Vinales

 

Our first stop was Vinales and the lush green mountains. It was very humid. Vinales is the home of tobacco growing in Cuba. Here is was very humid with the tropical afternoon storm replaced with just the thunder storms. I managed to get F on a horse. We had a fabulous time meandering through the fields and were reaffirmed just how stuck in the past Cuba is. Ox drawn ploughs leisurely stroked the fields while hand planting followed behind. We stopped at a growers house and were treated to some fresh coffee which had been completely processed on site. It was some of the best coffee I had seen. The lady took us around and showed us all the different types of plants that were being grown in her garden. It was like sufficient farming, people grow what they need and there is no market in which to sell excess. Kids ride bareback on the horse caring  large knifes. We visited one of the caves where the African Slaves hid out in when they were trying to run away. Beautiful clear filtered water. The afternoon thunder started to roll through the mountains as we left the cave. It was a real experience being on the back of the horse surrounded by echoing thunder. Needless to say the backsides were a little sore when we arrived back at the hotel.

We made the mistake of a 8 hour bus ride the morning after the horse riding… sitting for long periods of time was  UNCOMFORTABLE.