What are other's saying?
Here are some comments participants have made about their experience on our Cuban Adventures.
Julia, UK
Dady was a fantastic
guide and, by the end of the two weeks had also become
a good friend. When I was left stranded in Cuba by the
Icelandic volcano,
she went so far above the call of duty (ensuring that I had places to stay
and people to look out for me) that she is now a legend among my friends
in the UK!. A particular "Thank you" to Juan Carlos, our driver, who was
lovely to us and did his best to speak English to me.
The use of casas was my main reason for choosing this tour.
I'd have loved to have had more time in Santiago but the 2 weeks don't
allow for it and I think the tour is well paced due to the length.
I met many of your guides on this trip and they are definitely the greatest strength
of your tours. I'd just like to use this opportunity to comment on the fact that Sergio,
whilst not my guide, deserves some serious kudos for looking out for me when I got stuck
in Cuba, particularly as it was his week off. Many thanks.
Stenbeck Family, Canada
We had
a fantastic time with Jorge on our tour! We took our 2 teenagers and our 7 year old.
Jorge treated them like he was the older brother! We only wish that we had more time to spend!
Jorge was able to arrange for us to spend some time and share a meal with a family who had not previously
had an opportunity to spend time with tourists. He even made sure to find a family with a 7 year old girl
to play with our youngest daughter! We have recommended your company to people we know.
This was a great eye opener for our kids too, just to see the difference in culture,
and even the similarities. Even though the girls and I were a bit ill for 1.5 days, Jorge and our driver Pedro,
were very good about it! Jorge went to the clinic to get us medicine and hydrating salts to make sure we got better.
We did! The photo is our family in the caves at Maria La Gorda.
I know we will use your services again!.
Vicki, Australia
I loved my two weeks in Cuba and have not stopped raving about it to everyone I know since.
Cuba was even more fun and fascinating than I expected, and this tour made it very easy to fall
in love with everything about Cuba, without doing any of the hard work!. Our guide Jorge was great and
never stopped working, whether it was getting us on the road early
in the morning, or getting us out of the night club (also early in the morning), and dealing with all the things that
may not always go according to plan, because that's also part of being in Cuba.
But what I'll remember the most were the people - the families that invited us into their homes (and farms!)
for Christmas and New Year , the people who run the marvelous B&B's and provided delicious dinners,
the random people we met who were artists or salsa dancers or teachers or hitchhikers or served ice-cream in shops!
And the marvelous mix of people from around the world that I got to travel with, all so interested in Cuba and
wanting to get under its skin - it's not easy to do anywhere as a tourist but this trip really let me do much more
than just scratch the surface. I've written some more impressions about Cuba on my travel blog
that covers 23 years of my travels around the world -
www.redheadtravels.com.
Keri-Jane, UK
I loved the fact we
stayed in homestays, a much more authentic way to see Cuba, plus a great chance to practice your Spanish,
and if you are lucky, Salsa lessons with breakfast! Great guide - Yoxander -
he is passionate about his country and wants
you to have the best time possible, his knowledge is great and we got regular history lessons and pointers along the way.
A private minibus was another unexpected bonus on a budget tour.
Helen Webster, UK
We had the best time. The intinerary was excellent, the casas great and we were
extremely lucky to have wonderful travel companions but the main reason the tour was so
successful was YOXANDER!
We could not have asked for a better guide. He was always enthusiastic, funny and informative.
Despite working very long days he was always happy and nothing was ever too much trouble for him.
His knowledge of Cuba was immense. I now feel I have a deep and accurate understanding of what it is
like to live in Cuba. He was also incredibly conscientious - when we had the opportunity to go snorkelling
I was keen but deep down I was very frightened. He sensed this fear and was never more than 20 foot away from
me for the whole afternoon. I think most guides would have enjoyed themselves rather than ensure I had a wonderful time.
To sum up Yoxander made our trip to Cuba a magical unforgettable adventure.
Jackie, South Africa
This was truly
the best holiday I have ever had.
My only regret is that I could not speak Spanish. I know this would have enriched my experience but still I have an
awesome awesome time and I hope to return to Cuba one day. It is funny how I called other people "tourists" and did not see myself as such.
I felt like I was there visiting my friends and less like an outsider looking into other people's lives.
John & Oswaldo were an absolute delight,
their courtesy, knowledge was a great inspiration. Thank you!
Biljana and Uros, New Zealand
I just wanted to say
big thanks for a wonderful tour. We appreciate that you were able to organise
a tour for us outside the scheduled timeframe.
Also the tour guide we had, Dadi Rodriguez was absolutely awesome. She has great
knowledge about all things Cuban and was very friendly. She showed us many faces of Cuba, from Cuban life and
culture to nightlife and underwater world. :) We met another tour guide (Roger) who is also very nice even though we weren't
part of his group. Once again thank you. We will happily recommend Cuban Adventures to any of our friends who consider travelling
to that part of the World.
