Explore UNESCO Heritage sites Viñales and Havana with Joe and Nick as they help you use your cameras to capture and refine your vision of Cuba.
Day One, Viñales
Upon clearing customs at Jose Marti International Airport, you will be greeted by your in-country hosts, Kip Brundage and Sandor Rodríguez, to load up the van for the drive to Viñales. Although it’s a long drive, we’ve found it to be an excellent opportunity to get to know your hosts and ask the many questions you likely have about Cuba.
Arriving in Viñales in the late afternoon, we will be in time to check in, grab our cameras, and see our surroundings as the sun sets. Lodging is provided in adjacent private homes where the rooms and private bathrooms are very comfortable and well-appointed. Viñales is famous for its mogotes (karstified limestone that has formed dramatic rock formations). The soil is ideal for crops like soybeans and pineapples, but the unique blend of climate and soil makes this area suitable for growing tobacco in Cuba’s finest cigars.
An early group dinner will cap off the day for an early start the next morning.
Day Two, Viñales
Capturing the early morning light, we will have our first interaction with farmers as they start their days, prepare their work animals, head to the fields, row to farms across the lake, and harvest tobacco. Finally, we will return for a relaxed breakfast at our prospective houses and then regroup to explore.
The remainder of the morning will be spent exploring farms and meeting local characters before we take a short ride to the Mirador for a Creole lunch overlooking the valley. The all-important siesta follows lunch before we head back into the valley for more of the Viñales farm and home life. Late afternoon and sunset will be captured at either one of the many vistas or in the town, where the plaza is one block from your lodging, as is the baseball field. Dinner will be at Finca Agroponica, where much of the food is grown in the raised beds surrounding the restaurant.
Day Three, Viñales
Every possible form of transport is used in Viñales, and farmers on horseback or in carts are as familiar as any other mode you can imagine. This morning we will stay within walking distance of our lodging as we photograph the town waking up, collecting their oxen and horses from their evening grazing spots.
Children freshly scrubbed in their uniforms walk to school in small groups or hold hands with a parent. After breakfast, we will take a short walk and have coffee in a typical valley home in the shadow of the mogotes.
Lunch will be on your own, and after a short siesta, we will load up the van for a short drive to the north coast and the small village of Puerta Esperanza. Unlike Viñales, this town is not used to seeing tourists, and you will see a piece of Cuba sliced out of the past. We will spend the afternoon exploring, coming and going with the freedom to stop whenever we like. Upon returning for a time to freshen up before we assemble at our host’s house for a “Lechon” (a roasted pig.)
Day Four, Havana
This morning will be our last in Viñales, and for those with the energy, we will enjoy a sunrise from Finca Agroponico as the sun creeps across the valley, and if we are lucky, there will be mist in the low areas. After another relaxed breakfast, we loaded up for the trip to Havana.
We are stopping at a UNESCO Biosphere, Las Terrazas. Once destroyed by overfarming, grazing, and deforestation, it was revitalized in the early 1970s by creating terraced hillsides with sustainable plants and trees and built around a series of lakes; a new village was created and populated with artists, artisans, and an assortment of professionals needed to support a sustainable community. After enjoying lunch and music at El Campesino, we will travel to Havana and check in at the Hostal (private hotel) del Buen Viaje in Old Havana.
After checking in and getting comfortable, we will take a sightseeing trip around the city to familiarise ourselves with the town, ending up with a short walk to dinner from the Malécon (the sea wall).
Day Five, Havana
Starting in the blue light of dawn, those who wish will take to the streets to explore the old part of the city as it wakes up. As the fragrance of fresh bread and coffee drifts out open doors, street sweepers, bicycle taxies, fishermen, and other early birds begin the challenges of their days. This morning, we will use the light to explore the old city between the forts of La Punta and Las Armas before rewinding our way through the town for a well-deserved breakfast.
