Uncovering the Artistry of Cuba Tour

The Caribbean Sea splashes against the historic sea walls of the Malecón. The sun spreads across the water highlighting various shades of blue. Local men stand on the thick stone walls and cast their fishing lines into the water. Fortaleza de San Carlos de La Cabaña frames the boundary of Old Town, looking towards the high-rises and hotels of the Havana’s western edges. After breakfast, you make your way to La Escuela Taller Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, a school specializing in the art of restoration. The importance of the school is apparent in the mixture of refurbished and crumbling colonial buildings of historic Havana.

The students and professors of the school offer insight into the history of the city, the buildings’ lavish facades, and how education and art combine to preserve the majestic image of the streets, structures, and overall culture. Calle Mercaderes, Merchant’s Street, has been restored to its 18th-century glory, interspersed with shops, and museums. Music emanates from the restaurants, lifting everyone’s spirit. The band smiles and plays enthusiastically. Wood balconies open to the street. Bright yellows, greens, and opulent whites create a welcoming vitality. The Historian’s Office has restored the street since the early 1980s. The needlecraft cooperative preserves the traditional and artisanal sewing techniques by leading youth education initiatives, ensuring the next generation understands the importance of the art.

Four and Five-story buildings frame the narrow cobblestone street of Calle Obispo, Bishop’s Street, located in Old Town. Wide windows provide a view into the art galleries and shops. Local merchants open the doors to their apartment building and sell souvenirs from the steps, offering paintings of Che Guevara and handmade mini-guitars. Cooperatives open their doors to visitors and locals alike, presenting famous locally made rum or cigars. The streets of Old Town are always active. The music flows from sunup to sundown. After breakfast, you could stroll through the 16th-century Plaza Vieja, the eclectic square surrounded by baroque and art nouveau architecture.

The Christopher Columbus Cemetery contains crypts resembling works of art. The 19th neo-Romanesque northern gateway sets the ambiance with your first look at the lavish artwork commemorating the past and present citizens of Cuba. Oak trees line the wide boulevards, bisecting the grounds. The monument to the firefighters was erected in the late 19th century. It stands 75 feet tall and was dedicated to the brave firefighters that lost their lives battling the great fire of May 17, 1890. Marble-work adds to the luster of each tomb, commemorating the family members, state officials, and national treasures. While wandering through the grounds, the energetic streets of Havana practically disappear, overtaken by tranquility.

The City of Santa Clara lies more than 185 miles east of Havana at the heart of Cuba. The music of the city returns in the morning, blending with the brushing Caribbean water past the Malecón. Your private transfer greets you at your hotel after breakfast, and takes you away from the cobbled streets of the old city, leading you to the revolutionary capital of the country. The city has a feisty ambiance springing from the artistic, edgy youth culture and history of testing boundaries.

Santa Clara is also home to Cuba’s most prestigious university outside of Havana. In the afternoon, women walk the inner section of the Parque Vidal and men walk around the outer section. Colonial houses built in the 19th and early 20th centuries overlook the park.  After lunch, you venture to the Ernesto Che Guevara monument complex. The area commemorates the revolutionary’s determination to liberate Cuba, along with his efforts during the Battle of Santa Clara in 1968. The guerillas’ victory marked the end of the Batista regime.

A large bronze statue of Che guards the vast square, the latter of which spans both sides of the road. The statue was erected in 1987 marking the 20th anniversary of the revolutionary’s death. The mausoleum behind the statue contains 38 stone-carved niches dedicated to the memory of other guerillas that fought in the Bolivian revolution. An Eternal flame flickers inside the serene garden. The sound of horse hooves clopping against the cobblestone echoes across the square.

In the morning, the image of Che Guevara casts a striking shadow across the memorial plaza. The sunlight drifts over the bronze and adds a glistening body to the revolutionary, forming a coveted image of admirers from around the world. Your private transfer escorts you from Santa Clara farther east to Camagüey, known affectionately to locals as “The Maze.” The labyrinthine streets helped protect the city from pirates who often weighed anchor in the nearby port and ransacked the cities and towns for provisions. The twisting streets helped confuse invaders, along with providing a sense of protection for residents. The narrow lanes open up to hidden plazas and towering baroque churches.

