Move to the Music of Cuba: Salsa, Rumba, and Afro-Cuban Rhythms

Our Zicasso travel expert did a great job making all of our arrangements and making changes as needed while we were in Cuba. Our local guide and driver were excellent. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable, very patient, and so gracious. Our driver took good care of us too. The guest house in Havana was amazing. The guest house in Trinidad was mediocre. The guest house in Varadero was in a great location and just fine. We loved the itinerary. The activities were diverse, interesting, and fun. We could not believe the VIP treatment we received everywhere we went – the dance school, the cabaret venue, restaurants, etc.

From the beginning to the end, the team was very accommodating and welcoming. Eli listened to all my likes and dislikes over the phone and made a fantastic itinerary for the group. She was also available via text or phone anytime I had a question. She handled getting the visas for us, which took a lot of stress off my plate. She was also available via WhatsApp while in Cuba. She checked in with me to see how the trip was going and was able to make my mother's birthday celebrations very memorable while we were there. Eli was also in contact with me when we returned from Cuba to hear all about our time there.

We had two drivers. The cars were really cool to drive around in. They were very protective of our group and were safe drivers. They kept us safe when in the market shopping and assisted the elderly lady in our group while walking on the cobblestone streets and stairs.

We had our personal tour guide for the whole trip. She was knowledgeable, funny, down to earth, and had a great deal of patience with us. We were a group of four women and often ran 10 to 15 minutes late for every dinner. We also had an absurd amount of allergies (gluten, garlic, lamb, beef, pork, and eggplant), which she communicated with each restaurant. Happy to say none of us had an allergic reaction. Galia also spoke excellent English, making communication easy.

The hosts at our accommodations were so welcoming and provided entertainment every night and morning. We haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Breakfast was provided every morning at Ivan's. We also enjoyed his dog, Brown. We visited various sites, including the Fidel Castro museum, art factory, Havana Club, Hemingway's, the Tropicana, Trinidad, old Havana, the beach, and the mosaic region, Fusterlandia.

We really enjoyed the trip. Havana was great and we would like to return one day. The drivers were perfect and we really appreciated their kindness and friendly faces every day. Zicasso's travel agent was friendly and took good care of everyone. We loved the Havana BnBs. The staff at both places went beyond what was required. The accommodations were lovely. The BnB at the beach was OK. However, they need to improve the seating on the beach. There were only two chairs that were comfortable and the husband of the host was using one when we arrived. We never really got to enjoy the beach because the other chairs were too hard or missing cushions. I know that it was requested that we add a day to visit this area, but in hindsight, it was too far to travel in an old car for older people. It was hard on the back. Also, unless you are interested in the beach, there isn’t much to do. I would skip that area, especially if it’s for one day.

The food was good in most every location we ate. I didn’t particularly like the dinner when we were at the beach. Sometimes the meals were too large, especially after eating a big meal for lunch and dinner. One of our favorites was the pork sandwich, which we ate on the way to Trinidad – simple and smaller. Plus, eating such large meals at lunch took a lot of time.

I think additional time for sitting in cafés and enjoying music would have been good. We really didn’t get to enjoy much local music, which was something Gary and I were looking forward to. The days were pretty full, so we would have had to eliminate something in order to do that, but I think that would have been OK.

We particularly liked the events where we were able to interact with the locals. For example, the dance school was very enjoyable. We also liked the senior center where we dropped off our donations.

We really enjoyed our time and, as I said before, we hope we can return for another visit.

In conclusion, the biggest changes I would recommend would be less time eating at lunch so we could experience more things, more time enjoying the local atmosphere (like music in the late afternoon), not trying to do too much on a trip, and not traveling too far, but it was a great trip!