Cuban Colonial Cities Photography Tour - 10 days

List of Activities

• camera_enhanceDay 1
  Following your arrival in Havana's Jose Marti Airport, you will be transported to Miramar district, where Hotel Melia Havana is located. On the way to the hotel you will get your first impressions of Cuba and by all means feel free to request a quick stop should you see a good shot. Check in at the hotel and meet us a little later for a welcome cocktail and orientation talk. During this time, your tour leader(s) will provide essential information on the activities scheduled and the country itself, and will also answer all of your questions.
  
  There are no activities scheduled in the evening or nighttime so you can roam freely through this modern, quiet vicinity, very contrasting with what you are about to see in the downtown area over the next few days. Feel free to ask your tour leader for advice on the best places to eat and drink nearby. There are a great many of suitable, high-end paladares in Miramar.
• camera_enhanceDay 2
  First thing right after breakfast at the hotel is an all-day Old Havana city walk and photo safari. Old Havana is the capital's very own historical district, where you will have the chance to truly immerse yourself in the myriad of colours, textures, shapes and fascinating history of some of Cuba's most cherished architectural treasures. Much of this area is a living and standing museum with hundreds of buildings listed in UNESCO's historic sites.
  
  There is no other place on the planet quite like Havana's historical downtown. You will be able to witness first-hand its narrow, cobbled streets, the vine-covered, crumbling facades of just about the average residential building, and the heavy-looking, stone facades of Spanish forts that stand out amongst the Caribbean's all-top landmarks of its kind.
  
  A classic car tour to the gaudy Fusterland follows in the schedule. Fusterlandia is a community art project led by José Fuster, who is a Cuban naif artist and master of the mosaics. The place itself roughly resembles Gaudí's Parque Güell and Pablo Picasso's iconography overall. The Cannon Shot ceremony at the Fortaleza de San Carlos de La Cabaña followed by an informal talk with Cuban photographers are your final happenings of the day.
• camera_enhanceDay 3
  Breakfast will be at the hotel and right after we'll be taking a flight off to the the fabulous micro-climate of Baracoa. Check in Maguana Village. You tour the town, people to people, meeting everyone who crosses your path. A gregarious and happy people who are very interested in who you are and your town or city. Many Cubans speak English and are great subjects for a photo or two. We take you to the city church and main square, full of history at this landing place of Columbus on his first voyage in 1492. You visit the colonial hotel, El Castillo (The Castle) and have lunch at the Duaba Farm. The round trip takes you by kayak to the Toa river. Dinner is at a charming local restaurant offering a tasty menu of criollo food. In Baracoa have always ready your gear because this is one of the most photogenic places in Cuba!!!
• camera_enhanceDay 4
  We take you through the mountains, on the picturesque La Farola route through Guantanamo province to fabled Santiago de Cuba with time allotted for photos. Lunch at El Morro (The Castle) for more tasty and healthful criollo food with special international fare. Next a Santiago downtown tour, Enramada Street, Marte Square and the famed Moncada Barrack where the final uprising began. Virgen del Cobre, a nexus for Cuban Catholics is surrounded by mountains and full of the repentant and those seeking guidance. Great opportunity to photograph some very interesting characters. You spend the night at the Melia Santiago Hotel.
• camera_enhanceDay 5
  Breakfast at the hotel and road trip until Bayamo. Off to the famed Bayamo, where written the Cuban national anthem. When Spanish tried to take Bayamo during the independence war they discovered the place and crops burned to the ground by the "Mambises" the Cuban Liberation Army. Once there, visit and photographs the main square and church. A round trip by horse and carriage will let you shoot the streets and people of Bayamo. After a hearty lunch, back on the road as we head to Camagüey and Hotel Santa Maria. During all road trips you will have time to stop and take photographs of stunning landscapes and villages beside the roads. Once in Camagüey and after accommodation you dine at restaurant Campana de Toledo. At night we will take you to see the night life of the city and prepare tripods and cameras for amazing low light pictures in the ambience of the lights of Camagüey.
• camera_enhanceDay 6
  In the morning you see the plazas (town squares): Los Trabajodores, Del Gallo, La Caridad, San Juan de Dios and Ignacio Agramonte. You will spend the morning shooting in one of the most historical and well conserved architecture of Cuba, also known as the City of "Tinajones" Camagüey is known for it friendly people and photogenic places and buildings, a perfect opportunity for knowing cuban people and take photos of their daily life. Lunch at a local paladar (a private restaurant). Then we drive to Trinidad to relax in comfort at all-inclusive Breezes Trinidad del Mar hotel. Another opportunity to enjoy the pool and share photos and get to know other guests and cuban people.
• camera_enhanceDay 7
  Once in Trinidad you will get the chance to walk and photograph a perfect conservated colonial city, with a rich history and plenty photogenic places, this town was a favorite stop over for pirates. So much so that the streets were designed in maze-like puzzles. We go to a craft market giving you a chance to pick up a souvenir or two then a trip to Ingenius Valley and the lookout and the Manaca Iznaga tower. Lunch and a half hour hop to the provincial capital, Sancti Spiritus (Saint Spirit). We go on an afternoon walking tour of sites of interest then dinner after at a nice restaurant. You sleep at El Rijo Hotel.
• camera_enhanceDay 8
  After breakfast a little over an hour drive brings you to Cienfuegos for a full day at this beautiful city. Known for being the home town of Benny Moré, one of the most famous cuban musician, Cienfuegos is a city full of joyful people and colorful places where you can spend your morning shooting in the streets or making people's portraits. after a morning full of chances to take amazing pictures you will lunch at Palacio del Valle restaurant near the Jagua Hotel. Then onto the highway back to Havana for another relaxing night at luxury hotel. Melia Havana is our first pick for you, a full featured hotel close to all the best night spots or have a break and enjoy the broad range of offers, the best rums and cigars and large swimming pool. Take into account every single place in Cuba is a photographic opportunity and a chance to get once in a lifetime pictures.
• camera_enhanceDay 9
  Once in Havana see the fascinating museums dedicated to Ernest Hemingway; his plantation at the famous Finca Vigia and seaside home in Cojimar, downtown Cojimar, a fishermen village full of sea landscape where Hemingways inspired to write his novel "The oldman and the sea". We lunch at Las Terrazas de Cojimar restaurant, just beside the house of famous cuban photographer Raul Corrales and then a leisurely drive through the hilly municipality of Guanabacoa, east of Havana proper, where you will be able to shoot in a cuban slum with a great tradition in afro-cuban religion. We highly recommend Guanabacoa for street and people photography. Later rest up at the hotel for the fabulous "flesh goddesses" at the Tropicana Night club dinner included.
• camera_enhanceDay 10
  After these days of adventures we are sure your head will be full of memories and your camera full of amazing images of the streets, people and most historical places of Cuba. All the foundational cities of Cuba shelter the history of a country full of traditions and contrasts, with the "Colonial Cities Expedition" you will be a witness of the history and will be able to tell through your photographs. On day ten we will give you a send off and you head to the airport. Depending on the time of your flight you may wish to take a walk on the picturesque malecon or photograph art at some of the better galleries in Miramar.