An initial consultation with Son Dos Alas will preliminarily assess the best travel category under the Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) regulations for your group or intitiution's travel interests.
Depending on the nature of your group, such as a faculty-led study abroad program, we request a syllabus of the class which will frame your visit to Cuba. If instead the group is a professional delegation, a collective of art curators, a group of musicians, or a culinary art community, we will request professional resumes or curriculum vitas from the group with an outline of general interests to guide the design of your program based on the delegation’s professional background or area of expertise.
We will then provide you with a proposal that includes a basic itinerary and budget proposal. If you accept to move forward with Son Dos Alas, we will discuss with you further logistics to design and execute your program for your specific needs.
All Son Dos Alas programs work with an institutional partner in Cuba. Our partners vary depending on the nature of your delegation and your travel needs. Previous institutional program hosts include:
- The Center for Psychological and Sociological Studies (CIPS)
- The Center for Studies of Martí (CEM)
- The National School for Public Health (ENSAP)
- The Ministry of Culture (MINCULT)
- The University of Pedagogical Sciences (UCPEJV)
Son Dos Alas’ relationships within Cuba include various institutional partners. This is an aspect that makes our programs more authentic. You do not receive a “birds eye view” of Cuba when you design and execute your program with us, nor are you treated as a “tourist.” When you travel with Son Dos Alas you are organically embedded into a real Cuban experience. We serve as your travel and educational service provider alongside our local institutional host that makes up a key part of our collaborative team.
All delegations are provided a tour leader/translator who is approved by both Son Dos Alas and our host institution. This is important because a public health delegation requires a translator who has been trained in medical lexicon. The same is true for arts delegations or other disciplinary specific communications. We tailor not only your itinerary to your interests, but every aspect of your program to best suit your educational travel experience.
