Austin-Lehman Adventures is beginning in mid-February the first of six 10-day/9-night cultural tours of The Real Cuba scheduled for 2012. Priced from $4,498 ppdo plus charter air from Miami, tour dates are set for February 11–20. February 25 to March 5, March 17–2, April 28 to May 7, May 26 to June 4 and June 9–18. Required visas will be coordinated and handled by ALA, who are among just a handful of operators to be granted a special license to engage in travel-related transactions involving Cuba.
The Real Cuba itinerary was developed expressly for Austin-Lehman by noted Cuba travel expert Christopher Baker. He or an assigned associate will personally accompany each ALA group, leveraging their years of hands-on experience and countless connections to Cuban individuals of all walks of life.
The tour begins over dinner with Baker’s friends of various professions offering insight into Cuba’s political, social and economic environment. Historian Eusebio Leal conducts a walking tour of Habana Vieja (Old Havana).
Some visit highlights include the Hotel Nacional, the Hotel Habana Libre and University of Havana; the residence of late legendary tobacco farmer and Cuban cigar ‘ambassador’ Alejandro Robaina; photographer Julio Muñoz’s colonial home featured in National Geographic; and a post-revolution model rural community at Las Terrazas built around a lake. A 1906 steam train transports guests to the Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills), with lunch at Hacienda Iznaga, a former slave plantation. In Trinidad a priest introduces the santería religion, and in industrial-university city Santa Clara, a historian explores Che Guevara and his battles there.
Eduardo Monsejo, Director of the Museo de Automóviles and members of the Club de Autos Clásicos de Cuba, provide classic, pre-revolutionary autos for an escorted VIP ride to Museo Hemingway where the museum’s director introduces a Cuban perspective on the author, his associations with the isle and the restoration of his former home there. Lunch at a seafood restaurant in Cojimar follows.
Private restaurant dining, exemplary lodgings and optional horseback riding are additional activities included in this adventure.
Austin-Lehman Adventures, 800-575-1540, info@austinlehman.com, www.austinlehman.com/cuba-trips-107.php