Learn Spanish, Dance and Volunteer in Havana | Cultural Immersion

When looking to go to Cuba, you have many choices but Jakera's was affordable and more people-to-people centered than most "tourist" focused trips. They organize your lodging ahead, you get breakfast & lunch, have a group hub in central Havana to study Spanish & meet with other travelers. The staff was awesome, esp. if you speak Spanish! I even wrote a book about my adventure: Cuba for Mama (on Amazon)

It was great, the staff en the teachers are friendly and welcoming. The accomodation at Lamparilla was clean, beautiful, with rooftops. The staff is friendly and helps with questions. The spanish teachers are good and kind. The dancing at casa del sol is great, the teachers really help you to make progress and to have fun. The atmosphere of havana and of the jakera team made it a great experiece. Would definitley recommend jakera cuba!

I have now been here for 3 months now and wow has it flown by fast! This program is a wonderful way to see Venezuela and also a great way to find adventure and have fun. The thing I liked most was that you had so many chanses to challange yourself and do things you thought you never could. I would recomend this program to anyone!

The 12 week Travelling Classroom is a whirlwind of experiences, and I had a great time seeing everything that Venezuela has to offer. Coming directly through Jakera is an ideal way to visit a country that has such tumultous reviews surrounding it. With Jakera, if you use your common sense, you will be safe. In my 12 weeks in the country I have done so many things; sea kayaking in Mochima, abseiling down a waterfall, climbing Cerro Negro in Caripe, flown to Canaima to see the staggering Angel Falls, camped for almost two weeks in Gran Sabana, summitted Roraima on six day trek, kayaked for a week and stayed with the Warao in the Orinico Delta, came to Merida and did paragliding, safari in Los Llanos, tubing, and finally travelled to Lake Maracaibo to see the lightning phenomenon at Catutumbo. I feel like I´ve got to know the country so well in these three months, and it has been a pleasure.

The experience was great.
The city of Merida is safe and there is a lot of activities to do.
The staff in Merida is relly professional and competent and always here to help you.
I improved a lot my spanish for 2 weeks.
The only problem I had was to get to the city because it was a holiday period there was no plane to get there and I didn t know before booking my trip (I should be advised).
The other point I want to mention is the food : pasta almost everyday....and sometimes the noise at midnight...
In general It was good experience.

I went to Jakera with no idea what was waiting.. Today, 8 years later, this is still the best experience of my life and its the first one i mention when someone asks me about my greatest experience. I still keep in contact with several of my fellow classmates and we have so many good memories together. I will not say it was easy, but that was also the charm.

In Havana the day started with a lovely breakfast followed by a Spanish class. The afternoons were for the walking tours which were fun and allowed us to get to know the city a bit. Evenings were for madness- dancing and driving along the Malecon with reggaeton blasting in the background! It was my Cuba highlight! :)
I very much appreciated the flexibility within the program which allowed me to change my schedule and join my friends in Playa Giron for the voluntary work and diving.
I honestly can't think of any difficulties. I felt safe and well looked after. Besides, whatever might have been a difficulty to some was simply a challenge to me! :) I guess Cuba simply suits my character :)

I came to Venezuela with no knowledge of the country or the Spanish language. I leave with a smile on my face with new experience and a brand new language to learn even more about this amazing culture.

In this trip we travelled around the whole country, into woodlands and high mountains, carried our stuff in backpacks, slept in tents and hammocks under clear night sky and under roofs with the rain in our ears, drove around in the Green truck, jumped off cliffs and swam in the ocean, ate great food and drank a lot of beers and Cuba libres. Not saying this trip was easy, but I definitely learnt a lot about myself and how to stay in a group, how to stand by my opinion and enjoying the moment. Made friends for life and experience useful for whatever I will do in the future.

Couple of things:

Make sure you bring enough cash for everything (US Dollars), the staff in the office knows how much you will need. There are some additional trips (Angel falls and the trip to Isla Margarita is a must do), money transfer to here is not much fun. Dont expect to take money out of the cashier while staying in Venezuela because of poor exchange rate.

Bring A LOT of mosquito repellent, all vitamins and medicines you usually use, painkillers and everything you consider a regular thing in your home country. These days you can't find certain things in stores (medicine, mosquito repellent, and even simple things as milk and diapers..... The list is long)

Remember to bring a waterproof bag for all your electronics! And a good cover for your phone or camera for use while on the mountains or in the sea! And headphones.

Make sure you taste coco frío on the beach. They are amazing.