After lunch we will take a walk around the centre of Santiago so that you can find your way to interesting galleries, music spots, and restaurants.

Dinner in your homestay

Optional evening visit to local Trova - this is where the musical traditions of the island are preserved.

An early start will take us out of Santiago to a day on the narrow desert-like coastal strip between the Caribbean Sea and the Sierra Maestra. The internationally acclaimed cactus expert of the Jardin Botanico de Santiago will be your lecturer at the Cactus garden, which is his work and his passion. This large garden is home to both indigenous cacti and those from around the world (2).

We will have time to explore more of Santiago's coastal plain and its rocky coastline.

For lunch we will visit an artisans' colony (2) with time to stroll and visit their homes and studios. A great place for something unique to take home.

 
On returning to Santiago we will visit the personal cactus collection of our expert and enjoy one of the unique aspects of life in Santiago.  

An early start will take us passed large state farms, through peaceful villages and onto the slopes of the Gran Piedra. We will make several stops on the climb to the summit as we pass through plantations of coffee, and bananas, orange and mango groves. Every turn in the climb brings with it changing climates and plants.

Amid a cloud forest of giant ferns and orchids, our expert will open your eyes to some of Cuba's tiniest ferns and orchids, bromeliads, and other exotic plants. We will take time to visit the house and grounds of the 19th century Haitian style Cafetal near the summit for a look at Cuba's past.

Our tour will take us to a commercial high altitude garden with a Bird of Paradise nursery. Fragrant hedges circle beds of roses, gladioli and camellias. Every path provides a vista of mountains and plains.

Lunch will be on the coast once more with time for a bathe, or time just to sit and enjoy the peace and natural beauty around you.

Dinner in your homestays.

Optional evening visit to Casa de los Tradiciones.

An early morning visit to one of the many organicoponico gardens which this year are expected to bring in about 5 million tons of produce throughout the island. Started just 15 years ago these gardens make a significant contribution to the diet and health of everyone.   These gardens take many forms, major gardens attached to housing areas,  tiny garden areas which serve a CDR,  farmers plots which bring food into the city, at army barracks and police stations and in school playgrounds. 

Free Day

Optional History tour  and Lunch in the Bay - From Pre-Columbian to Independence, lecture and tour of various historical sites including the oldest house in the Americas, San Juan Hill, and El Morro our wonderful castle. Lunch on an island in the Bay.

Optional Tour - Medicinal Herb Gardens and Lunch in the Bay - a visit to two medicinal herb gardens which supply the traditional pharmacies and the religious needs of the city and a visit to a traditional medicine pharmacy.

After breakfast an early start will put us on the road to Bayamo. The two-hour drive takes us over the Sierra Maestra and onto the central plain.  This was once an immense forest, cut and burned when sugar became the most important crop.  From 1850 to 1990 sugar was the major foreign exchange earner in Cuba.  Cane fields stretched as far as the eye could see, punctuated by groves of oranges, avocados and mangos, and banana plantations Today we will pass sugar fields planted with new crops, and sugar factories which handle less and less sugar every year, and whose workers are being retrained for other industries.

The City of Bayamo is home to an extensive Jardin Botanico. The Jardin Botanico de Granma is situated in the northern foothills of the Sierras.  This relatively new garden is home to many of the native plants of the area.  The forest is regenerating with local species.  Their collections  include foothills plants, lilies, medicinal plants, ferns and orchids. Their orchards contain species trees of the fruits of this island 

This is an exciting garden still growing and changing, offering a largely different environment from those in the dryer coastal plain or in the mountain tops.

From here we head into the mountains to El Salton Eco-Resort for a break and to see more mountain plants.

Situated in a lush tropical valley this pretty wooden hotel provides an wonderful change from the bustle and sun of the city.  A natural pool below the waterfall tempts all swimmers, and the stones of the gentle river provide pleasant spots to relax.  A trained masseuse is available for the ultimate pleasure of a relaxing massage

A welcome dinner will give you a chance to meet your guide for your mountain stay 

A guided early morning walk takes us above the resort through the alpine like meadows of peaceful farms. See cocoa on the tree, coffee growing in the shelter of forest canopy, peacocks strutting across the meadow, and children on their way to school. The plants, birds, and butterflies of the high mountains are fascinating in their diversity.

We shall leave after lunch for a drive through the mountains to Santiago. On our way we shall take the opportunity to pause at the Basilica de La Vergin de la Caridad (2) at El Cobre dedicated to the patron saint of Cuba. This modern Basilica (nearly a century old) set amid flowering trees, is the site of many personal pilgrimages.

A farewell dinner, with entertainment, will provide you with a splendid end to your time in Santiago and give you time to talk to the friends you have made.  

Free time to visit the city's craftpeople and art galleries. This will be a fine time to finish buying those little gifts for home. Want to buy something big and have no room in your suitcase - we will arrange shipment for you.

A meal in your homestay before your flight – early lunch or dinner – depending on the time of your flight

You will be picked up at your homestay and transferred to the airport for your flight home or to other destinations.