The Hillsboro Chamber occasionally offers adventures to different destinations throughout the world. The locations range from China to Tuscany to South and Central America. By partnering with reputable and reliable tour companies, the Hillsboro Chamber offers trips that help break culture barriers, explore foreign land, and the chance to see other countries’ economy and business environment.

Current destinations

1. Cuba - Informational meeting 2/2/12 5pm at the chamber

Cuba - Departs May 3, 2012
$3,299 per person from Miami, double occupancy
($600 single supplement)

INCLUSIONS:
• Round trip Airfare (MIA)
• Air Departure Taxes
• Cuban Travel Visa
• 8 Nights First Class Hotel Accommodations
• 19 Meals (7 Breakfasts, 7 Lunches, 5 Dinners)
• Sightseeing & Admissions per Itinerary
• Full Time Professional Cuban Bilingual Host / Tour Guide
• Hotel & Airport Transfers and Baggage Handling
• Transportation by deluxe air-conditioned motorcoach
• Cuban Health Insurance

ACCOMMODATIONS:
• 1 Night - Miami Airport - Sofitel or Hilton
• 2 Nights - Havana - Melia Cohiba or Melia Havana Libre
• 2 Nights - Trinadad - Hotel Brisas Trinidad del Mar
• 3 Nights - Havana - Melia Cohiba or Melia Havana Libre

For more information contact Julie Wilson at 503.726.2140 or juliew@hillchamber.org

*Hotels and Itinerary are subject to change

Chamber Explorations has been issued a specific license by The Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which authorizes registered guests of our programs to visit Cuba legally. There are no applications to complete, and your travel with us is fully authorized. Prior to departure, you will receive a copy of our Specific License and a Letter of Authorization which legalizes your travel to Cuba.

(B, L, D indicates whether Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner are included on a given day)

Day 1: Miami Overnight: Miami
Arrive in Miami. Transfer to your Miami airport are hotel. Dinner is on your own.

Day 2: Miami - Cuba - Havana Sightseeing (L) Overnight: Havana Depart Miami on your short flight to Cuba. Upon arrival at Jose Marti International Airport in Cuba, meet your Cuban host and full time experienced bilingual tour guide. Enjoy a guided orientation tour of Cuba’s capital city. We explore the Cathedral de la Havana, built in baroque style in 1748 and learn about it's preservation and continuous restoration. Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier described the building as "music turned to stone", words that still ring true today in the local culture. Along the way we will stop to take a group photo at the Plaza de la Revolution. See the Greek Orthodox Church and a Scale Model of the city of Havana. Enjoy an included lunch at the Havana Harbor Side Terrace, El Templete Restaurant. Next, visit the Museo Fine Arts and explore the beautiful Museo de Revelution that displays old documents and artifacts telling the country’s history. The museum is housed in the former presidential palace that housed Cuba’s leaders from the 1920s until 1959 and offers beautiful architecture, the interior was designed by Tiffany’s of New York. Visit to La Marketa de Havana in Old Town, this is a collective association of small craft workers were you will meet local merchants and artists. The evening is at leisure.

Day 3: Havana - Terrazas Region of Vinales - Havana (B,L,D) Overnight: Havana
Travel to Las Terrazas region of Vinales. The western province of Pinar del Rio is known for its stunning scenery, a landscape of prehistoric looking flat-top mountains or "mogotes", tobacco plantations, caves and rivers and verdant plateau. Visit Las Terrazas, a small cooperative village that was set up in the 1960s to be self-sufficient. We will tour its local village called Rancho Curujey to learn about the self sustain successes in reforestation, historian preservation, environmental balance and a good life. Next we meet with local artists and craft workers in their homes and studios. Later we'll walk the incredible ruins of a French Coffee Plantation built in 1801. Next, take a boat ride to see the Prehistoric Painted Caves. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before seeing local tobacco fields and the Cathedral Church in Vinales. Later in the day we will visit the San Lazaro Church in El Rincon, this famous church is named after San Lazaro, the Saint of the poor. Thousands of Cubans make the trek here every year on Dec. 17 with some pilgrims making the trek barefoot or dragging stones behind them. The church is run by nuns in which Che Guevera was instrumental in organizing. Dinner tonight is at the famous Patio Restaurant El Aijibe.

Day 4: Havana - Cienfuegos - Trinidad (B,L,D) Overnight: Trinidad
After breakfast we leave Havana behind and depart to Trinidad. Along the way we will stop in the beautiful seaside province of Cienfuegos, Cuba’s “Pearl of the South”. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant en route. Arrive in Cienfuegos, founded in 1819 by French settlers and currently one of Cuba’s newest cities offering harmonious architecture and urban planning. Begin with a panoramic overview of the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and visit the lush, fragrant Botanical Garden. Visit the Jagua Castle, the fortress of Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles de Jagua, finished in 1745. It is a solid component of the military architecture of the 18th century in Cuba. In the afternoon we continue our journey to Trinidad and check into the All Inclusive Hotel Brisas Trinidad del Mar for a two night stay. Enjoy a welcome cocktail. After dinner, it’s time to dust off your dancing shoes and learn from the locals to dance the Salsa. This famous genre is descended from Cuban son, but also borrows heavily from other styles, particularly America jazz.

