Backroads first introduced Cuba People-to-People tours in 2013. These tours follow an itinerary licensed by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under a category called “Support for the Cuban People.” The Support for the Cuban People license allows us to travel in Cuba with a planned schedule of meaningful interactions with Cubans.
Leading trips in Cuba over the past four years has been a special opportunity for me to share my second home in all its beauty, depth and complexity. But when not working as a Backroads Trip Leader, I work on community art projects, with Havana as my base since 2016. This April, I had the chance to fuse my worlds in the most meaningful way—expanding longstanding collaborations and bringing creative programming to more remote areas of the island through a Backroads-sponsored community arts bike tour.
The screening of my short documentary Bicycle Island at the Cine Pobre Film Festival in Gibara aligned perfectly with my few weeks off between leading Cuba Multi-Adventure Trips (thank you, Backroads scheduling gods). Excited to attend the festival and eager to extend my participation beyond the screening, I began to dream up a three-week bike tour of eastern Cuba, focused on community engagement, collaborative creation and the distribution of bike and art resources.
I called upon nine of my artist-cyclist-Caribbean friends, all of whom I greatly admire, to form a collective united by a common goal: using bicycles as tools for mobility, creativity and community impact. Half of the group was Cuban, the other half was from the US and other parts of the Caribbean. We pedaled into new territory with the shared values of access, collaboration and joyful exchange, tapping into grassroots partnerships at every stop.
Thanks to support from Backroads’ Give Back Field Project program and generous individual donors, we were able to cover transportation and lodging costs, distribute supplies and bring direct programming and resources to the communities that welcomed us.
The Give Back Field Project program was introduced in 2025 and combines paid hours for volunteerism with micro-donations for Backroads field staff to support initiatives in the communities where they live and we travel. Collaborating with local nonprofits, initiatives focus on the intersection of environmental action and active tourism. Other completed projects have been as varied and wide-reaching as donating bicycles and bike assembly expertise in Cambodia to performing trail maintenance in Alaska.
With a fleet of locally crafted bamboo bikes (designed by Craig Calfee and built by César and Yudmelys Abreu) and a life-and-leg-saving support truck, our collective traveled over 600 miles through coastal towns, lush mountains and national parks. Activities included mural painting, live performances, music and art workshops, a collective journal, bike repair pop-ups and outdoor screenings of Bicycle Island.
Persistent sun, daily power outages, occasional gasoline shortages and once, a rainstorm-induced rockslide that had us pushing boulders off the cliff to get the truck past as quickly as possible, were all obstacles that brought us together. It was ambitious and, at times, exhausting, but momentum came from every musical improvisation, stunning view, downhill ride and shared laugh. Each challenge only added to the sense of gratification, purpose and connection.
Here’s a short recap from our group—offered with deep gratitude and a few favorite memories:
The trip began with a long overnight bus ride from Havana to Holguín, hauling about 400 pounds of art materials, bike tools and personal gear. In Gibara, the film festival hosted an outdoor screening of Bicycle Island in the town’s central park, which we complemented with DJ sets and open mic performances.
We then set off to Baracoa, with stops that included a beach break in Guardalavaca, a bike repair pop-up in Mayarí and a safety shuttle past the contaminated air of Moa’s nickel extraction sites. Thirty kilometers north of Baracoa, we were greeted by the incredible staff of Alejandro de Humboldt National Park.
“The park staff greeted us like family; they invited us to pitch our tents for a few days. The generosity and abundance of the community surrounding the park mirrored the endless beauty of the natural landscape we were immersed in.” —Ruby
In the following days, we arranged for students ages 4-12 from three local schools to participate in ecology-themed music and zine workshops, and everyone contributed to a mural celebrating endemic species and the area's unique biodiversity.
A stunning gravel ride with some welcome rain ended with a lazy river float to the mouth of the ocean at Duaba beach. After lunch we rode the truck up and over the steep, treacherous cliffs of La Farola until reaching the small town of Cajobabo on Cuba’s southern coast.
“Community members awaited our arrival with mangoes, sugarcane and guava. After a night’s rest at the beachside campsite, we shared a bit of what we’d brought of art and creativity. The children of Cajobabo shared stories and their town’s history, and we responded with music and visual art.” —Rubén
In Santiago de Cuba, we partnered with the arts group EncontrArte to host a youth music and DJ workshop, followed by the collaborative creation of a mural at a local playground.
“While leading the musical warm-up, I was impressed by the kids’ musicality—they picked up body percussion and singing so quickly. Then they took turns on the DJ mixer, flowing effortlessly with the natural Cuban rhythm. I was touched by how genuinely they related to us. These personal exchanges were what made the journey so meaningful—for us and for the communities we visited.” —Mariana
“Creativity and collaboration are the roots of resilience and the fruits of labor—the tools to respond to challenges and the rewards for doing so. I feel immense gratitude for this experience and the support that made it possible.” —Kate
Over three weeks, we worked with more than 200 youth, distributed donations along the way and left a trail of murals, workshops and shared memories. While the tangible outcomes—the paintings, performances, and supplies—are meaningful, the deeper impact lies in the relationships that grew from this experience and the multi-fold participation it encouraged.
And at the heart of it all was gratitude and joy. This trip exceeded all expectations, and we are already dreaming of round two. We learned so much and can’t wait to see what grows from this—new partnerships, future projects and continued inspiration. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported us—our collaborators, donors, and all the people we met along the way.
