Cuba small group holiday, 9 days

Planet

Activity:
We aim to benefit Cuban communities as much as possible by frequently stopping to use local restaurants, cafes and services. For example, we encourage clients to take optional excursions where we hire local transfers, boats and guides. We operate on a strict ‘leave no trace’ policy and local guides enforce this through responsible tourism briefings. In Cienfuegos we include a tour of the city on Bici Taxis (Bike Taxis), which is a eco-friendly and very typical form of city transport. We also include a visit to a community in La Vega, where the group will discover some of the communal services in this 50-person community, such as the ration shop, school and medical facility.

UK Office:
It all starts at home where we work towards reducing our carbon footprint in our offices through energy conservation measures, recycling policies and the promotion of cycling and walking as a means for our staff to commute. Our head office has become a plastic-free zone with the use of plastic bottles being banned in our head office and we distributed reusable water bottles and tote bags to every staff member. We also support a large number of community and environmental projects in different parts of the world and try to give something back to the places we visit.

People

Accommodation and Meals:
We spend 3 nights in hotels and 4 nights in ‘Casas Particulares.’ These are privately-owned Bed and Breakfast properties which enable you to have a rewarding insight into the local lifestyle by staying in a family home. Were meals are provided, fresh and local ingredients are always used. Although this is largely out of necessity, we can ensure that local farmers and vendors benefit. We visit a number of local, family-run restaurants called ‘Paladares’ throughout the trip. These sell a variety of authentic Cuban dishes like fresh lobster, black beans and rice, roast pork and chickpea stew.

Local Craft and Culture:
We visit several important cultural and historical sites on this tour, where our entrance fees contribute towards the preservation of artefacts the monuments that commemorate events integral to Cuban heritage. These include Che Guevara's Mausoleum in Santa Clara and a tobacco farm cigar factory in the Vinales Valley. We encounter small handicraft stalls in most towns, were guests are able to purchase them. A huge part of Cuban culture is music and dancing, therefore we have a one-on-one salsa class in Havana using local dance students as partners. This is a great earning opportunity for the students and an equally valuable learning opportunity for visitors. Guests will also be able to experience music and dancing in local bars and clubs.

Charity:
Our local operator sponsors a school in the Matanzas Province. Here, they have made a number of donations- from school materials and clothes to fans and sheets. We discourage giving to beggars on the trip as we don’t want to encourage this behaviour. Instead, our guides will help visitors to donate presents and supplies where the goods can really be utilised. Currently it is not possible to organise school visits for clients.

Group Size:
This is a small group tour, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.