Sel’s Sassy Siblings Go to CUBA

Sel’s Sassy Siblings Go to CUBA

Eighteen of us flew into Miami Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016 from several states and spent the night before meeting in the early morning at the International terminal.  We met up with the representative of Vantage Travel to get our visas and  hook up with an additional six adventure lovers to complete our group. 

OUR ITINERARY

OCTOBER 31, DAY 1: Depart Home City / Cienfuegos, Cuba

It took us an hour 15 minutes to fly on American Airlines to  the historic port city of Cienfuegos, Cuba’s “Pearl of the South,” which soothes the eye with harmonious architecture and Spanish-colonial urban planning.

NOVEMBER 01, DAY 2: Cienfuegos

During the walking tour of the graceful Old Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we witnessed the neoclassical architecture and 19th century city planning; we saw Tomás Terry Theatre, the Government House, and the Cathedral de la Purísima Conceptión.  We also visited the lush, fragrant Cienfuegos Botanical Garden, and enjoyed a discussion about its unique species. The garden, actually a botanical experimental station, was developed in the 19th century by a wealthy American sugar planter from Boston, in concert with Harvard University, to develop more productive sugar cane. The university maintained a connection to the garden, using it as a field laboratory for the study of tropical botany, until the Cuban revolution in 1959.

In the afternoon we had a taste of Cuba's strong musical heritage a performance by the world famous Cienfuegos Choir, Cantores de Cienfuegos. JC Combs, retired professor of music from the University of Wichita enjoyed the performance so much that he promised to find a way to invite them to the US.

NOVEMBER 02, 2016 DAY 3: Cienfuegos (Trinidad)

We rode through fields of sugar cane, Cuba’s most important agricultural product, en route to the colonial city of Trinidad. Trinidad and the nearby Valley de los Ingenios – Valley of the Sugar Mills – were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a testament to the prosperity generated by Cuba’s sugar industry in the 18th and 19th centuries. A guided walk revealed the historic city center around the Plaza Mayor, with its wealth of buildings clearly reflecting their Spanish heritage. We also witnessed how traditional crafts are made in workshops and then went to a canchanchara club for some traditional local music. In the afternoon we visited Valley de los Ingenios, actually three interconnected valleys, where up to 50 sugar mills processed cane from the fertile fields into syrup, and where 11,000 slaves labored.

NOVEMBER 03, DAY 4: Cienfuegos / Havana

Today, you’ll cross the island to Cuba’s capital Havana. First stop is the Bay of Pigs, where the Cuban government maintains a memorial and museum at the spot where forces under command of Fidel Castro successfully repelled a 1961 invasion force made up of Cuban exiles trained and financed by the CIA. You’ll also stop at a local restaurant for lunch. Afterwards, stopping in the town of Papite, visit the Korimaccao Community project, where you’ll enjoy a student performance. Upon arrival in Havana, check into the famed Hotel Nacional de Cuba, which was once the most glamorous destination in the Caribbean. Enjoy dinner this evening at a family-run restaurant. Included Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Hotel Nacional de Cuba

NOVEMBER 04, 2016 DAY 5: Havana

Today you begin with a stop at Morro Castle, where you’ll enjoy the best panoramic views of this iconic city. Then, take a guided walking tour of Old Havana, the historic center of Cuba’s capital city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. See the Museum of the Revolution, the four main plazas of Old Havana, the basilica of San Francisco de Assisi, the beautiful Havana Cathedral, and El Templete, a Greco-Roman monument marking the spot where Havana’s first Catholic mass was celebrated in 1599. Continuing on, we visit the studio of a local silk screener and eat lunch at a local restaurant. Afterwards, you’ll head to New Havana for a highlights tour.

Included Meals: Breakfast and Lunch Hotel Nacional de Cuba

NOVEMBER 05, 2016 DAY 6: Havana

Start your day by awakening your senses with a guided visit to the National Museum of Fine Arts. Here you'll admire the most comprehensive collection of Cuban art in the world, spanning from colonial times to present day. Following lunch in a local restaurant, visit an arts and crafts market. You’ll also see another side of Cuba’s lively dance culture when you watch a dance performance at Havana Compass Dance. Then, stroll through Calle Hammel, an alleyway in Havana that has been transformed into a living work of Afro-Cuban art, with vivid murals covering entire buildings and the streetscape transformed by funky sculptures and mosaics. You’ll have the evening at leisure, with dinner on your own.

