ABOUT
Ebony O’ Reilly – Tour Consultant
Ebony is a portrait and fine art photographer who has been dividing her time between Cuba and her home country of Ireland for over 10 years. She leads tours for CIT in both Cuba and Ireland.
Ebony graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2010 with a B.A in Spanish and French and in 2011 moved to Cuba to attend the University of Havana. From her very first trip, Cuba has been a constant source of interest and inspiration both personally and professionally.
She loves the humor of the Cuban people, their often poetic nature, resourcefulness and ingenuity, and how music, dance and art seem to spill from every doorstep.
TESTIMONIALS
What Our Customers Say About Cultural Island Travel
Susan & John G., November 2019
It’s fair to say that Ebony made our trip. She was knowledgeable, engaging, flexible, great fun and nothing was too much trouble for her. She quickly figured us out and pro-actively made suggestions to improve our experience on a daily basis. Ebony never made us feel rushed and timed the days to perfection in terms of content. Overall, she was genuinely one of the very best people we’ve spent time with and we’ve travelled extensively (over 60 countries) so this is high praise from us and we won’t forget her! The additional local experts were also excellent and enhanced our trip even further.
Sheldon D., January 2019
Our consultant, Ebony was truly outstanding. She was very attentive, always on time, paced the itinerary well, was fluent in Spanish and English, made us feel comfortable and welcome, and had a wealth of knowledge about the country. We had a memorable, stimulating, fun, and effortless vacation mainly because of Ebony’s relaxed manner and expertise about Cuba.
The Scott Family, November 2018
Ebony was instructional, helpful, engaging and made every day more enjoyable than the day before. Ebony went out of her way to extend herself to our family. She arranged special times with restaurants, musicians, friends and a birthday party! We truly bonded with her. If and when we return we will definitely request Ebony as our tour leader.
Richard Lemon
Our guide in Cuba was extraordinary. My family of five, from 3 years old to my 70, fell in love with her, partly because of her nature and partly from her dedication to the Cuban ways. She did not have the normal high pitched personality of a tour guide. She had a care for us, an intelligence both emotional and intellectual, which made every part of the trip personal.
Jessica Heideman
I also wanted to say how thankful I am for having Ebony as a companion. She was so knowledgeable of the country and very genuine/ sincere with her delivery of information. I plan to keep in touch with her and will always be thankful Cuba introduced me to a lifelong friend.
Stuart Wurtzel and Patrizia von Brandenstein Wurtzel
And where do I begin about Ebony O’Reilly. Gracious, smart and knowledgeable about everything we asked. She worked hard to keep us happy. We kept throwing requests at her in addition to our itinerary and she managed never to disappoint. Ebony is definitely tops in our book.
April & Michael Loomis
Whatever you are paying Ebony, double or triple her wages! She made a good trip wonderful. We all fell just a bit in love with her! She handled everything so smoothly, keeping the group engaged and together while addressing individual needs or requests. When things did go a bit off schedule (who could predict crab migration day) she made it all work anyway. I was having a bit of trouble keeping up with the walking pace and she made sure I was comfortable and taken care of all the time. She went out of her way to help us find a bongo selling store. There are just countless ways she made the trip so lovely.
Vanessa Grano
Jordan and I had a great vacation. We especially loved Ebony. She is a true gem! One of the nicest and most considerate people I have ever met. She is generally pretty knowledgeable and whatever she didn’t know, she found out(and w/o internet!!!!)
Ronnie Ben Zion
Thanks for organizing this amazing trip. Many thanks to Ebony, our fearless leader, who took us to the coolest places, made every effort to accommodate our desires, and orchestrated an itinerary to make sure we’re all having fun.
Judith Love
Ebony was the lynch pin of success of our trip. Her competence and gentle quality made everything flow smoothly. She was always on time and always had us on time with her smiling face and charming Irish accent. She was our treasure and it was always a pleasure to be with her.
