Kim Haas Has a New Group Tour This Summer season That Explores Afro-latino Tradition in Colombia

Kim Haas found her lifelong ardour for journey at simply six years previous. Throughout her first journey exterior the U.S. to Acapulco, Mexico, a stranger approached her and her grandmother within the lodge foyer and requested Haas if she’d wish to study to rely to twenty in Spanish. Enthusiastically accepting, Haas informed Journey + Leisure, “From that second on, I used to be hooked on Spanish, journey, language, and tradition.”

Her ardour for the historical past and tradition of Latin American communities led her to create and star in her personal PBS tv present, Afro-Latino Travels With Kim Haas. Now, she’s curating group journey experiences by means of her namesake firm.

For Haas, excursions are a pure development from her tv collection. “I needed to present individuals firsthand alternatives to expertise Afro-descendant tradition—to attach with communities, hear their tales, and witness their resilience and creativity in ways in which transcend the tv collection,” she stated.

Her inaugural group journey came about in July 2022 in Costa Rica, the thought stemming from a tv viewer who emailed her about doing an Afro-Costa Rica tour after the Costa Rica reveals aired. Haas custom-made a tour for this group, combining alternatives to fulfill with Afro-Costa Ricans featured within the collection, together with author Quince Duncan and cacao farmer Daniel South, and to take part in actions like cooking courses, ziplining, and white water rafting.

In July 2025, Haas will supply vacationers a unprecedented journey by means of Colombia, offering insights into the resilience, historical past, and contributions of Afro-descendant communities. The tour begins in Cali, the salsa capital of the world, the place vacationers will go to a number of historic and cultural sights, together with the Salsa Museum and the Afro-Colombian group in San Cipriano, a small eco-friendly village within the Colombian rainforest. The tour concludes in Cartagena, a vivacious and traditionally wealthy metropolis that was as soon as a significant port through the transatlantic slave commerce. In Cartagena, vacationers will discover the “walled metropolis” and the UNESCO-recognized San Basilio de Palenque, the primary free Black city within the Americas.

In keeping with Haas, the accomplishments and tales of Afro-Latinos are not often shared and mentioned in mainstream media and society, significantly girls. “There are such a lot of exceptional Afro-Colombian girls deserving of recognition,” she stated.

Haas cited Edna Valencia, the primary Afro-Colombian journalist to put on an afro coiffure on Colombian tv, as a noteworthy instance. Valencia served as a range marketing consultant for Disney’s Academy Award-winning movie Encanto, making certain the correct portrayal of Afro-Colombian characters within the film, together with particulars like their pores and skin colour, hair, and clothes. Valencia might be among the many featured friends in Haas’s Colombia tour, which runs from July 16-24.

Haas stated vacationers don’t have to be of African descent to hitch the excursions. The one requirement is an open thoughts and a real curiosity in breaking down limitations and stereotypes. Subsequent 12 months, the corporate will supply excursions in three further international locations: Brazil, Guatemala, and Uruguay.

To study extra in regards to the Colombia tour, go to the travelswithkimhaas.com.