Arrive at Antonio Maceo airport, Santiago de Cuba. You will be met by our friendly staff and transferred to your homestay. All our accommodations are carefully checked; all are air-conditioned, with private bath or a share bathroom with one other room. Some of our hosts speak a little English - they will encourage you to use your newly acquired Spanish.

Breakfast.

Spanish Class.

Morning Program - Revolution in Cuba - the partisans in the Mountains and the Terece Frente - a brief history of "La Lucha" in the mountains.

Lunch.

After lunch we will visit some important revolutionary monuments and meet some participants who were in the mountains with Che and Fidel.

Dinner.

Fireside Evening Program - you'll have a chance to meet some local partisans and hear their stories of their time in the Sierras.

Breakfast.

Spanish Class.

We'll take a guided tour in to the mountains to visit farms, coffee and cocoa plantations.

Lunch.

A free afternoon will give you the chance to enjoy the many relaxing alternatives of the Spa.

Dinner and then an evening of musical entertainment and dancing.

Breakfast.

A daylong tour to the famous city of Bayamo, home of the Cuban national anthem and participant in two centuries of struggle for Independence and the National Garden nearby. We'll take lunch at a Botanical Garden and dine on the fresh fruits and vegetables they grow there.

Return to Santiago and your homestays.

Breakfast.

Spanish Class.

A Walking Tour of Santiago's Main Galleries and Museums will take you into the heart of Santiago's vibrant culture. You'll visit the studios of some of Cuba's leading young artists and sculptors.

Lunch.

A visit to the Basilica de la Virgen de la Caridad - the patron saint of Cuba, followed by a walk up to the UNESCO Statue commemorating the runaway slaves. The sculptor will talk to you about his monumental work.


Free evening.

Breakfast.

Spanish Class.

All day program of visits to several schools. Visits to five different educational institutions including a Circlo for very young children, a school for children with special needs, one of Cuba's premier arts schools, and a teacher training college.

Lunch on the tour.

Evening Program - a Dance Class to brush up on your steps and get used to Cuban rhythms.

Breakfast.

Spanish Class.

Morning Program - We'll pay a visit to one of the main markets in Santiago, and then go and visit some of the remarkable market gardens, which supply the vegetables and fruit to the city. Farms and groves of mangos, oranges and bananas surround Santiago. We will be paying a visit to an internationally recognized Fern and Orchid Garden (2), which benefits from one of the microclimates of this area. Established 25 years ago as the outgrowth of a passionate hobby, this garden is now established as an international must for tropical fern lovers and researchers from around the world.

Lunch - A festive lunch amid the orange and mango groves of a nearby community. Stay on after lunch to dance or swim or just enjoy the peace of the pleasant corner of Cuba.

You'll have free time for last minute shopping and packing before your transfer to Antonio Maceo Airport.