Unique Cultural Tours
Unique Cultural Tours
A look at where this tour goes
What’s included and a brief at-a-glance description are on this webpage.
Day 1: Welcome to Cuba!
Arrive in Havana by 1 pm.
We will be greeted at the airport by Roger, our Cuban guide. Once the group has all arrived, we will drive out to Soroa in the countryside so we can dive right into nature! Roger will help us change money and get settled at our casa.
The Soroa Orchid Garden was established in the 1940’s extending over 7 acres of hilly terrain. A local biologist will describe how the University of Pinar del Río maintains the garden and its 700+ species to study Cuban orchids, including the diseases that affect them and the best ways to reintroduce certain species into the wild. As you can imagine, the birds and butterflies loves this pristine landscape. Enjoy some free time and sunset birdwatching before dinner.
Meals: Dinner
Day 2: Las Terrazas & Viñales
We will do sunrise birdwatching down by the Soroa waterfalls, followed by breakfast. We’ll say goodbye to our Casa host and drive to Las Terrazas, UNESCO Biosphere Reserve to birdwatch with a resident naturalist.
This site was created in the 1960s under Fidel Castro’s leadership to reforest the land with over 1 million trees built on terraces up the hillsides. The ruins of a 19th-century coffee plantation still exist here, and it is home to a self-sustaining ecovillage that has attracted talented artists whose workshops and studios are open to the public.
Following lunch, we drive on to the Viñales Valley, one of the most scenic areas of Cuba. Explore the limestone pincushion hills (called mogotes) in the tobacco-growing heart of Cuba.
You’ll have some free time to explore the peaceful town, and at sunset we’ll head out to the foot of the mountains for birdwatching.
You can’t come to Cuba without doing a little salsa dancing! After dinner we will take a low-key salsa class, which is always fun regardless of your level. To enjoy the nightlife, head to the town plaza around 9 pm. They feature live bands, dance performances, and drinks to give you a flavor of Cuban nightlife. This venue often packs out with people, both Cubans and visitors.
Meals included: Breakfast
Day 3: The Viñales Valley
In Viñales we will likely see the Cuban Solitaire, Cuban Grassquit, Giant Kingbird, and Olive-capped Warbler, bright blue Red-legged Honeycreepers, and the red-capped West Indian Woodpecker. Other endemic species for this area of western Cuba include the Cuban Blackbird, Cuban Green Woodpecker, Cuban Oriole, Cuban Pewee, Cuban Pygmy Owl, Cuban Tody, Cuban Trogon, Cuban Vireo, & Yellow–headed Warbler.
A full day of birdwatching awaits, along with some free time after lunch. Viñales is a small town, very walkable, with a simple artisan market for shopping and delicious restaurants. Outdoor wildlife is very accessible!
We will visit with farmers and learn about life in this valley, as well as how one of Cuba’s most important exports are processed, Cohiba cigars. There is nothing like taking a little puff off of a cigar surrounded by the fields where it grew with the farmer who made them.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 4: Viñales
Our morning will be filled with birdwatching in new areas around Viñales. As the day sets in we will drive to the caves of the limestone mountains and ride in a small boat down the rives that flows through the cave.
At 4 pm we will re-assemble to tour the local organic farm that supplies the produce for two paladares and the local schools. We’ll learn the methods used to cultivate crops without the use of pesticides. With the beautiful sunset as our backdrop and binoculars in hand, we will enjoy a deliciously fresh and diverse meal prepared by the family on the expansive patio, a truly authentic farm-to-table experience!
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 5: Palpite and Zapata Swamps region
(4-hour drive with stops)
This is a road trip day with great stops and changing scenery. On the route to the Bay of Pigs, we will stop in the very small (but special) town of Palpite. We will visit our friend Bernabé, an ornithologist who is famous for the Bee Hummingbirds that frequent his backyard. Take pictures of the birds and learn the habits of the world’s smallest bird, endemic to Cuba! We will also meet young Cuban dancers, artists, and musicians at the school for the arts, Korimakao. Enjoy a generous lunch of local cuisine before heading back to the coach.
