Colorado Mountain College students studying abroad in Cuba

This article first appeared in the Steamboat Pilot. By Matt Stensland.

Old car and mechanic on streets of Havana, Cuba.
A group of Colorado Mountain College students will take in the sights, culture and history of Cuba when they travel there in March during a study abroad trip. Photo: Matt Stensland.

Steamboat Springs — A group of Colorado Mountain College students is preparing to travel to Cuba on a trip that was forbidden just a couple years ago.

President Barack Obama’s administration in January 2011 eased travel restrictions that made it possible for educational groups like CMC’s to visit the country. American tourism to the country since has rocketed, and an estimated 400,000 Americans visited Cuba last year. Cuba, though, remains the only country in the world where U.S. citizens are forbidden to travel to for leisure. Before the Obama policy change, about 50,000 Americans visited the country each year, often times illegally.

CMC Social and Behavioral Sciences Professor Bob Gumbrecht jumped at the opportunity to take a class legally.

“Cuba was always on my list,” Gumbrecht said.

During summer 2011, he went with a group of about 20 educators on click for full article