rancho king touristic farm

I had the pleasure of experiencing the rodeo show in Santa Lucia. It was very entertaining! My 2 year old and my father enjoyed the show too much. Although, I am not sure if I would feel bad for the cow or for the cowboy. Never the less, both were safe and no one got hurt.You can also do horseback riding at the Ranch. It was a good riding seeing the country side. Pigs are walking freely.After they took us to the small village. I didn't bring any gifts because I wasn't aware but I let my daughter distribute her bonbons with the little kids. My heart melted! The other guests brought some gifts to give to the families and I would the same next time. They served strong coffee, sugar cane juice, coconut cookies and fresh fruits...The lunch was a delicious fire roasted pig. It was cooked for 6 hours of perfection with rice, beans, plantain, desert and strong coffee.It was a very good experience!Be generous to the cowboys it's hard knock life!

Our driver had a hard time finding the place but once on the dirt road to the ranch we were greeted by 4 cowboys carrying flags including the US flag. Our guide at the ranch knew the history and spoke very clear and gave us many insights to the life of the ranch. We watched a rodeo, met the animals, then traveled by wagon to the neighboring village. Went to the school and met the teachers and kids. Josefina who lives across the street from the school welcomed us to her house, a bohio, a traditional Cuban palm made house. We toured the fruit groves, drank coffee and sugar cane juice, and snacks she made herself. Then we went back to the ranch for the best pork I have eaten. The cook started cooking it at 6 AM and took it off the coals at 1:30 for our lunch. All the people we met were great, we brought lots of donations and everyone got something. But bring plenty of tip $$ as you have about 15 people to served you in some way, including the cook's tip.

Yes, it is set up for tourists, but this ranch gives insight into some features of life in the Cuban countryside. Six skilled cowboys put on a great show of calf-roping and bull riding in a quick and down home format with no glitz. The ranch has 3 guess rooms and puts on a roasted pork lunch for tour groups. A nearby village allows a visit to a local school

Since we booked our vacation through Hola Sun, we enjoyed a free trip to Rancho King, which was our second. Once we arrived, we were welcomed by the same horse-riding team of 5 cowboys as last year. The rodeo was quite exciting and we had a lot of fun. One gentleman gave a very interesting, informative and humorous presentation on topics pertaining to the rancho & its history, herbs, plants, sugar cane, agriculture, hurricanes and local residents and their way of life. By the way, before the Cuban Revolution the rancho was part of the King Ranch of Texas, which is one of the world’s largest, comprising of 3,340 square km.Later we went to a village, followed by its residents who hoped to get some gifts. In 2013 I had taken photographs of some of the village residents and they were happy to receive them. We also went to a small school where many tourists distributed school supplies directly to the children. We spent some time in a house where Fidel Castro had once stayed and were given yet another very educational presentation and samples of black Cuban coffee, fruits and sugar cane juice. Later we had lunch whose main dish consisted of a roasted pig.

This was an awesome tour with a knowledgeable guide who taught us of Cuba's history and made us laugh with his jokes.

It's a surprise to find a remnant of Texas at Rancho King. The tour includes a fun rodeo, and introduction by Vicente, an amusing and talkative host (excellent English). The lunch with BBQ roast pork on a spit is mouthwatering. Don't miss seeing the main bedroom where the Kings slept, and ironically where Fidel Castro used to come to get away from it all after the ranch was expropriated. It's awesome to utilize the same WC used by Fidel! Hopefully you will also visit the modest village. If you have school or household supplies, they will be gratefully received by the residents.

