Cycling Holidays In Cuba
International travel companies sell spectacularly expensive, guided, group tours. Their brochures, sloshing with colour photos of enticing destinations, are marvelous. And in all of them, the word "adventure" appears with wallpaper frequency.
But is it really an adventure if everything is organized in advance for you? If you're making none of the consequential decisions? If you're sheltered among a group of well-to-do westerners much like yourself? If a guide is leading you?
Perhaps, if you're mountain climbing or backcountry skiing. But if you're simply traveling? No, it is not an adventure. It's daycare for adults in exotic locales.
You want a genuine travel adventure? Plan it and do it yourself. Most of the world is far more accommodating of independent travelers than tour companies would have you believe.
Prime example: cycling holidays in Cuba. A couple winters ago, we took our bicycles to Cuba and rode across much of the island in five weeks.
We cycled from Havana, west to Vinales. Then we caught a bus back to Havana and on to Santa Clara. From there, we cycled through central Cuba and visited the UNESCO World Heritage town of Trinidad. Our favourite region was the three-day stretch along the south coast, between Montezuma and Santiago de Cuba. In a lifetime of journeys, it remains uniquely memorable.
Independent cycling holidays in Cuba are certain to be challenging as well as rewarding, because figuratively as well as literally you're self-propelled. But cycling holidays in Cuba certainly don't require tour companies or guides. If you're athletically fit, reasonably adaptable and, yes, adventurous, you can do it comfortably and safely.
To learn more about independent cycling holidays in Cuba, go to http://www.hikingcamping.com/free-cycling-cuba.php, where you can read the travel article we wrote for the Calgary Herald.
For a glimpse of independent cycling holidays in Cuba, go to http://www.hikingcamping.com/photos-cuba.php, where you can see photos from our trip.