Valle de Vinales

We were met early Thursday morning by our guide, Ramon, for the two and a half-hour drive to the Vinales Valley on the western part of the island.  Much of the area is a national park that has been well-kept by the government.  

The attraction of the park is, of course, it's beauty but also its complex geological structure. The famous mogotes of the Valley are the dramatic 250-million-year-old loaf-shaped limestone mountains laced with caves.  We did a short boat ride through one of the caves then visited a rather odd mural that everyone seems to be very proud of, painted on the side of one of the mogotes.

 

  

The mural is called Mural de la Prehistoria and is supposed to represent the history of evolution from ammonites to Homo sapiens. Use your imagination.

 

The Valley is also Cuba's primary tobacco producing area and during the tobacco growing season, the fields in the photos would look very different.  By late summer the tobacco has already been harvested.  We did stop at one of the tobacco barns for a tobacco rolling demonstration and here we ran into our first big tour group.  The Valley is on the itinerary of all Cuban tour companies, almost all of which are government owned.

With the exception of crowded scenic overlooks and a few new boutique type government-run hotels, the entire area is a timeless scene of rural Cuba--of carts, horses and tobacco barns.

   

 

We stopped for lunch at a charming restaurant, La Carreta de San Vincente, perched on a hill overlooking the small town. Then began our drive back to the marina.