Cuba

In 2017, went to Cuba with my son Kenan! We had such a blast traveling to this quirky and cool destination. Here was our itinerary with Cuba Adventures Travel:

Day One:

Took a private walking tour of Old Havana with our guide. Checked out the art, architecture, cultural, history, and took lots of photos.

We visited the four main plazas of Plaza Vieja, Plaza de las Armas, Plaza San Francisco and Plaza Catedral

Afterwards, had lunch at a café with University of Havana political science professor, and continued to explore Parque Central, Museum of the Revolution and Havana Fine Arts Museum. 

Had dinner at one of Cuba’s top paladares (“Paladares” – private, family-run restaurants that have fueled rapid growth since 2008 in Cuba’s middle class through entrepreneurship) and after dinner took in the Tropicana Nightclub show.

Day Two:

Took a Classic American car tour of greater Havana – 1 hour ending on the Malecon

Visited the “Embarcadero,” Havana’s social gathering place, with a brief walk to the iconic Hotel Nacional, HQ of the Cuban Revolution, home to the Mob, Mafia, international movie stars and glitterati through Havana’s “Roaring ‘50’s”

After lunch, visited the Havana community of Jaimanitas for a walking tour through “Fusterlandia,” neighborhood ceramic art project of “The Picasso of Cuba” Jose Fuster and checked out another Paladar for dinner. 

Day Four:

Took a boat ride across the Harbor to deliver gifts of badly-needed OTC medical supplies and children’s medicines to the community of Regla.

Burundi

Jim with Juliet, a Nile Croc in Burundi ... loves her tail rubbed! Country Information:  The capital of Burundi is Bujumbura. There are approximately 12 million living here. The official languages of Burundi are Kirundi and French. The majority of Burundians practice...

Dominican Republic

6 summers of volunteering at Outreach 360 in Monte Cristi, near the Haitian border Outreach360 has been working in Latin America since 1994, and our family began volunteering in 2013 through 2018 in the Dominican Republic.  Outreach is such a wonderful program that...

Egypt

Sphinx in Egypt, 1995 on a father and son tripJim & Kenan 2021, on a father and son trip Abu Simbel near the Sudan border Country Background: The capital of Egypt is Cairo, though there are currently existing plans to build a new capital. About 100 million people...