We had a great trip to Viñales this past weekend. The small valley town is in the western-most province, Piñar del Rio, and we decided to rent a car Friday to Sunday and take what will most likely be our last trip out of Havana. At this point we only have two and a half weeks left before we fly back to Miami and all the students here are fairly crazed, trying to finish our final projects.
Unsurprisingly the valley wasn’t quite as green as it looked in all the photos we’d seen in tour books, but still, Viñales is a beautiful place. The valley is surrounded by huge, flat-sided limestone formations called mogotes. Because the area gets so much rain it is suited for agriculture production and grows a lot of tobacco. After finding casas particulares to stay at for the four of us, we got some lunch on the tiny main drag and found out that that weekend was the town’s annual carnaval, which meant street vendors and reggaeton music blasting in the town square all day with a raging dance party all night. So super fun times! Later that afternoon we went for a drive to a mogote to see the “Prehistoric Mural.” We weren’t sure what to expect, but Kat, a friend who was on the trip, said it was enormous and a very cheesy must-see. So after finding our way we happened upon the biggest “mural” I’ve ever seen. By the looks of it, they cleared off the face of one of the mogotes and painted huge swatches of primary colors on it with a few snails, dinosaurs, and early humans, all under the direction of a five year old. But at least we’ve seen it now…
The next day we woke up early to go horseback riding through the valley. We expected to just tour around for a couple of hours, but soon found out that it was going to be a six to seven hour excursion! It was awkward riding after not having been on a horse in quite a long time, but we got the hang of it after a little while, though my horse was pretty stubborn all day and insisted on taking snack breaks all the time. We made a few stops through the valley. The first was to Cueva del Silencio, where we were treated to a cigar rolling demonstration and a sample puff of the tobacco farmer’s artisan cigar that was dipped in local honey. Next we moseyed on to another cave that was deep and dark and had freshwater pools in the back of it. Though we were all very hot and achy from sitting on the saddle we were too wimpy to jump in to the cool water. Eventually we weaved our way back to the stables and hobbled away tired and sunburned, but still very pleased with our outing. That evening we went to a hotel above the valley for a swim and then returned to the casa for dinner and to get ready for the carnaval party that night. It was a little crazy in the square, but fun to go to a local event.
Sunday we headed out early to go to the beach at Cayo Jutias. It was a long and windy drive and when we finally arrived it started pouring. After the tropical downpour passed we relaxed on the beach for a bit and then started our long journey back to Havana. It took us quite awhile to get back since the rain seemed to be following us and at times we had to pull over because we couldn’t see the road at all. But in the end we made it home safely and had a wonderful time on our trip.
Wow! Only 18 days left and so much left to do!
Love,
Camila
Jessie, Kat, and Tamara on their caballos
Before the long journey on the horses.
Mural de la Prehistoria...
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