Viñales Cuba

Viñales
We arrived in Viñales after a 4 hour bus trip. There was' a healthy group of women waiting as we arrived, holding up names for the people they were hosting in their homes, as well as others soliciting  travellers that had not pre-

Maricela and Fidels Home

Fidel outside arriving by horse

booked. It was quite overwhelming.
Our lovely host Maricela was there waiting for us. All the homes in Viñales  appeared to be identical and painted delightfully different colours. We walked with her to her home and then sat on the porch with a refreshing glass of guyaba  and papaya juice. Fidel (her husband) arrived on horseback (Cocoloco) and we arranged to go off with him in the morning. We went up on the roof to look at the mountains and Maricela cooked us a great dinner of fried chicken, salad of tomatoes and cucumbers.

Our bedroom  with bedspread popular in the 1960's

and noodle soup. There looks to be some nice restaurants in town but we have arranged to eat here. There has been about 20 years of casa particulars here. Marcelo said that before this there used

Oxen pulling wagon

to be a lot of poverty.Now things are better. It seems almost every house here does this. It  feels very refreshing staying in this lush, mountainous town after Havana. When she answers the phone she says Oye (I'm listening) like the French who say j'écoute. There was a light rain during the night and the temperature is cool and comfortable. The shower head is connected to an electrical wire to heat the water as in Peru. We had a great breakfast, tortilla which is an omelet, fruit, coffee, juice and melted cheese on toast. The cheese is extremely mild and Roger misses his sharp Tillicum. They seem to just have white bread, and toast is not really toast as we know it. Everyone gets around in horse carts, but the ubiquitous antique cars are here if you need a taxi. We headed off down the street with Fidel to pick up the two other horses (Caramello) and rode to a coffee demonstration ( the coffee grows at the

Main mode of transportation

On the way to pick up the horses with Fidel

Selling Garlic

base of the mountains under trees) and a tobacco drying shed and plantations. It was a 4 hour horse adventure. We also went into a cave with another group. We negotiated some very narrow spaces. Sketchy light, lots of opportunity to bump your head and fairly exciting. One  lady was a little too wide for the experience.  I barely squeezed through.
We learned that there are 4 grades of leaves on each plant, taking 3 months for the plant o reach maturity, 3 months to dry and the leaves are fermented with honey and vanilla. The centre vein of the leaf was removed while making the cigar as it has the highest concentration of nicotine. The lower grade leaves go in the centre of the cigar, next the highest grade leaf wraps the centre and the third grade which has elastic properties is used to wrap and finish the cigar. Paper is used between to allow it to dry for 2 hours before the final wrap. Then a banana leaf is used as the humidor.

Ali on horseback

That's quite the cigar for a guy who doesn't smoke! Cuban size

Tobacco field and drying Barn

We both tried a few puffs, there was no smell at all! By the time we got back we were both horsed!

Beautiful landscape with tobacco fields

The following day we went on a walk by ourselves towards the  Maggotes, the mountains near Viñales. We came across a lady who welcomed us into her home. Her family  had been tobacco growers for 5 generations. Her Dad had owned the property and when the state took it over he worked it. She took us to the foot of the limestone mountain and showed us where a family from Montreal were climbing. (5.8B difficulty)

Drying Tobacco inside

Drying Tobacco outside

 Her mom showed us how to roll a cigar and then we shared a few puffs with her. They ferment theirs in guyaba juice, rum and honey.She said they were unable to travel in Cuba, and if visitors wanted to bring something for the people, kitchen items were always welcome, and clothes as they are very expensive for them. And soap! No one seems to have soap. Then we met a farmer who gave us a guyaba  and offered us a cup of coffee. We declined as we find it very strong. It would probably throw me into palpitations! The windows have louvers that can be open and closed but no glass.

Climbing the Magottes

 Then we walked to the top of a hill above Viñales where the La Ermita Hotel was. We took a scenic shot and returned to our Casa. That evening and the one before we went to a club to listen to a Cuban band and the last night we went to the cultural centre where we watched a show and danced salsa. We really enjoyed our stay here. And our hosts were GREAT. Casa Fidel y Maricelys
Calle Salvador Cisneros int #11A, It is a tourist destination from Havana for the natural beauty in a National Park. The town is comfortable, clean, quaint mode of transportation, the homes are colourful and most people here host travellers which allows them to live more comfortably. Transportation is by old cars, motorcycles, bicycles, horses with or without carts, and of course Chinese tourist buses that transport the likes of us from place to place within the country. There isn't really much to buy as a tourist, except for Rum and cigars. Our family here have 5 bird cages with birds that sing beautifully. Clothes are hand washed and hung out to dry. It costs 25 cucs a night accommodation, 4 cucs each for a hearty breakfast, and 8 cucs each for dinner. We feel like we are living in 1961.

Homes in Viñales

Tobacco fields with Maggotes in background

Palm leaves for a new roof installation