Andrew and Katrina, New Zealand
We would like to congratulate Cuban Adventures
for their excellent choice of Guide in Enelio. We really enjoyed Nell as the leader of our tour.
Nell was extremely enthusiastic and proud of his country. He comprehensively understood its
political and historical heritage and made it relevant for all of us. I loved discussing politics with him and he always listened
before replying. What a brilliant individual for the job he has.
Christine Seabrook, Australia
Thanks to Cuban Adventures for a wonderful time. I would highly recommend them if you are looking for a company to show you the real Cuba. Special thanks to Natalia our tour guide, and all of the wonderful people I travelled with. Cuba - what a beautiful country! Only a few words are needed to sum up my experience there: gorgeous scenery, gorgeous people, gorgeous seafood and music, music, music, music, music everywhere, and lots of dancing. Oh, and did I mention music! Here is the webpage I made about the tour ... http://cubausamarch2009.shutterfly.com/cuba
Sarah Williams, UK
I am reborn! Simply the best holiday I have ever been on.
Valeri was a super guide. We had such a fantastic experience in Cuba and much of this was due to Valeri's enthusiasm, organisation, passion and knowledge of Cuba and the tour. He also went above and beyond to help myself and Sinead with the days following the tour by arranging homestays in Santiago and Baracoa for us. I would definitely recommend Valeri as a tour guide to anyone wishing to get to know Cuba and learn about it's history and culture.
I loved staying in the casas. This was a great way to have more insight into cuban life. On the whole, the hosts were really friendly. I was expecting food to be more basic in Cuba and was pleasantly surprised. Sometimes breakfasts were almost too much food!
Clarita, who I booked through was extremely helpful from the minute I made interest until the moment just before and this information was invaluable. This made things so much more easier and with her knowledge of Cuba for us prior to going was great.
Heidi Feenstra, Canada
Despite the hurricane I had TONS of fun on this tour and the best part was getting to know Cuban locals in Trinidad as well as our guide Roger and our interpreter (also called Roger!) being Cubans themselves. I learned a lot of invaluable things and I can say this is one of the most unforgettable experience (I have travelled quite a bit and it is always different but this trip was a bit more personal with the locals and homestay. As well as Roger the tour guide was EXCELLENT. He was a quick learner as to how to communicate with us and it made the trip a lot more fun with his full head on involvement (I have been on different tours in the past where tour guides were not nearly as exciting or approachable). Roger has a good head on his shoulders and handled everything thrown into his way very well. I highly recommend him to be involved in any other deaf - related tours if any in the future as his communication skills is commendable and believe me, it does make all of the difference to the experience. Both Rogers worked very hard on the trip and I want their hard work to be recognized.
Lusine, Canada
I LOVED it! It was one of the most rewarding experiences. The highlight was living with local families and understanding what Cuba is really about. And it was a huge plus traveling with a local tour guide. I was inspired and would like to share an article I wrote about Cuba: http://thecompassculture.com/
Geoff, UK
Yoxander made the trip for us. His insight, sense of humour, pace setting of the trip, local knowledge, organisational skills, and just getting things done even when the unforseen happenned ie when in Barracoa and we had to transfer from the bus to a jeep because of floods. He really has tireless energy, putting in 18hrs days to accompany us to clubs in the evenings. One other unique point, no other guide has troubled themselves to see us off to the airport on the day AFTER the tour had finished. A great touch as there is always anxiety about taxis turning up! At the time it seemed a leap of faith to book a trip via and English office of an Australian company who subcontracted it to a Cuban agent. It did work well though and enquires were always dealt with efficiently, promptly and in a friendly way.
Jackie Yowell and Steven Rothfield, Australia
Thanks very much John and Yoxander for a great time in Cuba. We are still raving about it! We liked the range of the activities but the highlight for us was the engagement with local people and the freedom to explore each place. Talking to ordinary Cubans in towns and on farms was particularly interesting.
Laura Leonard, France
I truly loved Cuba, and I would wholeheartedly recommend your organization to others who want to make the trip. Tatiana was fantastic! very reliable, and consistently enthusiastic, engaging, communicative - always pointing out little interesting bits of info and showing us typical Cuban foods, plants, customs, etc., which consistently enriched whatever we were doing. She was unfailingly open to questions and ideas. She arranged for us to attend a baseball game in Camaguey, took us to a few typical farmhouses where the residents graciously fed us and let us see their surroundings, she also brought us to hear local music everywhere. I had brought some medical supplies to donate, and she made sure we stopped at a small-town clinic to see how doctors' offices are set up and for me to leave the donations where it might be needed. She also brought us to visit a well-known local artist's gallery. This is a wonderful experience and truly enables you to connect with the Cuban people in a way that tourists who only go to resorts can never do. Your organization should be a model for other Responsible Tourism efforts - congratulations!