Included Meals: Breakfast and Lunch Hotel Nacional de Cuba

NOVEMBER 06, DAY 7: Havana

You'll set off on an excursion to Las Terrazas, a planned town and eco-preserve in the Sierra del Rosario Mountains. Begun in 1968 as a project to restore lush jungle that was cleared for Cuba’s first coffee plantations, Las Terrazas has been designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Today, an eco-resort and an active arts community overlook a small lake at the site. Bird watchers and other nature lovers take to the trails threading the lush surrounding hills. During your visit, you’ll learn how the sustainable community operates and enjoy lunch in a local restaurant. Dinner is on your own this evening.

Included Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Hotel Nacional de Cuba

NOVEMBER 07, DAY 8: Havana

Today, you'll get a glimpse of why Cubans are renowned for their great joy in the traditions of child-rearing when you visit a local day care center run by a Catholic nun. After lunch at a local restaurant, you’ll visit Finca Vigía*, the beloved home where “Papa” Hemingway lived for 21 years and worked on “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “The Old Man and the Sea.” The house is maintained as a museum and remains almost exactly as Hemingway left it when he last visited in 1960. The rest of the afternoon is yours to explore. Perhaps you'll visit the quaint San Pedro Arts & Crafts market, or take the opportunity to relax. Later, prepare for a Farewell Dinner at a Havana restaurant that begins with a ride in a vintage American car. Before the 1962 embargo against Cuba, such classics as 1957 Chevies, 1953 Fords, and 1958 Dodges were prevalent in the island nation. In the decades since the embargo, ingenious Cuban mechanics have kept thousands of these "Yank tanks,” as they are known, in meticulous running condition. They are one of the most distinctive sights to be seen on this vibrant island that in many ways seems frozen in time. Included Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Hotel Nacional de Cuba

NOVEMBER 08, DAY 9: Havana / Return home

Following breakfast, transfer to the airport in Varadero (2 hours away from Havana) for your flight back to the US.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Please Note: All details presented inside were accurate at the time of publication, but the nature of travel in a changing world means that some details are subject to change. During your trip, your Cruise or Tour Director reserves the right to make deviations based on local conditions. Rest assured, Vantage is committed to delivering an experience that meets or exceeds your expectations.

A Cuban Chronology

1492 – Columbus discovers Cuba. Jose Perez came with Columbus.

1512 – Diego Velazquez de Cuellar begins conquest of Cuba on behalf of the Spanish crown.

1848 – U.S. attempts to buy Cuba from the Spanish.

1868 – 10 Years’ War: the first war of Cuban Independence led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. He freed the slaves.

1895 – Second war of Cuban Independence. Leaders include Jose Marti and Máximo Gomez. Jose Marti is killed in military action on May 19 at the Battle of Dos Rios, cementing his position as a national hero and a symbol of Cuban nationalism.

1898 – Spanish relinquish control of Cuba to the U.S. in the Treaty of Paris.

1901 – Platt Amendment. Defined the terms of U.S.-Cuban relations, including permission for the U.S. to intervene in Cuba’s foreign and domestic affairs.

1902 – Cuba is proclaimed an Independent Republic under official protection of the U.S. Cuban sugar has preference in the U.S. market, which makes sugar central to the Cuban economy and strengthens Cuba’s dependence on the U.S. Tomas Estrada Palma becomes Cuba’s fourth president.

1903 – Estrada Palma signs the Cuban-American Treaty, which agrees to the long-term lease of Guantanamo Bay to the U.S.

1906 – Estrada Palma’s election to a second term is violently disputed, prompting the U.S. to institute occupational rule.

1925 – With world sugar prices at an all-time low, Gerard Machado y Morales becomes Cuba’s fifth president. Corruption is rampant, with government forces enacting violent (allegedly lethal) retaliation against Machado’s rapidly growing opposition. Castro was born in 1926 to a rich family.

1933 – U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sends an envoy to Cuba to diffuse the revolution against Machado. When attempts at mediation fail, Machado is removed from power. Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar essentially assumes control of government as chief of the armed forces, and is eventually elected president in 1940.  Batista’s family was poor but the Castros were good friends.

