Since an early age, travel has always been in my blood. When not devouring Geography at school, I would head off on my bike for hours, exploring the country lanes around my hometown of Harrogate in North Yorkshire.
After graduating in London, having studied (you guessed it!) geography, I worked for a tour operator who specialised in countries that were challenging and perhaps pioneering at a tourist destination. This was back in the early 1990s, during which time we arranged holidays to the Soviet Union, China, and Albania. I boarded the first ever flight from the UK direct to Havana and, as they say, the rest is history. The love affair began…
Back then, I was a young man in my 20s and Cuba was just amazing; hot sunny days, beautiful scenery, amazing beaches, such welcoming locals who shared the same sense of humour as us Brits, music, dancing , great food, illicit cigars and, most of all, a feeling that you were somewhere totally different to home.
A career almost totally dedicated to Cuba beckoned. For over 35 years now, I have enthusiastically arranged and managed thousands of tailored holidays for clients. This has included arranging the one and only Concorde arrival to Havana with a group of over 120 clients, met on arrival by Fidel Castro. There have been numerous celebrities and film crews, including a couple from the hit TV series Blind Date, who loved Cuba but hated each other!
I have travelled throughout Cuba in many different ways, including a lot of cycling and walking. This included ticking off Pico Turquino, Cuba’s highest peak. I am delighted to be able to give you firsthand knowledge of Cuba , warts and all.
I love to chat and give honests answers to all those Cuba questions that you may have. My experience has shown that Cuba is always in people’s minds as a destination they would love to visit one day , so let’s maybe arrange a call for an initial chat matthew@archipelagochoice.com