Regrouping after breakfast, we will explore the five plazas that help define the walled city or Havana Vieja. Plaza Catedral, Plaza de Armas, the relationships between Plaza San Francisco, Plaza Vieja, and Plaza del Cristo, and a few surrounding streets will provide you with historical and geographical orientation, so you will be confident navigating this part of the city on your own. Stopping to rest and hydrate, we will enjoy lunch along the way. A well-earned siesta after lunch will allow for human and electronic recharging batteries.
The afternoon session will likely take place at the National School of Ballet, where youngsters begin the challenge of becoming a member of the prestigious National Ballet of Cuba. The school is a short walk up the Prado and across Central Park, so everyone can wander back to the hotel at their own pace and enjoy a free night to try a dining spot.
Day Six, Havana
An early van ride through the tunnel will take us to a vista of El Morro, the fort protecting the harbor entrance and overlooking the city, offering an opportunity to take long exposures with the city lights and bay. A short walk will also allow you a view from the water level.
Once the sun is up, we will return to our for a quick breakfast. Afterward, we will travel to the fishing village of Cojimar. A town made famous by Ernest Hemingway and his fishing boat Pilar. Here, he hosted many friends and hung out with the local fishermen. The book “Old Man and the Sea” was conceived from the characters and their stories from this village. Homeport to some 300 private fishing boats, the fishing base is Cuba’s largest commercial fishing port. The base comprises docks lining the narrow Alamar River, and each boat has a matching storage shed/shack where the fishermen store their equipment, bait their hooks, repair their lines, and store their portion of the catches. After this session, we will wander the village and have a traditional lunch at Cafe Ajiaco.
We will return to the hotel for a short siesta and a chance to download and recharge. Mid-afternoon, we will gather at the Corrales Gallery for an image review. After that, the goal is to break in time to allow for some golden light, an early dinner, and a free evening to arrange to see a show at the Tropicana or Guajirito.
Day Seven, Havana
Sunday mornings are noticeably less active in Havana, so this is a good day to sleep and catch up on rest and editing. We will start a little later and drive a short distance to the township of Guanabacoa. This old colonial town was once the capital while Havana was under siege by French pirates. There are two old churches, a music conservatory, and a beautifully renovated city centre.
Here we will wander the streets, courtyards, parks, and plazas as we familiarise ourselves with the town and its visual offerings. We will return to our hotel in Havana for lunch and a break. After a group lunch, we will travel a short distance to Cortorro and visit Finca Vigia, Hemingway’s compound, a nearby Voodoo temple, and the Haitian community. With the fading light, we will return to Old Havana and share a group dinner in a favorite Paladar.
Day Eight, Havana
The first light of this day will find us exploring the part of the city near the Ejido market, the train station, and the barrio Belen. This is a vibrant area where the old town meets Havana Central. After returning for breakfast and collecting late sleepers, we will drive to 10 de Octubre.
This will be a street photography session where we wander wherever the light and subject matter takes us. We will divide it into small groups so we can capture images individually. This is a section of the city that is distinctly different from old and central Havana. It is bustling with activity and commerce, but each little alleyway offers windows into the lives of the barrio’s
residents.
After a break for lunch and some free time to rest, download, and refresh, we will meet to photograph a session with an Afro-Cuban dance company. This is a high- energy and colorful presentation steeped in the religious traditions of Regla de Ocha, also known as Santeria. It is a religion with roots in Africa, and the Yoruba tribes of
Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.
Day Nine, Havana
This is our last full day as a group, and it’s your opportunity to visit the spots we didn’t see together or to revisit your favorite locations. We will convene for a couple of hours in the morning for one last image review and to submit images for the Final celebration.
The rest of the morning, lunch, and afternoon will be unscheduled, so this is the time to hit the museums and galleries. In the early evening, we will all meet at the Corrales Gallery to celebrate the week with a program featuring the group’s images of our moments, along with ‘ahhs’ and laughter. From there, we will take the party to a nearby paladar for a celebratory
dinner.
Day Ten, Return Home
After an early breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport and will be homeward bound.
This is a private photo/cultural trip with closed enrollment; however, a waiting list is available for any open spots.
