Grassroots Tour of Cuba Offered by Pioneer Travel Company

Big Planet Adventures is offering a 15 day small group tour of Cuba for travelers interested in an immersion experience of Cuban culture and society.

(PRWEB) February 18, 2006 -- Big Planet Adventures is a creative travel company that develops and operates small group tours in untried and special interest travel niches. This year it is offering a 15 day grassroots tour of Cuba.

Cuba, undoubtedly a unique destination, is the largest and least commercialized island in the Caribbean. It is also one of the world's last bastions of communism with a fascinating modern history. Its relative political isolation has prevented it from being overrun by tourists. Arguably the most musical country on the planet, the locals are sincerely friendly to those who do venture in.

It is contact with these locals and their culture that is the focus of the tour, called the 'Cuban Adventure'. "We try and show people the 'real' Cuba" explains John Ahrens, the Australian director and founder of Big Planet Adventures. "Our ethic is to provide the resources and framework for our travelers to have authentic cultural experiences of societies very much different from their own. If you want to just go to tourist shows, do city tours, visit museums, and lie on the beach, you are best to look elsewhere. People that enjoy our tour the most, are those that are not afraid to step outside their comfort zone, interact with the Cubans and participate in their culture."

Accommodation on the 15 day tour is mostly home-stay, so travelers get the chance to stay with Cuban families, eat the food they provide, and see from the inside how the Cubans live. An experienced tour leader accompanies the group throughout and along the way he/she organises activities that the group or individuals elect. Apart from some of the more regular activities available such as treks to waterfalls, horse-riding excursions, and visiting some of those famous beaches, the leader can take the group to visit local schools, tobacco factories, private art galleries, collective farms, to sacred Santeria (not unlike Voodoo) ceremonies, or to traditional street parties in parts of the country that most tourists would never venture.

Cuba can be visited all year round, however the less preferable times to visit are in the really hot months of June, July, and August, and the hurricane season of September and October. The hurricanes usually aren't a threat to life because of the excellent evacuation procedures in place in Cuba (especially for tourists), but can complicate travel plans. The weather at other times of the year is famously ideal -- generally warm and tropical.

For more information please visit Big Planet Adventures, Cuban Adventure website -- www.cubagrouptour.com

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