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Kim Haas found her lifelong ardour for journey at simply six years outdated. Throughout her first journey outdoors the U.S. to Acapulco, Mexico, a stranger approached her and her grandmother within the resort foyer and requested Haas if she’d wish to be taught to rely to twenty in Spanish. Enthusiastically accepting, Haas instructed 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 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 mentioned.

Her inaugural group journey passed off in July 2022 in Costa Rica, the concept stemming from a tv viewer who emailed her about doing an Afro-Costa Rica tour after the Costa Rica exhibits aired. Haas personalized 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 lessons, ziplining, and white water rafting.

In July 2025, Haas will provide vacationers a unprecedented journey by 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 in the course of 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.

Based on Haas, the accomplishments and tales of Afro-Latinos are hardly ever shared and mentioned in mainstream media and society, notably girls. “There are such a lot of exceptional Afro-Colombian girls deserving of recognition,” she mentioned.

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 coloration, hair, and clothes. Valencia might be among the many featured company in Haas’s Colombia tour, which runs from July 16-24.

Haas mentioned vacationers don’t should 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 provide excursions in three further nations: Brazil, Guatemala, and Uruguay.

To be taught extra concerning the Colombia tour, go to the travelswithkimhaas.com.