Sign up by Aug. 6 for tour of Cuba

Please note new deadlines for booking & final payment.

Yes, you can go to Cuba with me!
U.S. passport holders can travel with groups

The new U.S. policies regarding travel to Cuba do still allow group travel, so I want to invite you to join me for my Nov. 6-16 "Revolutionary Cuba" tour. The booking deadline is Aug. 6 and final payment must be made by Sept. 6. Please contact me directly (705-788-1791 or cell 647-216-1791) to discuss payment details – cash, checks/cheques and credit cards are all fine!

The "Revolutionary Cuba" tour will offer insight into how Cuba's culture has been affected by the country's lengthy history of occupation by Spain and interference by the United States. Did you know, for example, that the ongoing U.S. embargo blocks Cuba from trading with other nations, not just the U.S.? What impact to you think this has had on the Cuban people and culture? We'll also look at how Spanish rule, from 1492 to1898, influenced Cuban life and architecture as we visit a variety of historically significant sites.

For those wishing to travel to Cuba from continental U.S., we can now offer flights from JFK and Fort Lauderdale. Flying from U.S. ports to Cuba is a little more complicated but P & G Travel professionals will be able to provide assistance with the process. At present, flights from either the U.S. or our preferred airport (Toronto) to Holguin and return from Havana are around $325-350 USD, but the prices WILL keep going up.

If the Nov. 6-16 tour doesn't suit you, maybe one of my other group trips to Cuba will. I'll send out updates as details are confirmed. A trip based at Marea del Portillo is in the works for later this year but the dates may be shifted from our usual late-October week to early December. Stay tuned!

Hasta luego,
Jenny

Revolutionary Cuba tour Nov. 6-16

Hola!

I'm excited to announce my next Cuban road trip! This bus tour will be a little shorter than the previous ones and is organized a bit differently, so we'll have fewer days on the road and more time in both Santiago and Havana, as the draft agenda below the poster shows. 

The theme of this "Revolutionary Cuba" tour is the country's history with respect to its long struggle for independence, both from Spanish tyranny and American interference. [For more about Cuba prior to "The Revolution" that culminated in 1959, please see my blog post on Cuba's early history. After the text, there are several pages of photos I think you'll find interesting too!]

For more information or to sign up, just send me an email (jennicacuba@gmail.com) or give me a call (705-788-1791). I'm always happy to talk about Cuba!

Gracias,
Jenny

Cuba's history – Columbus to Castro

I just completed a minor project: my version of the early history of Cuba, from 1492 to 1959, which is essentially from Columbus to Castro. I was writing an abridged account but, nonetheless, it ended up being close to 4,000 words. Then I started sorting photos. 

I'd collected quite a few of my own relevant photographs during my years of touring Cuba but I also wanted some interesting historical images, so I rifled through Internet archives. It was a challenge to keep my selections to a manageable quantity! I ended up with nine text pages, plus nine photo pages. Each photo page is a collage of images and, aside from the maps page, all of the full-color photos are mine; the black-and-whites are historic images that were captured from various virtual sources. 

I hope you will enjoy my work. Here's a link to the post on my Cubana de Corazón blog...
http://cubanacorazon.blogspot.ca/2017/01/cubas-early-history-from-columbus-to.html

And, just to entice you to click and look, here's a snippet of the opening text and the first page of historic photos ...

An early history of Cuba – from Columbus to Castro – and how I fell in love with a country and its people

By Jenny Cressman

In January of 1959, Fidel Castro and his crew of rag-tag rebels marched into Havana, Cuba’s capitol, and declared triumph for their revolutionary forces. Nine months later, I was born. I don’t think my parents were celebrating Castro’s victory but the significance of that year gave me something in common with the controversial little country long before it was on my personal radar.

Before I tell you how my affection for Cuba developed, let me first give you an overview of the historical highpoints of this small archipelago during a crucial time in its development. Let’s start with its so-called discovery....

Happy holidays to everyone!

Want to escape to Cuba in April?

I was able to get some great prices for a trip to Marea del Portillo, Cuba, on April 26! Please contact me immediately, if you are interested in being part of this group. 

There will also be a biking component available for an additional $250, similar to what we did last year with Randy Pielsticker & Gord Baker. This biking package will include a bike to use for the week and three half-day guided excursions. At the end of the week, the bike will be given to a Cuban family.

