Vinales, Cuba

Viazul bus owned by the government and used by tourists and government workers.

With our two week visit to Cuba we decided to stay on the western part of the Island rather than race from one end to the other. Vinales is well known for its tobacco and coffee plantations. Lots of tourists take one day tours from La Habana to the area.

We had booked a casa online and when we arrived at the bus stop in the middle of the small town there was no one waiting for us as we had arranged and had been confirmed. Lots of women met the bus with laminated signs of their casas and swamped everyone as they got off the bus. One lady was loud and pushy and kept at us to stay at her place and do tours of the rural area. I had to tell her she would drive me crazy with her incessant hassling. John spotted a quiet lady and we decided to go and look at her place. It turned out to be perfect for us.

It was on the edge of the town and it was tastefully decorated. Our host Madelin, had lived and worked in Spain and the Dominican Republic and was used to talking to foreigners. She didn't speak English but her Spanish was easy to understand. She was 39 and single and had never had any children. Her separated parents lived near her as well as her brothers and sisters. She had one room for guests and the rest of her huge house was for her family members when they needed somewhere in the town to stay.

We had a huge room with a lounge, and fridge full of drinks. A picture of Marilyn Monroe hung on one of the walls. Madelin's father and brothers built the house and it cost her just the materials as they provided their labour free. She has room on the roof to extend as she gets more funds. We enjoyed the evenings in the rocking chairs on the terrace.

Madelin cooked us lobster one night

Vinales was nothing like I thought it would be. I knew it was popular with tourists but I was surprised when I saw the main street. There are only a few shops in the main street and the rest of the long street is made up of restaurants and casas with the odd night club. Nearly every casa has a porch with rocking chairs.

The ex doctor's restaurant

As we had arrived early afternoon Madelin suggested we eat at a restaurant down the road. It was run by an ex doctor. We were the only guests and sat on the rooftop watching the sunset. The 3 course meals were all the same price. We read that Vinales is famous for its roast pork so that is what John ordered. It was actually charcoal barbecued beside us on the deck and nothing like what we would call roast pork. The rest of the meal was enormous and could have fed 5 or 6 people.



It is common to ride horses to the tobacco and coffee plantations but we decided that it would be nicer to walk than sit on a horse in the 37 degree heat. Madelin organised a guide for us. The horse riders started before us but we arrived at the tourist farm sites before them.

At the first stop we were shown the tobacco drying shed and told about the processes for growing and shown how cigars were rolled. The lower parts of the leaf are used for cigarettes while the tips are used for cigars as they get more sun and therefore more flavour. The cigars are treated with herbs and honey and each plantation has its own secret recipe. The demonstrator told us his brother took his cigars in plastic bags into New Zealand without declaring them but we found that hard to believe as our biosecurity at the airports are so tough.

Tobacco drying building

The coffee plant berries were just starting to redden and they roasted and pounded the beans on site. The farmers own the farm land but have to give 90% of their crop to the government. It is a UNESCO area and only natural pesticides can be used. They make and use sprays from the coffee waste.

There were no tobacco plants growing during our visit. The land was being ploughed by bullocks ready for corn or manioc.

Mimosa growing on the side of the road, when touched the leaves curl up.

We had to change some Euros into local money and John had to wait in a queue in the street until the security guard let him into the bank. Only four people were let in at one time but the locals walked in and were served first. John said one lady had boxes and boxes of cash. There was a second bank in the main street but it charged a lot more fees so no one took their money there.

John said Vinales reminded him of life in the Middle Ages. From first light till dusk the locals come by with food they want to sell and this onion and garlic seller rode round and round the town shouting out 'cebollas' every day.

The onion and garlic seller 

We were surprised at the number of electric motorbikes in the town. Madelin said they came into Panama City from China. They quietly manoeuvred through the dusty streets along with the horses and carts, modern cars and shiny modern bicycles ridden by young boys and free ranging roosters and hens. All of these sights had us believe that there is a lot of money in Vinales.

One afternoon we visited Madelin's brother and his family. They had been fishing and caught a huge fish. They lit an outdoor fire and heated charcoal. Alfredo suspended a rack above the banana leaf wrapped fish and expected it would take 2 or 3 hours to cook it. We sat outside eating fresh pink tropical guavas and drinking rum and lime juice.

One of Alfredo's friends was a paediatrician and asked us all sorts of questions about NZ. I usually carry a couple of photo books on New Zealand and the Bay of Plenty, where we live, as well as a world map with us in the centre and another of New Zealand in more detail. Unfortunately, I had left them in Havana because we only brought enough clothes for the 3 nights here in our little daybags. A neighbour with a baby who had a sore throat arrived to have the doctor look at his throat.

On the way back to Havana we passed through Pinar del Rio where we stopped briefly to pick up a couple of government workers. At the bus station were several people transporters like these that look better suited to carrying animals than people.