Joanna Phillips, Australia
This was our first organised trip and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We were fortunate to have an excellent guide whose knowledge of Cuba, combined with his laid back but professional attitude, enhanced our experience. The trip covered so much of the country and gave us better overall appreciation of Cuba than we could have done on our own.
Karolina Chlebowska, Poland
I loved staying in casas particulares as you are able to have much more of local interaction and it gives u a feeling (especially due to the friendliness of hosts) that u are a part of family. The conditions were superb.
I loved Baracoa the most, the smell of the ocean, the ambience.. everything all together makes u feel like in Hemingway's old man and the sea.
My guide Jorge was a professional tour leader and a great person too. He has a wide knowledge about his country and is eager to share it with anyone that is interested. He was always there when we needed any help or suggestions and was accompanying us in our activities although he didn't have to. At the same time we had the possibility to decide what we want to do, with no feeling of being forced. It was great of him to take us to uni in Santa Clara, introduce us to his family and friends, as well as spend additional time with us also after the tour finished.
I also met Roger, Nadia, Darien and Yoxander - you have great guys there in Cuba! :)
I really appreciate your fast response to my inquiry as well as organization of everything although it was very last minute.
Troy Glennon, Canada
This trip was well organized where it was needed with transportation, accommodations and tours. It was also great in terms of flexibility, with the ability to stop, explore and interact with Cuba (it's people and interesting places) when the opportunity presented itself.
Imma Segura, Spain
Johnny ("El Canguro") is the best travel guide I ever met! I think he was born to do this job... He is just great dealing with people, he cares a lot about the needs / wishes of the group and although it seems sometimes that everything is a chaos, he manages to get everything in place, solve the problems and help you to experience the real Cuban experience! It was just fantastic to play dominos with the old guys in the suburbs of Santiago and to dance and sing with the locals in the pena in la Havana and then go to the Malecon to continue with the singing!
Bo Hall, Sweden
The tour was the best that Karin and I have done. I really liked the way it was organised, the country and its people. We loved the organic garden in Trinidad. Hope to be back some day. Do you organise tours to Colombia and Bolivia?
Magdalena Kordysz, Australia
Brilliant tour, couldn’t have asked for more! More than any other trip I have done in the past, we had opportunities to interact with the local people. We learnt a lot about the Cuban way of life. Best tour leader I have ever had by far. He really made the trip for us organising fantastic activites like a walk to the waterfall in Trinidad, music clubs at night, street party at Santiago and 1959 convertibles in Havana. I was very impressed with the standard of accomodation. Even the casa de particulars were excellent. I really enjoyed 3 nights in Trinidad, Santiago and Baracoa, it was ample time to get to know a city.
Leo Rosseau, Canada
In spite of being the only senior among a group of young adults I had a great time and worried unnecessarily. Your adventure concept is 'right on'. I have been looking for this type of tour of Cuba and my prayers were answered. As a matter of fact the age difference turned out to be a positive factor. Multi talented Yoxander is certainly an asset to your enterprise. He tells me that he has only been at this job for 8 mos. Yet he is doing it like a pro. I missed my toasts in the morning but then - “When in Rome do as romans do”
Neil Sokay, Ireland
Thank you for showing me the BEST HOLIDAY......EVER! I've been on a lot of good holidays in 2008 (ahem!!!!) but this was definitely my fave.
Was there in September 2008 and hurricane Ike, or no hurricane, a fantastic time was to be had. Couldn't have been possible without the most fantastic tour guide ever, Tatiana, on our trip. Cuba is such a fantastic country to visit and see and trips such as these are made all the more special by having such an excellent tour guide. Having Tatiana and Soto (our driver) as guides, I can only think that I got a good feeling for Cuban people, food, drink and culture but that doesn't mean I won't be back for more at a later date.
Andre and Anais, Denmark
Thanks for a wonderfull tour with Cuban Adventures. It was a great way to travel and our guide Tatiana did a brilliant job. We had no transportation issues, all family stays worked fine and were realy nice. Excursions we did very interesting and we got good guidance from Tatiana. The tour made life easy for us, allowed us to come in close contact with the local population by living under their roof, thus my daughter Anais and I had a great time. Inspite having a bad stomac due to parasites. The International Hospital in Trinidad was extremely efficient. The consultation and the laboratory analysis took 1 hour 15 minutes. After I new what I had and was given appropriate treatment.
Elena Kamaeva, Russia
The trip was great. So well organized and thought of. Jorge did a tremendous job trying to keep everybody happy. It was sad to see in what kind of economic misery people live there. A very educational experience. Helps me to re-evaluate my life in general. Thank you.
