MIEMING, AUSTRIA: Edelweiss Bike Travel, the world’s leading motorcycle touring company, has launched 8- and 11-day tours of Cuba for U.S. motorcycle riders beginning in March 2018, to be led by acclaimed moto-journalist and Cuba expert Christopher P. Baker.
Hailed by National Geographic as “one of the world’s leading experts on Cuba travel and culture,” Baker has twenty years’ experience motorcycling in Cuba and will guide a number of departures especially for U.S. motorcycle riders. He has honed the company’s Cuba itineraries—offered for worldwide customers since 2013—to the requirements for legal U.S. travel under the ‘People-to-People’ license category. Any U.S. citizen can participate.
With Baker as tour leader, participants are guaranteed unique and fascinating ‘people-to-people’ interactions with Cuban personalities from artists and baseball players to such harlistas (owners of pre-revolutionary Harley-Davidsons) as Baker’s friend Ernesto (son of ‘Che’) Guevara.
“Now is the time to visit Cuba. The risks of not doing so are very real,” says Baker, who gives ten reasons for U.S. citizens to visit Cuba now:
- Because finally you can… but will you still be able to tomorrow?
- To beat the crowds
- Because Cuba is changing
- All those incredible classic cars!
- Catch it while it’s frozen in time
- See socialism with your own eyes
- For Hav’an’a good time
- It’s not addicted to WiFi
- This is a fascinating moment in history
- Because it’s SAFE!
“The charges by the Trump administration of ‘sonic attacks’ in Cuba are questionable and have the appearance of being a politically motivated attempt to scare U.S. travelers,” claims Baker. “There’s absolutely no evidence. Cuba is still the safest country in the Caribbean and Latin America.”
The programs span western and central Cuba, taking in Havana, tobacco country, the Bay of Pigs, the UNESCO World Heritage city of Trinidad, Che Guevara’s mausoleum in Santa Clara, the beaches of northern Cuba, and more.
The following tours are offered for 2018:
>> 11-day ‘Cuba … with Christopher P. Baker! In order to welcome Christopher to the tour guide team of Edelweiss Bike Travel, we have set-up an 11-day round-trip starting from Havana in March 2018:
https://www.edelweissbike.com/en/touren/?c=SPT18015
>> 8-day ‘Best of Cuba’: This itinerary takes in the best sites of Western and Central Cuba. Departures led by Christopher are marked ‘Ride with Christopher Baker’ on the list of available dates:
https://www.edelweissbike.com/en/touren/?c=CCB
>> 11-day ‘Classic Cuba’: This motorcycle tour adds three days riding in tobacco country to the 8-day itinerary. Departures led by Christopher are marked ‘Ride with Christopher Baker’ on the list of available dates:
https://www.edelweissbike.com/en/touren/?c=CKU
About Edelweiss Bike Travel: Edelweiss Bike Travel was founded in 1980 and has offered guided motorcycle tours worldwide for more than 35 years. It is headquartered in Mieming, Austria. It maintains a fleet of 34 Austrian-origin BMWs, Harley-Davidsons and Triumph Tigers in Cuba year-round.
About Christopher P. Baker: Professional travel writer/photographer and moto-journalist Christopher P. Baker—the Lowell Thomas Award 2008 ‘Travel Journalist of the Year’—has written for more than 200 publications worldwide, from CNN Travel to National Geographic and Playboy. His six books about Cuba include Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba (National Geographic Adventure Press), regaling his 7,000-mile journey by BMW R100GS in 1996. In 2013 he secured a license authorizing the first group motorcycle tours in Cuba for U.S. citizens since the Revolution. He has since led more than 100 motorcycle and other ‘people-to-people’ programs in Cuba for National Geographic Expeditions, among others.
