Undiscovered Cuba - March 11 - March 22, 2018
Page Six - Valle de Vinales
We explored Vinales National Park in the morning.
In the town of Vinales in the Vinales Valley
with early morning fog.
In Vinales, another horse and cart.
A local naturalist joined us for a walk through
part of the Vinales Valley.
From Vinales we walked along the Coco Solo Palmarito Trail.
As a popular tourist area, there are lots of Casa Particulares in the Valley.
See them lined up here on the left, each a home with 1 or more rooms to rent.
The limestone mountains in the background are called mogotes that rise from
the flat valleys where farmers cultivate the red soil for tobacco, fruits, vegetables.
The Vinales Valley's mogotes are 250 million year old loaf-shapped mountains
laced with caves.
A man sitting on his front porch smoking
a Cuban cigar.
A barn for drying tobacco leaves. Tobacco being grown
in the field.
Tobacco farm with mogotes in the background
With the development of the tobacco market in Europe in the early 19th century and
the perfection of the Cuban cigar, Cubans realized that this Pinar del Rio region's
climate and soil produced the world's best tobacco.
We saw roosters and chicks everywhere in Cuba.
Tobacco leaves drying inside a barn
An elderly farmer with his oxen that are used for farming.
Close-up of the farmer, who was 78.
We went into a farmer's home, and he showed us how he
rolls tobacco to to hand make a cigar. I bought 10 cigars from him
to help him out (for 25 CUC, far cheaper than what one would pay at a store).
A CUC is roughly equivalent to $1.00. Remember that the CUC is
the Cuban currency for foreigners.
His wife smoking a cigar in the kitchen area while
preparing coffee for some of our group.
Horse in a nearby field with mogotes in background.
Walking to our lunch stop at an organic farm.
Small farmhouse. Note picture of Che Guevara on the
water tower. That large tank is used to collect rain water.
It is not safe to drink tap water in Cuba nor a good
idea to use it to brush your teeth.
Baby goat at organic farm.
A Cuban hutia, a species of rodent endemic
to Cuba.
The family had it tied up to show
the tourists who visited the farm.
Turkeys at the organic farm.
Plants growing at the farm
Father and daughter resting alongside the walking path. It looked like he was trying to
rent a horse for tourists to ride. There were several horses with saddles tied up
along the walking path, apparently all available to rent.
Horses passing us on our walk back in to Vinales
Casa de Confianza
Place in Vinales Valley where we had lunch. President Obama had lunch here
when he visited Cuba and held talks with Raul Castro to open up
some diplomatic relations and some types of U.S. citizen travel. Obama was
the first President since Calvin Coolidge to visit Cuba.
View of part of the restaurant's organic garden.
View from the restaurant
Eating outdoors at Casa de Confianza organic farm (food came from the farm)
We overlooked the valley and the limestone mountains that surrounded us.
Farmer checking the crops surrounding the restaurant.
Link to Page 7 - Havana
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