Restaurant owners often stand on the raised walkways with open arms, eager to invite locals and visitors into their establishment. The friendly atmosphere and beautiful architecture overshadow the maze-like streets. Many buildings have leafy inner patios with large earthenware jars to collect rainwater, a tradition dating back to the city’s founding in the 16th century. The Principal Theater was erected in the mid 19th century and remains the home of the Camagüey Ballet. Your guide introduces you to a local contemporary ballet company blending modern movement with traditional elegance. The dancers are eager to share their culture with you, along with performing selections from their catalog, celebrating innovation, collaboration, and expression.

Local kids venture to the grounds of Casino Campestre in the morning, eager to play baseball before class. The park was erected in the 1860s and remains the largest urban park in Cuba. Tree branches dangle over park benches, providing shade to lounging visitors. A monument on a small island commemorates the Spaniards who conducted the first nonstop flight between Seville, Spain, and Camagüey, Cuba in 1933. Artists and writers of the city meet you with joviality at the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba at their headquarters. The buildings of the city create an energetic atmosphere, glowing with pastel colors often equated with the Caribbean.

Your hosts are happy to share the local culture with you, eager to differentiate the eccentricities of Camagüey with those of Santa Clara or Havana. Visit private art studios for deeper insight into the visions and imagination of the artists of the region before venturing to the famous Casa de la Trova in the heart of the city. The guitar hums over the pulsing rhythm of the drums. Traditional Cuban music flows out of the doorway of the handsome colonial structure. Tall palm trees wave above the open-air patio. Couples both young and old dance the night away as crooners sing traditional songs, and even offer new music dripping with old-world authenticity.

The white posts of the General Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz monument rise above Plaza de la Revolucion. The bronze statue stands out from the background of opulent stone. The pillars come to a point at the tip, creating an image of the Cuban star. Figures of horses and farmers stand behind the general in support and awe. After breakfast, you meet your private transfer and venture to the city of Bayamo in the province of Granma. Large stalks of sugarcane rush to the roadside. Large oxen pull plows across the fields.

The city is seen as a bastion of revolution, having been the center of fighting for the freedom of slaves in the 19th century. It is often considered the birthplace of Cuban nationality, along with the “Cradle of Cuban Revolution.” The Spanish founded the city in the early 16th century. Today, Bayamo has important connections to the Cuban sugar refining industry. Due to the history of Spanish slave trade in the area, and the importance of the sugarcane crop outside the city, the Afro-Cuban culture has a strong historical base in the area.

Walking through the city is like stepping further back in time, to a place filled with horse carts and cobblestone streets, colonial buildings and a relaxed pace. Iglesia Parroquial Mayor de San Salvador was erected in the 16th century. The church was renovated in the 1900s after a devastating fire. The gilded wooden altar survived. The natural light causes the altar to glisten during the day. The church adorns the square in which the Cuban national anthem, “La Bayamesa,” was sung for the first time in the 19th century.

The small island of Cayo Granma glows against the tranquil blues of the Caribbean. The red-roofed wooden houses rise above the shores. The traditional fishing community surrounds the whitewashed walls of Iglesia de San Rafael. The original Bacardi factory was established in the 19th century. The government continues to make traditional Cuban rum, producing up to nine million liters a year. A sweet aroma of sugarcane envelops the structure. The connecting bar offers tastings of the varieties of rum, helping educate visitors on the colors, subtle flavors, and differences in the aging process of the locally made alcohol.

After your tour, you enter a dance studio in the heart of the city for a lesson in the dances inspired by the Afro-Cuban culture. When the drums begin to beat, it is impossible not to move your hips. Your private instructor guides you through the steps, urging the importance of connecting to the sound, as much as knowing the steps. The ferry ride to Cayo Granma takes you across the calm waters until the red-tiled roofs rise over your head. Along with its fishing community, the island is known for its polyclinic, providing insight into the socialist healthcare system of the country.