Day 5: Trinidad (B, L, D) Overnight: Trinidad
Today, enjoy a walking tour of Trinidad de Cuba. One on the oldest cities founded by the Spaniards in the West Indies and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was established in 1514 on orders of the conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar who traveled to Cuba with Columbus in 1493. After lunch at the La Palacio del Villa Restaurant we visit the Plaza Mayor, Museum of Architecture, Museum of the Romantic Era, the main town parish and other amazing sites, some dating back centuries. We visit a sugar plantation and the mirador lookout over the Sugar Mill Valley, also an UNESCO World Heritage Site, where sugar barons constructed their opulent countryside mansions and huge refineries. Trinidad is well known for its pottery makers. We'll meet a family that has been passing on the tradition for generations, visit their studio and enjoy a pottery class. Dinner is included this evening.

Day 6: Cienfuegos - Playa Giron - Havana (B,L) Overnight: Havana
Check out of your hotel and bid good bye to Cienfuegos, along the drive back to Havana, stop at the town of Playa Giron, to tour the Bay of Pigs Museum that tells the story of the invasion and the proceeding 72 hour infamous battle. This coastal region was the site of the historical 1961 clash between U.S. CIA trained Cuban exiles and rebel forces, the event that defined US – Cuban relations for decades. You will see many historical artifacts from the events, including a Sea Fury fighter aircraft, photos and maps which outline each step of the failed plan. Later arrive in Havana for a three night stay.

Day 7: Havana - Hemingway Farm - Cojimar (B,L,D) Overnight: Havana
Today you are introduced to the world of Ernest Hemingway, truly an iconic figure with a visit to Hemingway’s Farm, Finca La Vigia or “Lookout Farm”. This beautiful property hosts the house where the Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway lived with his wife Martha for 21 years. View the perfectly preserved home with all of the Hemingway personal belongings intact. You may walk the grounds to climb the stairs for the panoramic view from his study or view his yacht the Pilar boat which he used to patrol for Nazis in the Caribbean waters and featured in his novel “Islands in the Stream”. Next, visit to the picturesque Cojimar Fishing Village made famous by the Hemingway’s novel “Old Man in the Sea” that garnered Hemingway a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 as well as the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Enjoy lunch at Las Terrazas Restaurant overlooking the water with great views of the emerald green sea. Venture just a stone’s throw from the Capital, into the Guanabacoa Region, rich with religious diversity; the region is best known for Santeria. This village has some of the finest colonial churches where locals worship both Catholic and Santeria saints. Visit the Museo de Guanabacoa of Santeria Orishas and see exhibits on the fascinating Afro-Cuban culture. Visit the Partagas Cigar Factory, one of the oldest cigar brands in the world, established in Havana in 1845. Learn about the manufacturing of fine Cuban cigars and interact with the factory workers about the history and process. Dinner tonight is at the Cafe del Oriente Restaurant in Old Havana, one of the finest places to go for dinner in all of Cuba.

Day 8: Havana - (B,L,D) Overnight: Havana
Today, visit the Callejon de Hamel, any alleyway street in central Havana where cultural rescue and expansion has been expressed through art by the artist Salvadore Gonzalez. His murals and sculptures have taken over entire building and fascades. Meet with local artists to learn more about this art form. See to Colon Cemetery. This afternoon explore the Morro Castle, built in 1589, it protects the mouth of the Havana harbor, and is a beautiful fortress. Next visit the Cuban Literacy Museum and learn about a nation effort to educate rural farmers and families. Also, visit a local school/day care. Farewell Dinner this evening at the outside patio at the La Barraca Restaurant. Here we enjoy authentic traditional Cuban cuisine and lively music.

Day 9: Havana - USA (B)
Following breakfast at the hotel this morning, transfer to the airport for your flight home with incredible memories of the sights, history, people and culture of Cuba!

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Old Havana (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• Cathedral de la Havana
• Museo Fine Arts
• Pinar Del Rio Vinales
• Prehistoric Painted Caves
• Cienfuegos (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• Jagua Castle
• Trinidad (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• Church of Trinidad
• Partagas Cigar Factory
• Playa Giron/Bay of Pigs Museum
• Hemingway’s Farm - Finca La Vigia
• Cojimar Fishing Village

CULTURAL CONNECTIONS: PEOPLE TO PEOPLE INTERACTIONS
• La Marketa de Havana
• Las Terrazas Cooperative Village
• Salsa Dancing
• Traditional Pottery Studio Visit and Class
• Bay of Pigs Museum
• Santeria Religious Center
• Callejon de Hamel
• Cuban Literacy Museum
• Cuban School/Day care