Arrive in Havana and meet your tour guide. Attend a brief group orientation before setting off on an introductory tour of Havana. First visit a natural history research center and take a guided tour with a local expert. Learn about the research center’s mission and its efforts to conserve Cuba’s natural resources.

Enjoy your first Cuban lunch at a paladar (private restaurant). Pass by the Plaza de la Revolución, Havana’s city square and host to political rallies. Spend your afternoon on a guided walking tour of the atmospheric colonial streets and squares of Havana Vieja or Old Habana. Observe neoclassic Spanish and baroque architecture and learn more about the history of two independence wars, a revolution, and the US trade embargo. Appreciate the colonial past as you become immersed in the infectious energy and creative spirit of bustling Havana. Tonight enjoy fresh Cuban fare at a local restaurant.

Transfer to Playa Larga, on the Bay of Pigs (Bahia de Cochinos), where Cubans defeated an American invasion in 1961. After lunch kayak in warm Caribbean waters, then check in to your Casa Particular, your local accommodations for the night.

Next it’s off on a biking adventure to Zapata National Park, (Ciénaga de Zapata), a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and one of the largest and most important wetlands in the Caribbean. Within this diverse reserve are over 900 native plant species, 175 bird species, 31 reptile species, and over 1000 invertebrate species. The peninsula is one of the best birdwatching areas in the world, with notable endemics such as the bee hummingbird, Zapata rail, Zapata wren, and Zapata sparrow. Your bike ride of 10-15 miles on the backroads of the park is on mostly level terrain. Arrive at the village of Palpite for lunch. Meet with the Director of Zapata National Park, Frank Medina, for an informative People-to-People presentation on tourism and conservation in the park.

Biking: 10-15 miles, relatively level

Visit an excellent museum to learn about the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and battle. Next snorkel in the clear waters and coral reefs near Playa Girón, learning more about the reef ecosystem, its health, and marine conservation from your local guides.

 After lunch cycle to Yaguamayas and then transfer by bus to Cienfuegos. This UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Caribbean coast lies at the heart of sugar cane, mango, tobacco, and coffee production and trade. Bask in the harbor views as you learn about the 19th-century French founders and their progressive engineering and design for this great city, the "Pearl of the South". Check into your Casa Particular and relax before exploring the impressive colonial architecture and notable landmarks. Arrive at Teatro Tomas Terry, a grand 19th-century theater with French and Italian influences. Enjoy the views and excellent food to conclude your evening.

Biking: 20-30 miles, relatively level

After breakfast set out for a kayaking excursion in the protected waters of Laguna Guanaroca, a saline lake southeast of Cienfuegos. The lagoon is surrounded by mangroves and is home to over 170 species of birds, including a colony of pink flamingos and the tocororo or Cuban trogan, the national bird of Cuba. Paddle to the bay of Cienfuegos and to a remote restaurant near la Milpa for a seaside lunch.

Following lunch cycle to the Jardin Botanico Cienfuegos, originally created as a research institute to improve the yield of sugarcane. Highlights among the 2000+ species of indigenous and exotic plants are orchids, palms, ficuses, and bamboo. Visitors can also observe numerous birds, reptiles, and other fauna. Ride through the garden and meet with staff members to learn more about the agricultural and botanical sector in Cuba.

Arrive to Trinidad for dinner and overnight. A ‘living museum’ of this once-prosperous Spanish settlement during the sugar cane industry’s peak, Trinidad's cobblestone streets and terracotta clay roofs seem to have frozen the city in time. Dinner and overnight.

Kayaking: about 5 miles / 3 hours
Biking: 15 miles, moderate ascents and descents

Continue to Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes for your choice of short hikes. Located in the Sierra Escambray Mountains, Cuba’s second largest mountain range, it holds some of the best hiking trails with ample caves, waterfalls, pools, and rivers to explore. Visitors can spot Cuba’s national flower and bird here, the butterfly lily and Cuban trogon (or torororo). Hikers can observe spot over 40 species of orchid, coffee, 100 species of fern, and plantain and banana trees, along with unique hummingbirds. Opt between the Vegas Grandes trail to a waterfall and swimming hole, the 3-mile Salto del Caburni loop to a 190 ft waterfall with swimming hole, or a 4-mile forest hike to a prehistoric cave and underground river on the Sendero La Batata.

Enjoy lunch before descending to the coast and La Boca for a paddle on the Rio Guourabo. On this kayak trip you can visit the place where Hernan Cortez landed in the 1500s, observe birds, and see Trinidad in the hills above. Dinner and overnight in Trinidad.

Hiking: 3-4 miles

Ride east to historic Sancti Spiritus, one of the original seven Cuban cities founded by the Diego Velazquez and the Spanish in 1514. Explore the attractive colonial city after checking into your lodging for the night. Walk across the Puente Yayabo, built with clay bricks in 1815 for pedestrians and carriage traffic. This notable bridge forms five arches over the the Río Yayabo and is now a national monument. Visit the Teatro Principal, Cuba's oldest theater.

Biking: approx. 50 miles, elevation gains 1900' and drops about 1700'

After breakfast, explore more of Sancti Spiritus before transferring to Santa Clara for lunch and a visit to the Che Guevara mausoleum. Head to Havana, stopping for lunch en route. You will be transported directly to the Havana airport to catch your late afternoon flights.