Overview
This trip is authorized by the US Government under the category of Support for the Cuban People.
Join Jim Cline on this memorable photo tour to the most photogenic destinations in Cuba. Jim has travelled to Cuba since 1997, leading photo groups there since 2011, and has established long-time relationships with many people there. We’ll get to see many of the finest iconic sights that Cuba has to offer, but we will dig much deeper into the lives of the amazing Cuban people. We will interact with Cubans from all walks of life while taking advantage of the best light, and with a flexibility that allows us to make the most of opportunities as they arise.
We will start in Havana, with its world-class street shooting and so much more. We will organize photo shoots, such as the most important boxing gym in Cuba, Afro-Cubano dancers, and ballet dancers from the Cuban National Ballet posing in an old mansion. We will be assisted by local Cuban photographers, and everywhere we go we will meet and photograph the friendly people of Havana.
Next, we will explore the tobacco-growing region of Vinales – with its stunning limestone cliffs, or Mogotes. Vinales would be an important photo destination just for the scenery alone, but it is the traditional farmers that make it so great. We are friends with many of the farmers in the area, and they will invite us into their homes, affording photo opportunities that the typical group will never have. Also, we’ll be working with a local photographer who was born and raised there.
Finally, we will journey to the colonial city of Trinidad. Many consider this Unesco World Heritage site the most beautiful city in Cuba. With the backdrop of the perfectly preserved colonial buildings, we’ll photograph cowboys riding horses and pulling horse-carts through the cobblestone streets, along with the classic American cars. We’ll meet a local photographer there and visit a cowboy ranch outside of town, where we’ll be served an authentic country-style lunch. Trinidad also hosts a thriving local live music scene, and we will have the opportunity to photograph local musicians there.
Itinerary
Day 1: (Feb 24)
Arrive on your flight to Havana, you’ll be picked up at the airport and transferred to our B&B in the heart of Old Havana. In the late afternoon, we’ll meet for introductions and orientation. We’ll then get in our classic cars and go to a terrific dinner restaurant, La Guarida, Cuba’s most famous, and photogenic restaurant. We’ll spend the night in Havana.
Day 2: (Feb 25)
Walking in Old Havana with our Cuban photographer/guide in the morning, learning the history of the city, and meeting every-day Cubans along the way. In the afternoon we’ll visit Galeria Raul Corrales, a studio dedicated to the famous photographer’s work and run by his granddaughter Claudia Corrales. We’ll then go for a photo walk in Centro Habana, visiting some of Jim’s friends along the way, and on to the Malecon, the miles-long sea-walk, for sunset and the last light through twilight time. We’ll witness the classic American cars as they rumble past the old buildings and the sunset, fishermen, and musicians on the seawall. We’ll walk straight to dinner at a restaurant situated near the Malecon. We’ll spend the night in Havana.
Day 3: (Feb 26)
In Havana, we’ll have an optional early morning photo walk. Later in the morning, we’ll visit a boxing gym where some of the top boxers in Cuba train. After lunch, we’ll visit and photograph an exciting dance performance. In the evening we’ll take classic old convertibles to our rooftop dinner restaurant in New Havana, with a stop at Revolution Square with its giant monument to the national hero, Jose Marti. We’ll spend the night in Havana.
Day 4: (Feb 27)
In the morning we’ll go with our Cuban photographer/guide for a model shoot with ballerinas from the National Ballet in a gorgeous old mansion. In the afternoon there will be free time for optional activities and we’ll have dinner on our own. That evening we’ll have an optional excursion to the famous Tropicana floor show.
Day 5: (Feb 28)
In the morning we’ll drive from Havana to Vinales, arrive for lunch at a private restaurant with an amazing view over the Vinales Valley with its dramatic limestone cliffs, or mogotes. We’ll stop at a tobacco farm, get a cigar-rolling demonstration and take photographs of a tobacco farmer inside the atmospheric tobacco barn. We’ll proceed to town and check into our cases and have the late afternoon to explore the town and meet the friendly locals. For sunset, we’ll go to a hilltop organic farm restaurant with great views of the Vinales valley and surrounding cliffs. We’ll spend the night in Vinales.
Day 6: (Mar 1)
We’ll get up for sunrise and visit tobacco farmers and photograph them in the morning light. We’ll have breakfast at the farm before heading to another farm to photograph farmers in the fields and inside the tobacco barn. We’ll have lunch and free time in the middle of the day. Then in the afternoon we’ll visit more farmers and photograph them in and around their homes and barns. They will invite us into their homes, where we will learn about their daily lives. We’ll have dinner and mojitos at a tobacco farmer family “restaurant”. We’ll spend the night in Vinales.
Day 7: (Mar 2)
We’ll drive from Vinales to Trinidad, with a lunch stop on the way. We’ll make a stop at a former sugarcane community, including inside a ration store adorned with revolutionary murals. We’ll then drive along the Caribbean shoreline, arriving in time for the last light in the colonial town of Trinidad. We’ll check into our rooms in the historic city center. We’ll have dinner in a private restaurant, or paladar. We’ll spend the night in Trinidad.
Day 8: (Mar 3)
We’ll have a morning walk with a local photographer from Trinidad, who will guide us through the streets of this magnificent UNESCO World Heritage Site, meeting the local people and learning about their lives. We’ll have free time in the middle of the day, and then in the afternoon we’ll have a photo shoot with a cowboy on his horse in the river. Later we’ll have free time to wander the streets for the golden hour. Dinner will be on our own. That evening we may visit one or more of the thriving live music venues in the center, including the famous Casa de la Trova, or the outdoor Casa de Musica. We’ll spend the night in Trinidad.
Day 9: (Mar 4)
In the morning we’ll journey into the Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills), a UNESCO World Heritage Site where we’ll shoot a quinceañera–a girl celebrating her fifteenth birthday–at a beautiful 18th-century hacienda. We’ll lunch at a ranch farm. In the late afternoon, we’ll have an optional walk, we’ll wander the streets until the last golden light, where we’ll get a look inside the homes of the friendly people. We’ll have our farewell dinner at a private restaurant. After dinner we’ll have an image-sharing session at our B&B. We’ll spend the night in Trinidad.
Day 10: (Jan 31)
After breakfast, we’ll make the drive to the airport in Santa Clara for your flights home.