Marie P.
Highly disappointed with the trip…
Highly disappointed with the trip overall !! Our tour guide Oscar was amazing, we had a great time with him, so no complaints about him. Although, when taken all things into consideration with what was included or not included in our itinerary, we feel that we were EXTREMELY over charged to the point that at the end of our trip we felt frustrated and swindled!! The fact that the itinerary included a hiking excursion knowing my 78 year old mother would be joining us and the hike had numerous cliffs with absolutely no safety barriers is utterly disturbing. Other items that were supposedly included in our itinerary did not happen as well. I definitely will NOT be using this company again.
Response from Espíritu TravelFeb 17, 2020
Hi Marie, I am sorry to hear that you were disappointed with your second trip with us to Cuba even though you mention that you had a great time and that Oscar, your guide was amazing. As with your first trip, during the pre-trip planning, I provided you with a private, customized itinerary with a price. The itinerary was detailed with a description of the services and activities for each day, in addition, there was a price with a list of what that price included. You approved (by hitting the approved button) the trip and its price. Since it was a customized, private trip, you could have changed any of the activities at any time, even after having made the deposit. I am surprised that you felt swindle for this trip but you gave us a good review for your first trip and you didn’t feel swindled. On day 6 of your itinerary, you had the choice of one of two-day excursion from Trinidad, the hike or going to Valle de Los Ingenios. You selected the hike which the description listed the hike as moderate. On January 9th at 19:28, I wrote to you: ¨¨Do you think your Mom is ok to do the hike in Trinidad too? It is moderate, like parts of it you to have to give an effort. We have had lots of people in their 70s do it. ¨¨. You answered at 21:48 the same day: ¨Yes, my mom should be able to do the hike. If not, she will simply sit it out and has no issue waiting for us. Thanks for double-checking.¨¨. I have personally done this hike and there are no cliffs as you are trying to imply here. The mountains of the Sierra Escambry are not high and it is a jungle in other words densely wooded so there would not be high precipitouss. In addition, the hike is not to the top of the mountain but it is through the park and down to the natural pools and waterfalls so the return trip, you actually have to hike up. National parks in Cuba are not sanitized in the way they are in the US, such as with built steps and rails everywhere. They are kept in their natural state. We have had thousands of people do this hike with no-one having returned complained that there were no barriers. It is the most popular excursion to do when you are Trinidad. A quick look online, you are able to note that it has a near 5-star rating. I have checked with Oscar in regard to missed activities. He told me that the Che museum was closed, inexplicably when you went there. The Che museum is open every day so it should not have been closed, but it is a state-run like just about everything in Cuba so if they want to close they just do it. Also, Cuba is experiencing a fuel shortage so perhaps it was closed to save money, I can only make a guess as to why it would’ve been randomly closed. Oscar mentioned that you did not want to have the drink at the palace in Cienfuegos which is included. He indicated to me that he asked and everybody said no. Lastly, in regard to the included drink, guarapo which is usually given when you are at the tobacco farm, again this is aways given so my apologies that you were not given this drink to try while in Viñales. However, if you had asked Oscar, he would have happily brought you somewhere to try it. Other than those three items, Oscar said that every service as detailed in the itinerary was provided.