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Consuelo began working with insightCuba in June of 2015 and has since led more than 15 tours. A proud Texan, Consuelo lives in the U.S.—a boon for our guests, as she travels to and from Cuba with the groups. She consistently receives rave reviews, such as:

“Consuelo and Madeline were among the most exceptional guides I have ever had! They, apart from the beauty and charm of Cuba, made the trip more worthwhile.” 
– Undiscovered 4.3.16 

About a half an hour’s drive from Havana sits the little fishing village of Cojimar. Inseparable from the lore and legends of Ernest Hemingway, the town on the Bay of Cojimar still echoes with the author’s influence.

A bust of the writer stands at the town’s Hemingway Memorial, and an annual fishing tournament honors his memory. Visitors can dine on seafood at La Terraza, as Hemingway did when he lived in Cuba from 1939 to 1960.

Visiting the Cuban home of literary giant Ernest Hemingway, whose novels and stories I’ve revered is nothing short of a pilgrimage of sorts, and a must for any budding writer.

Though they are two very different countries in many ways, Cuba and the United States have at least one major thing in common: the love of baseball. Many assume that soccer is the most popular sport in Cuba, given futbol’s prominence in the rest of Latin America. But, like in the United States, baseball is Cuba’s national pastime.

If I knew nothing else about going back to Cuba, one thing was for sure. I would dine at La Guarida, Havana’s most coveted paladar. I requested a reservation not weeks, but several months in advance. An exaggeration for sure, but my preventive excitement was off the charts. Ever since watching Fresa y Chocolate (1993), the sole Oscar-nominated Cuban movie shot on the location of today’s La Guarida (that’s hideout in Spanish), I’ve made a mental note to one day visit.

Cuba, the pearl of the Antilles, is perhaps most renowned for its music, rum, and cigars. Equally deserving, though, are its unique cityscapes. Havana, Cuba’s capital, is known as the Paris of the Caribbean. The city is steeped in history and boasts the best of Cuban architecture, including remnants of the colonial period, classical European-style edifices, art deco homes, 1950’s mobster-run casinos, and giant concrete Soviet structures.