Since we booked our vacation through Hola Sun, one of the perks we got (in addition to staying in the Hola Sun section, getting a free bottle of rum and not having to pay for the room safe) was a free trip to Rancho King (I believe it normally costs about 35 pesos per person). After a bus ride we arrived at the ranch, where we were welcomed by 5 horse-riding cowboys and then were taken to a small herb garden and given a very informative presentation on various herbs and its healing properties. During the ‘special period’ (‘periodo especial’) after the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba faced severe shortages of everything, including medicines and thus herbal and natural remedies became quite important and widely used. Hallelujah for that!As we wondered around near the dining hall, we saw an old man hand-turning the stick on which a whole pig was mounted and it was being roasted over the open fire; some Canadian guests kindly bought him a can of cold beer for which he was grateful. Then we watched a rodeo which was my first. A few people, including Catherine, did not like it as they thought the animals were terrified for our entertainment, but I enjoyed it.Next we proceeded on foot to the nearby village, followed by a bunch of locals, reaping gifts from tourists who supplied treats and school supplies. We stopped at a Cuban house (Fidel Castro had supposedly spent a night in one of its rooms once) where we were given another illuminating presentation on the history of the ranch and demonstration on extracting water from sugar cane as well as offered coffee and fruits. There was a group of American tourists, taking part in one of those legal ‘educational’ tours in Cuba; we briefly spoke to them and they were quite surprised at how little we paid for our vacation — theirs cost almost $5,000 for one week (per person)! A small school was located just across from the house and people were able to distribute directly to schoolchildren whatever gifts they brought. We headed back to the dining room for lunch; of course, the main dish was the roasted pig! Overall, it was an enjoyable and instructive trip.

Finding a remnant of the Texas King Ranch in Camaguey (I live in Texas) was a complete surprise. It seems the Cuban government took it over after the revolution in 1959. The people were friendly and as we were part of a tour they had pre-arranged a small rodeo for us - very real and a lot of fun to watch. We had an outdoor BBQ and a band played Cuban music. A fun day.

I've been here twice. The show is great and the roast pig is one of the best meals. Vicente has trained roosters which is cool to see and the cowboys are very easy on the eyes. You can ride their horses in or out of the village. Take school supplies for the children when you go. They greatly appreciate it. And try all the different fruits they have in season. As long as I book with Hola Sun and this trip is included, I will always go if for nothing else but the pig roast... Yum

If you book with Hola Sun, this excursion is free and is included in your package. Normally they leave Tuesday mornings and return mid afternoon. The excursion takes you by bus to a ranch in a small village about 30 minutes away from Santa Lucia. You are greeted by the guide Vince, who is so friendly and is very funny. You will get to see real cowboys perform lassoing of bulls etc. Then you get to learn about natural plant medicine and uses. These people do not have enough Western medicine (due to the 50 year US embargo), so they try to use as much natural medicines as they can. Then you can walk, take a horse and buggy to the local village and meet some of the people. You can visit a small primary school and local coffee is made in a Cuban house, where you can go in. They also show you how they extract sugar from the cane, which you can try. You then are escorted back to the ranch house and restaurant where local musicians play while a traditional Cuban lunch is served. Fedal Castro stayed in the house once, and you can see the bedrooms openly. This is a good time to take gifts for the school children and local people.

really interesting got to see a bit how cubans enjoy and live. they brought us to local school and got to talk with the students.also had a great cuban meal with music played buy a terrific band,the violin was awesome i bought their cd and can t stop listening to it.after we walk to the ranch and visited the small village, just love the humble people they are so beautiful. i am going back in september and would love to do it again, don t forget to say hi to Vincent a great man.

Superbe belle sortie en dehors du site de l'hotel, un rach commercial avec des gens super chaleureux ou ont assiste à un rodéo à la Cubaine avec des cowboys cubain et ensuite une aproche avec des résidents sur le long de la clôture ou il y a des femmes et leurs enfants qui attendent de recevoir de l'argents ou des cadeaux des touristes ( le saliare d'un campagnar est de l"équivalent de $8.00 cuc mensuel environ, donc si vous vouler vraiement donner à des gens qui en ont vraiement besoin et bien c'est la place au lieu de donner aux travailleurs de l'hotel, ensuite une visite du village de campagne avec sont école de campagne avec c'est 5 niveaux scolaire et comme final retour au ranch et une super bonne bouffe Cubaine ou le porc braiser ou le poulet succulent, mais surtout attention au poules qui saute sur les tables lors du repas !!Super belle aventure avec des gens formidables !!! ouppss en passant pour ceux qui ont de l'expérience de cavalerie, ils nous laissent galoppé les cheveaux un peu.Bon voyage

UN precioso lugar, alejado del bullicio de la ciudad y cerca a la playa Santa Lucía. Buenas ofertas gastronómicas. Tiene la opción adicional de disfrutar de un fantástico Rodeo!!!