Blogs from Viñales, Oeste, Cuba, Central America Caribbean

To Cuba from Managua To feel the spence of Fidel's Cuba before he dies. Travel by moto. Will try to rent a dirt bike but will settle for a scooter if that's all that's available.... read more

Today, it was all about Julio Ceaser, our guide who took us hiking through Vinales’ fields and limestone, pin-cushion hills. Julio was an intelligent guy, with a degree in English and German, and an English accent that sounded like he’d spent four years at Bristol University and another year travelling in Perarrr. He was so interesting, and talked with so much poise, that we almost forgot to take in the views – which were stunning, by the way. We talked about Vinales itself, post revolution, and agreed that life is generally ‘better’ for its 4000 inhabitants. It’s always been a pretty self-sufficient town due to the fertile valley plains, with most people able to grow some food and keep pigs, chickens, goats etc. Now any privately owned land has been distributed amongst the people and they ... read more

Vinales Soroa The final destination on the tour around Cuba is Vinales on the west side of the island. We stop off on the way from Santa Clara to Vinales at Soroa. Soroa probably has quite a lot to offer but as this is a stop-off on the way to Vinales and we just have time to visit the Orchid Garden here. The gardens have more than 25,000 species of orchids from around the world with the microclimate of the region being particularly suitable and it’s not long until I’m filling up another memory card in my camera. url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whereissteve/6049313570/" title="Soroa Orchid Garden by WhereIsSteve, on Flickr"img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6200/6049313570_df7af536e8.jpg" width="357" height="372" alt="Soroa Orchid Garden" url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whereissteve/... read more

People laughed when I told them I was riding a bike through Cuba. Veronica at work, humoured at my distress (when I discovered one of the riding days was 98km) added me on facebook, promising to closely follow my demise. But I remained determined and during my 2 weeks prior at a friend’s place in Mexico City; I made the conscious effort to use the stairs to the ninth floor; even when I returned to his place roaring drunk. On day three of the bike trip when the temp once again was rising into the forties and the humidity remained above 90% Jose* took me to the hospital. I had awoken at 3 am the morning prior with severe pains in my stomach which even with a generous helping of drugs, did not subside. I fell ... read more

Nog in Havana, voert de taxi richting busstation ons langs de plaza de la revolucion, waar Che Guevarra en Fidel Castro als 2 gigantische pentekeningen de flatgebouwen rond het plein sieren. Dan toch nog iets van Havana Vedado gezien. 4u later arriveren we in Vinales, het centrum van de Cubaanse tabaksstreek. Even ervaren we hoe het voelt om profvoetballer te zijn: bij het uitstappen van de bus wordt je opgewacht en aangeklampt door een horde uitbaters van casas particulares die hun leegstaande kamers willen slijten. We stellen onze fans teleur en zoeken een casa op die aan de rand van het dorp ligt. Volzet, maar vriendelijk als de uitbaters zijn, lopen ze mee tot bij de buurman die wel nog een kamer heeft. Deze is werkelijk het paradijs op aarde: een vertrek achteraan het huis, met ... read more

The best part of seeing all of Cuba from East to West was discovering how incredibly different every single square inch is from the next. Not only were the Cuban people diverse, but the terrain of Cuba too. So far we have traveled through jungles, deserts, forests, cane fields, and now these fantastic mogotes (limestone pinnacles) that jut sharply out of red soddy earth. Breathtaking! Vinales isn't just eye candy, it's a soul stealer. I was already on a high from visiting a famous orchid nursery on the way in. Okay...yah I know. Yawn for most of you, but for me...crack! I won't go into morbid details, but it is worth the stop, even for the non-horties. This garden is perched precariously on a hillside, and the endless flora from around the world are so well ... read more

Finally, after ten years of visiting Cuba, I was on my way to see the strange and unusual landscape of the Vinales valley in Pinar del Rio Province - a land of isolated cylindrical steep-sided limestone hills, riddled with caves, which tower above the surrounding tobacco growing farmland with its bright red soil. These distinctive formations are the same as those seen in ancient Chinese watercolours of the Li valley in Southern China. Early in the morning we headed west along the autopiste which links Havana to the province of Pinar del Rio, crossing miles of flat scrubby land with occasional patches of sugarcane, sisal, poor pasture and even a few small rice fields; the main feature was the huge water reservoirs, supplying Havana, which covered much of this landscape. Passing signs to a designated ... read more