Cuba: Havana & Vinales
March 2 -9, 2024
Are you an adventurous yogi? We have 12 spots for this unique and intimate trip to Havana and Vinales, Cuba for cultural, culinary, and unique experiences with the locals. Each morning begins with yoga, and then we're off to explore the island in the afternoon and evenings. For this one of a kind trip, we are partnering with local guides from Heart of Travel to get a more intimate and first-hand look at the beautiful country of Cuba. We will be traveling under the Support for the Cuban people visa and our lodging, transportation, and dining selections have all been carefully thought out to directly support Cuban entrepreneurs and small, nongovernment, businesses.
PLACES WE'LL VISIT
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Havana Walking Tour Day 1
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Classic Car Ride around Havana and neighboring towns
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Havana Historical Tour on Bici-Taxis
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Vinales Plantation Visit-
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Coffee & Cigar Tasting/ Buying
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Dominoes Night, learn and play
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Vinales Walk
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Salsa Dance lesson
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Sunrise Hike
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Farm to Table Pig roast
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Meet Local Artists in Havana: Street Art Walk
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Beach Day
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FAC: Fabrica de Arte Gallery & Music
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Cuban Cooking Class
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WHAT'S INCLUDED
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Accommodations - 7 nights
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Daily Yoga
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All Transportation, including Airport
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7 Breakfasts, coffee, tea included
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7 lunches with 1 drink inlcuded
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4 Dinners out, 1 drink included
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Entrance fees for all activities listed
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Bilingual guides, 24/7 support
Day 1: ARRIVAL
After your journey to Havana, we will be waiting to escort you to our casa particular in La Habana Vieja (shuttle included). After you get settled we will give you a brief orientation of the city. We will have lunch (included) and a walking tour to orient you with the city and to learn historical and cultural information to understand Habana a bit more.
Once you're rested and settled in, we will enjoy a dinner out at one of our favorite rooftop restaurants. Drinks and live music after for anyone interested. A guide will be available to take you back to our place if you want an early night.
Day 2: HAVANA
Morning yoga followed by breakfast (included). With our local guide, we will enjoy a classic car tour seeing a variety of neightborhoods including Vedado, Miramar, Havana Forest, and El Mirador del Cristo de la Bahia. A fun day for photos but remember the sunscreen! After lunch at a fav spot (included) we will get on Bici-Taxis to take a walking tour of Havana and learn about the history and culture of this beautiful city.
Evening will be a lesson in Dominoes, a favorite Cuban pastime, with our Cuban friends with dinner and drinks.
Day 3: VINALES
By private shuttle, we will head to Vinales after a morning yoga session and breakfast. The valley is a breathtaking place with mogotes (limestone hills) and vibrant natural colors and has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since November 1999 for the outstanding karst landscape and traditional agriculture as well as vernacular architecture, crafts and music.
Light hike throughout Viñales Valley to learn about flora and fauna with a visit to tobacco/coffee farmer and friend Alejandro's home. This is a great opportunity to try and purchase cigars, snap a photo and sip on a delicious local beverage canchanchara! We highly recommend waiting to buy cigars here as you will be directly supporting individual farmers and putting more money into their pockets unlike buying boxed and branded cigars from the government-run shops.
Taste local coffee, smoke hand rolled Cuban cigars, and sip on Canchanchara, a classic cuban cocktail.
We'll check into our casas particulares in Viñales and have downtime for rest and shower. Let's meet up later and take a salsa dancing lesson together. We'll be in the heart of the town so you can grab a bite to eat after, or keep dancing the night away!
For those wanting a little more exercise with a gorgeous reward, there is an optional hike to watch the sunrise at Los Aquaticos, a small community up in the mountain range of Vinales.
Hike will be about 30-40 min flat, followed by 30 min of steeper incline. We'll hang out for the views and breakfast! If you decide to sleep in, breakfast will be at our Casa Particulares.
Zip-lining in the afternoon and a Siesta to rest up, journal, or wander the town.
Rest your appetite for our Cuban Pig Roast, "lechon asado" in the Cuban countryside. We'll help our friends who are local farmers, make mojitos, play dominoes, listen to live music, and enjoy another beautiful day in Cuba. *Optional dancing in town after
Day 4: SUNRISE HIKE & BBQ
Day 4: RETURN TO HAVANA
Morning yoga practice led by Suzanne before we head back to Havana. We'll share a lunch at antoher favorite spot, then take a deeper look into modern day life in Cuba by learning about street art. We'll meet a few local artists who will share stories behind their work, hidden symbolism and socio-political messaging and the artist's hopes and fears for the future.
This unfiltered and uncensored look into Cuban art, culture and economy will deepen your appreciation and admiration for Cuba's emerging generation of artists, creators, and change makers.
Take some time after to rest, or explore independently , or grab a Cuban coffee.
Our evening will be full of live music, dinner together.
Morning Yoga... and then to the Beach! Enjoy a relaxing day by the water, swim, snorkel, read a book. We'll lunch on fresh caught seafood on the beach. Once we're ready to head back, we'll freshen up at our Casa for our evening out.
Dinner will be at hip and modern establishment, El Cochinero. This cool spot was once an old oil factory. It has since been transformed into a stunning rooftop terrance restaurant and lounge. After dinner we'll head next door to La Fabrica de Arte Cubano.
It's hard to put into words how incredible this place is! You can view everything from photography, sculptures, art, as well live music, film and more. This mixed media art space contains multiple galleries, stages, dance floors, and social areas for eating and drinking and is frequented by both lcoals and foreigners.
Transportation offered anytime you're ready to head back home.
Day 5: BEACH DAY
Day 6: CUBAN CUISINE
We begin our day with morning yoga to prepare for our final day in Havana. Are you a lover of great food? Have you heard of the influence that traditional African spirituality has had on Cuban cuisine?
We'll l meet our hosts at Beyond Roots and ride with them to their hometown Guanabacoa, located about 25 minutes outside of Havana. Here we will learn about their influences from Afro-Cuban religions and cultures, that are reflected in Cuban cuisine as well as the folklore behind the dishes. Our hosts will then show us how to cook local style. We get to experience firsthand the power of cooking to bring strangers together like family.
A little siesta before we meet up for our final night in Habana. At Habana 61 we'll have a final chance to talk about our experiences in Cuba and share favorite moments.
