing practices with a local fisherman, an experience revealing the industry’s impact on the community. Later visit an old sugar mill and learn about the importance of the sugar industry and how it has changed over the past 50 years, and why.

Afterwards, board a vintage steam train for a ride towards Remedios, interacting with the crew and conductor to learn the important role they played in the sugar cane community. In Remedios meet up with the local priest who provides many programs and activities to the community. We return to our resort, and our last evening in Cuba is spent learning how to make Mojitos and Cuba Libre cocktails and tasting various Cuban rum brands prior to our Farewell Dinner. (All Meals)

Transfer to the Santa Clara Airport this morning for our flight back to Miami. You may arrange connections from Miami to your home city in the late afternoon, after 4:00 pm. (Breakfast)