The eclectic cultures of Santiago make the city sing throughout the day. Old cars drive along the street. It was one of the first cities established by the Spanish during their settlement in the 16th century. Mountains rise above the combination of baroque and neoclassical structures. Narrow, winding streets connect history and music, bordered by large windows and balconies overflowing with vivacious flowers. Your local historian guide begins your tour with an introduction to the long history of the Afro-Cuban culture in the city. The Abakuá leopard mask has become a symbol of the local folklore over the years, and today plays a large role in the city’s carnival celebration.

The culture combines African roots with Spanish traditions. You continue along the pathways of Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca del Morro. The fortress sits atop a nearly 200-foot cliff overlooking the entrance to the harbor. The upper terrace offers an unparalleled panorama of the coastline’s ribbon-like movement framed by the Sierra Maestra Mountains. The breeze carries the sweet aroma of the Caribbean Sea and blends the scent with the rich minerals of the stone structure. The Spanish erected the stronghold in the 16th century to protect the point from pillaging pirates. At sunset, actors dress in Cuban independence soldier regalia and fire the cannon.

Baracoa is Cuba’s oldest town and maintains the title of Cuba’s most isolated town. The surrounding lushness blankets the rolling mountains. The landscape has inspired as many myths as the historic inhabitants of the town. Diego Velazquez founded the town in 1512. Fragrant banana bunches dangle from the trees. Palms tower over the buildings. Local women wash their laundry on the banks of the Rio Joa. Numerous fortresses fortify the borders. Step onto a boat to traverse the wading waters of the Joa River. Triangular thatched-roofed huts adorn the pebbled riverbanks. Karsts tower above the rain-soaked glens.

Locals navigate the river on rowboats, connecting their anchored vessels to stiff posts situated in the soil. The scent of coconut is inescapable, deriving from the palm trees and restaurants, stores and stalls along the roads. The Fabrica de Cucurucho specializes in the sweet cone-shaped treat mixing coconut, sugar, and local fruits, including pineapple and guava. The mountain of El Yunque stands nearly 1,900 feet above sea level, watching over the edges of town with a tabletop summit. The sweetness of town derives as much from the snacks as from the locals quick to share their heritage.

The fertile soil around Baracoa provides a perfect position for crop cultivation, from naturally sprouting pineapples to the production of luscious cocoa beans. In the morning, a local historian leads you through the steps of Baracoa’s elaborate history, from its settlement to the blossoming of the Casas Particulares, the private bed and breakfast industry supported by the Cuban government. Your guide points out particular features of the locals, connecting the Spanish heritage of the village with the only location in Cuba where the locals show characteristics of the native peoples that once inhabited the land. Cocoa trees grow on a farm outside of town. The pods can grow to more than one inch thick.

Farmers typically use machetes to open the pod and expose the bean. Once the beans are collected, your guide takes you into his or her home to showcase the difference between a bean inside the pod and what it takes to turn the cocoa into chocolate. Once the beans are dried, the familiar scent of chocolate fills the room. The farmer roasts the beans, peels the skin, and passes around the newly roasted cocoa for you to find the intoxicating aroma. The farmer continues his demonstration until the beans turn from cocoa to pure chocolate, and eventually, the edible treat you can sample fresh.

The steep streets of the neighborhood El Tivoli in Santiago de Cuba once housed elegant homes and fashionable families. Wooden houses continue to line the streets. Domino and chess players set up tables along the Padre Pico steps. The Museo de la Lucha Clandestina, the Museum of the Underground Struggle, adorns the hilltop, situated inside an 18th-century mansion. Cespedes Park provides cozy shade to residents of the city against the tropical heat. Groups of teenagers crowd around the granite benches engaged in heated discussion about baseball. Cuba has shown you a unique side of the Caribbean and a world completely different from the one in which you came. The beauty of the country was surpassed only by the kindness of the people. After breakfast, your private transfer greets you at your hotel and escorts you to Antonio Maceo Airport for your flight home.