1944 – Rather than seek a second term, Batista leaves Cuba to live in the U.S.

1952 – Batista returns from the U.S. to run for president once again. Facing certain defeat, he seizes power in a military coup.

1953 – Fidel and Raul Castro lead a group of revolutionaries in an attack on Moncada Barracks, Cuba’s second largest military garrison, in hopes of bringing down the Batista regime. Fidel Castro is captured and jailed. The Cuban Revolution begins.

1955 – Fidel Castro released from prison; joins brother Raul in exile in Mexico.

1956 – Castro and 82 followers depart Mexico on Granma (a small boat) and land in Cuba on December 2, at a location chosen to mirror that of Jose Marti’s landing during the war of Cuban Independence. Within days, the majority of revolutionaries onboard are killed by Batista’s army. Fewer than 15 survivors – including Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, and Ernesto “Che” Guevara – flee to the mountains and regroup.

1959 – After a series of rebel victories, Batista flees to the Dominican Republic. Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries take control on January 2. Castro appoints Manuel Urrtia Lleo as president.

1960 – As Castro’s government begins taking control of U.S.-owned businesses, the U.S. stops buying Cuban sugar and refuses to supply Cuba with oil. In October, a U.S. embargo on Cuba begins, prohibiting all exports to Cuba. In response, Cuba strengthens trade relations with the Soviet Union.

1961 – The U.S. ends all diplomatic relations with Cuba and closes the embassy in Havana in January. In April, a group of Cuban exiles invade Playa Giron on the Bay of Pigs, with the support of the newly elected U.S. President Kennedy. The Cuban armed forces defeat the invasion within three days.

1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis – the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. Soviet missiles are armed in Cuba, with Che Guevara playing a central role. President Kennedy vows that the U.S. will not invade Cuba if the missiles are returned to the Soviet Union. After tense negotiations, Soviet Premier Khrushchev agrees.

1965 – Che Guevara leaves Cuba to lead revolutionary efforts in the Congo and Bolivia.

1967 – Che Guevara is captured and executed in Bolivia.

1980 – With the approval of Fidel Castro, a mass exodus of Cubans depart Cuba’s Mariel Harbor for the U.S. Beginning on April 1, more than 125,000 Cubans flee before the Mariel Boatlift ends on October 31 by mutual agreement of the U.S. and Cuban government.

1991 – Soviet Union collapses, and the Special Period begins in Cuba. The era of economic crisis is precipitated by fuel and energy shortages, which necessitates a decrease in automobile usage and an increase in sustainable agriculture.

1993 – Dollars allowed in Cuba. Limited small private businesses become legal.

1996 – The Helms-Burton Act strengthens the U.S. embargo, prohibiting private groups from distributing humanitarian aid in Cuba.

1999 – Two fishermen pick up an inner tube carrying three Cuban refugees – one of whom is five-year-old Elian Gonzalez, whose mother drowned during the journey. The ensuing custody battle between Elian’s father and relatives in Miami dominates U.S. headlines until the boy is reunited with his father in 2000.

2002 – Jimmy Carter becomes first former U.S. president to visit Cuba since the Revolution. His talks focus on democracy, freedom of expression, and human rights.

2004 – President Bush eliminates Culture Exchange Licenses to Cuba, and restricts both high school and college groups from traveling.

2005 – Peso Convertible (CUC) introduced in Cuba. The U.S. dollar is no longer accepted as currency.

2006 – Cuba, Bolivia, and Venezuela sign far-reaching trade accord. Cuba receives cheap oil from Venezuela in exchange for teachers and doctors.

2008 – Raul Castro replaces Fidel as President. Fidel remains head of the Communist Party.

2011 – Obama eases travel restrictions to Cuba, allowing for more educational, religious, and cultural programs.

2014 - Secret negotiations between Cuban and American leaders, taking place in Ottawa, Canada, results in an agreement to lift sanctions, eventually.

2015 -  US reopens its embassy in Havana, Cuba does the same in Washington D.C.

2016 -  Obama becomes the first sitting president to visit Cuba since 1928 when Calvin Coolidge came to Havana. 

2016 -  Fidel Castro dies in November.