As well, there's space available in a group going the preceding week (April 19-26). The prices are a bit more for the earlier week because it is still technically "high season" at this resort, but there will be more activities and options since the Farallón Hotel will be open until April 26.

After the larger hotel (the Farallón) closes, the resort becomes a little quieter, which I like. But, don't worry - there will still be plenty of fun to be had!

If you are interested in joining either of the April groups, or signing up for the Feb. 11-24 bus tour of the island (YES, there's still room!), please complete my booking form and return it to me by email (jennicacuba@gmail.com) or give me a call and I can take the requisite information by phone (647-216-1791). You can also find me on Facebook!

Let's explore lovely Cuba in February!

Hola mis amigos!

I've just returned from leading my inaugural bus tour of Cuba and it went very well. We had a great group of people and I very much enjoyed hanging out with all of them!

My next Cuban road trip is scheduled for Feb. 11-24, 2017, and I'm looking forward to it. At present, the group is relatively small, which has some advantages (shorter baño lines, for example), but I hope to have a few more people sign up ~ please spread the word.

The itinerary for the February group is similar to the Nov. 5-17, 2016, bus tour but we will be flying into Havana and returning from Holguín, which gives us an extra day in Cuba ~ woohoo! This means we'll be able to visit the Viñales Valley, west of Havana, and spend our last night in the picturesque fishing village of Gibara. Also, we'll be staying in casas particulares (Cuban B&Bs) while in Havana, as well as Trinidad.

Viñales, in the Pinar del Río region, is known for its interesting limestone mogotes, tobacco farms and lush landscape. Quaint Gibara, in the province of Holguín, is where Christopher Columbus initially landed in 1492 and declared the island the most beautiful he'd ever seen, then promptly claimed it for Spain. I invite you to "discover" incomparable Cuba with me!

This package includes a two-week tour of the island, one night in a hotel near the Toronto airport preceding the trip, Cuban health/emergency medical care insurance while in the country (a requirement for all visitors), travel visas, all accommodation, breakfasts and some other meals. We'll have a professional Cuban guide to show us the key sites noted on the itinerary and I will be pleased to assist you in seeking out other interesting spots. The flight from Toronto and back will be priced according to what is available at the time of booking.

Hasta pronto,
Jenny

A trio of trips to Cuba - triple the fun

JennicaCuba has three trips coming up!

Hola mis amigos (Hello my friends), 

I'm very excited that I will be leading a trio of trips to Cuba in the coming months. The first one is a group going to Club Amigo Marea del Portillo, in southern Cuba, on Oct. 19. The deadline for booking & full payment is Aug. 19. Just to remind you, the prices for cabaña accommodation are: Oct. 19-26 (one week), $685 double occupancy or $765 single; Oct. 19-Nov. 2 (two weeks), $1025 double or $1265 single. After Aug. 19, it may still be possible to join this group, as long as seats are available on the plane, but prices could increase. 

The second trip is a bus tour of the island, Nov. 5-17. That one filled up so fast, I've added another similar group trip, scheduled for Feb. 11-24, 2017. I have a feeling it will fill up quickly too! The maximum for the bus tours is 24 people and the poster below gives you the basic details about the February trip. It's similar to the November tour, starting in the north and ending in the south, but we've added an excursion to the scenic Viñales Valley, while we're staying in Havana, and an extra night at the end in a charming fishing village called Gibara. 

For the Feb. 11-24 trip, we'll be flying into Varadero and out of Holguín, departing from and returning to Toronto. Although there are airlines vying for the chance to fly groups directly to Cuba from the U.S., nothing is yet set in stone and, at present, the main carriers are charters. So, it's safer to book our group on a reliable Canadian flight, even if participants are American. For that reason, we're offering accommodation in a Toronto hotel near the airport the night before departure as part of this package. The pricing is in USD but either Americans or Canadians are welcome to join me for this top-to-bottom island tour, "Incomparable Cuba #2." 

Hasta luego (See you later),
Jenny Cressman
a.k.a. JennicaCuba 

P.S. I'm also planning to lead my usual post-Easter group to Marea del Portillo. I'll send out information on that when I have exact dates and prices!