With customizable Cuba study tours, it is easy to offer North American Universities and Schools the educational experiences they expect out of Cuba travel. Not only is there a Cuba study trip to fit any group size, educational interest and budget, but each one also immerses Canadian and US Professors and students in the authentic Cuba and takes you deep into the heart and soul of the Cuban people.
Day 1. Saturday.
Arrival
Arrival at "Jose Marti" International Airport in Havana.
Group welcomed by the ACT Cuban Guide. Transfer to your
Luxury Casa Particular, located in Old Havana, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Private group check-in.
Breakfast and dinner are complimentary.
Day 2. Sunday.
Havana
Morning: guided walking tour of
Old Havana, UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Visit to
Square of Arms, ancient military parade ground for Spanish soldiers and surrounded by impressive buildings such as:
Palacio de los Capitanes Generales was the former seat of colonial government. Today the building houses the Museum of the City.
Palacio del Segundo Cabo. The seat of the second authority of the island. Today it houses important publishing concerns.
Castillo de la Real Fuerza. The second oldest fortress built by the Spaniards in the West Indies. The castle was recently
renovated and reopened in June 2008 to hold the impressive maritime museum. Well laid out exhibits chart Spain and Cuba's naval
history.
Lunch: a new wave of paladares (privately-owned restaurants) has recently swept the Cuban dining scene offering excellent food and charming ambient. Today we’ll enjoy a welcome lunch at the stylish
Paladar San Cristobal, one of Havana's top ten private restaurants.
Visit to the
Cathedral Square, the most beautiful and private 18th century colonial plaza of Cuba, named after the masterpiece
of Cuban baroque architecture: the Cathedral of Havana built by the Jesuit order.
Continue walking tour onto
San Francisco Square, one of the oldest in the historical quarter.
Visit to
Plaza Vieja, the only civic square of colonial times. Notice it doesn't have a church or government building around.
Here we will visit important
institutions for visual arts.
Free time in the famous
handicraft market of Old Havana where you can purchase all sorts of crafts and souvenirs by local artisans.
Return to your private rental accomodation.
Evening: tonight we have a
Cuban band playing for us! You'll learn to dance to Salsa, Son, Rumba, and other popular Cuban rhythms
with instruction from bandleaders.
Day 3. Monday.
Havana
Morning: Introduction to your Cuban teacher and assistants.
Cuban
Dance Workshop on Casino Dance Body Movements for 2 hrs.
Your Cuban teachers and their assistants, who serve as your dance partner, tailor instruction to the individual student:
Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. Steps, figures and movements particular of each sex will be included so as to allow
the dancers to enrich their creativity for improvisation when dancing.
Lunch at
Casa de La Malta in Old Havana.
Afternoon visit to the
Lizt Alfonso Ballet School founded in 1991. Lizt Alfonso’s choreographies are dance and music of a kind
no one else creates: a seamless fusion of Spanish classical dance, ballet, flamenco and Afro-Cuban dance.
Tour the school and meet with students and teachers.
Evening: attend
baseball game at Latinoamericano Stadium, popularly known in Cuba as "The Colossus of Cerro” is home
of Ciudad Habana Industriales. The stadium holds 55,000 people. In 1999, it hosted an exhibition series between Cuban
National Team and the Baltimore Orioles.
Day 4. Tuesday.
Havana
Morning: Cuban
Dance Workshop on Casino Dancing for 2 hrs. Your Cuban teachers and their assistants,
who serve as your dance partner, tailor instruction to the individual student: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.
This workshop will focus on the teaching and practicing the different rhythmic ways of Casino dancing in Cuba today. Men
and women will be able to participate together. The workshop will teach you to recognize the different tempos in which
Casino is danced nowadays.
Followed by coach tour of the most important sites of
Modern Havana such as the Capitol building, the Grand Theatre, Central Park,
Prado promenade, Sevilla Hotel, Revolution Square, Malecón seawall, Monument to the Battleship Maine, Hotel Nacional, University
of Havana, Cristóbal Colón Cemetery, and the Miramar, Central Havana and Vedado neighbourhoods.
Lunch hosted by Jose Fuster, one of the most important Cuban ceramists and painters today.
Afternoon: visit to a
Pre-University School. Tour the school, learn about the school curriculum and get engaged with students
in cultural and/or sport activities. Those who complete pre-university education are awarded the Bachillerato.
Evening: enjoy Afrojazz, Cubajazz and Sonjazz at
Club La Zorra y El Cuervo, Havana’s most famous Jazz club. The club
features great performances by island bands and soloists! (optional, not included)
Day 5. Wednesday.
Havana
Morning: Cuban Dance Workshop on
Santeria or Regla de Ocha Religious Dancing for 2 hrs. Your Cuban teachers and their assistants,
who serve as your dance partner, tailor instruction to the individual student: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.
Santeria Religious Dance are characterized by the richness of body movements, its expression, its rhythm and the variety of steps
and variants devoted to each of the Orichas or saints that make up the pantheon of this religion. These dances have considerably
influenced other Cuban dancing expressions such as Casino itself, mainly with the inclusion of steps and gestures in the
performances and in some of the figures of the Casino Ring.
Lunch at
local cafeteria "Los Marinos".
Afternoon: ferry boat ride across Havana harbour to the town of
Regla. This Afrocuban community has a long, rich and still active
tradition of African-inspired religions.
We'll visit
Regla's church dedicated to the black "Virgen de Regla" Yemayá, the African goddess of the sea in the Yoruba religion
and the patron saint of sailors.
Tour of
Regla's municipal museum to learn the origins of this unique community and its Afrocuban cultures.
Enjoy a private Afrocuban religious dance presentation by
Regla Folkloric Group.
Day 6 Thursday.
Havana- Las Terrazas- Vinales
Morning departure to
Las Terrazas, in Sierra del Rosario where we start the morning tour of the rural town
at
Rancho Curujey for explanation of the area.
Enjoy the view of the village that lies above the shores of
San Juan Lake and beneath the mountains.
We also visit the
home/studios of local
artists and
artisans.
Visit to rural
Primary and
Secondary schools.
Visit to the ruins of a
French Coffee Plantation built in 1801.
Continue to
La Moka, an ecological hotel with trees growing up through the balconies and ceiling.
Later we can take a swim at
San Juan River cascades and
pools. Lunch by the river.
Check-in at
Los Jasmines hotel with breakfast and dinner included.
Day 7. Friday.
Vinales
Exploration of
Viñales Valley, containing the most spectacular scenery in Cuba and some of the most interesting and varied
geological formations on the island. The valley is particularly famous for its great freestanding rock formations called mogotes.
Lunch at
Paladar Casa del Campesino.
After lunch we will visit the
Cueva del Indio, used by the Guanahatabey Amerindians as a burial site in ancient time, and as refuge
from the Spaniards for both Indians and Black slaves alike. We’ll take a short boat ride on the subterranean river running through
the cave.
Meet with
local farmers that have been passing from generation to generation the secrets of growing the best tobacco in the world.
Visit to
Mural de la Prehistoria, a huge painting on the side of a Mogote.
Explore
Viñales Village at your leisure: its open-air craft market, Parque Marti, town church, and other interesting sites of this
charming colonial hamlet.
Visit Carmen and Caridad Miranda’s botanical and herb garden, called the
Viñales Botanical Garden. The two widows maintain a garden
full of fruits, orchids and medicinal plants.
Day 8. Saturday.
Departure
Early morning departure to Havana City International Airport for departure.