Our next stop is a roadside spot popular for swimming/snorkeling. Take a dip in a sinkhole that resembles a huge natural tropical fish tank. Be sure to have your swimsuit and water socks (rough coastal area) handy in your backpack.
We will stay in the very small town of Playa Larga in order to be close to the Zapata Swamps and the Las Salinas Brito for tomorrow’s birdwatching. We’ll arrive before sunset so there is time for birdwatching.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6: Zapata Swamps region to Cienfuegos
In this area we hope to see many of these species: Cuban Black Hawk, Zapata Wren, Zapata Sparrow, Fernandina’s Flicker, Bare-legged Owl, Tawny- shouldered and Red-shouldered Blackbird, Roseate Spoonbill, Clapper Rails, various herons and egrets, and the Cuban Parrot.
The Zapata Peninsula covers more than 2800 square miles reminiscent of the Everglades. Surrounded by the Bay of Pigs, the peninsula features vast open swamp land, low coastal forests, white sand beaches, healthy and accessible coral reefs.
Our early morning drive takes us to Las Salinas Brito in the national park of Zapata Swamps. A local conservationist will take us to the best spots, accessible by walking along the dry roadway.
After a day in the national park, tonight is a great time to learn Cuban dominoes after dinner!
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 7: Guanaroca Lagoon and Botanical Gardens
We’ll check out of our casas early to go greet the many flamingos that migrate to the Guanaroca Lagoon. Here we can ride with a local in a rowboat to watch for the Purple Gallinule with its yellow-tipped red bill
City day! Cienfuegos is known as the “Pearl of the South'', an important harbor city, it was built in the 1800s by the French escaping the slave uprisings in Haiti.
We’ll have a relaxing morning, followed by a city tour and a visit to the Moorish-inspired “Palacio del Valle”, the pier, the main plaza, the historic theater, and the cemetery. After lunch, the group may be ready to sit in the soft sands of Rancho Luna Beach, or eager for more birding and head to the Botanical Gardens of Cienfuegos with its incredible arboretum.
At dinnertime, we’ll have a Cuban cooking class and eat gourmet Cuban cuisine.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 8: Guanaroca Lagoon, Hemingway’s Home, Havana
(3-hour drive, plus stops)
Our last birding expedition is in the Guanaroca Lagoon. We’ll depart at 8 am to get there early for a rowboat ride and observe the many flamingos and diving pelicans. Watch for the Royal Tern with its tangerine-colored bill and ragged, ink-black crest atop a white body.
After birdwatching at the lagoon, we’ll drive north to Havana. We’ll have a late lunch in Cojimar, the quiet fishing village where Hemingway docked his boat and the inspiration for the town in The Old Man and the Sea. We will drive up to Hemingway’s mountaintop home, seeing his personal library, his elevated writing den where he and his cats would spend days on end. It is an excellent example of how many well-to-do Americans lived in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s before the Revolution.
We’ll arrive in Havana in time for 1-2 hours to rest and shower, before dinner out by the fortress of Havana.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 9: Havana
Are you ready to jump into a convertible classic car? We take a driving tour through Miramar to Jaimanitas on the outskirts of Havana and the home of the famous artist Jose Fuster. Fuster has made his entire home, and much of the surrounding neighborhood, into an outdoor art gallery using tiles in mosaic forms. We’ll see the famous Revolutionary Square, drive through the Forest of Havana, and past the cemetery.
The activities will be followed by lunch and a walking tour of the gorgeous Old Havana City, including the Jewish Quarter.
Be sure to take time to rest up and dress up for tonight’s goodbye dinner. We’ll have dinner at one of our favorite elegant restaurants in Havana. The perfect way to end the trip is with live music and mojitos on the patio at the Hotel Nacional, overlooking the ocean.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 10: Departure
Head to the airport 2 hours prior to your flight to Florida. Say goodbye to Roger and our driver as you head back to the U.S. We hope you come back soon!
Meals: Breakfast
