Blogs from Pinar del Rio, Oeste, Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Unfortunatley we landed in Havana 3 hours late due to delays in Cancun, and it was too late to see anything in Havana. First thing next morning we had a 3 hour drive to our first destination, Vinales (pron : Bin-ya-les), also known as the Switzerland of Cuba. Nestled between unique mountains called 'mogotes', Vinales is known as one of the best tobacco growing regions in Cuba. One of our first excursions was a 3 hour hike through the local tobacco plantations, learning how tobacco is dried, and then rolled into cigars. The next day we all mounted horses (though I think I got a mule), and rode through the Cuban countryside. The farms are about as advanced as the cars in Havana. Most work is done by horse, hardly any mechanical machinery is used at ... read more

Pinar del Rio We left Trinidad, skirting around the Sierra Escambray to Manicaragua before heading north to Santa Clara - one of the largest cities in Cuba with a population around a quarter of a million. Our mission, however, was not to visit the city itself but the shrine to Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara on its outskirts. Opened in 1988 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the date Che took Santa Clara from the Batista army, a raised plaza with a 7m-high bronze of Che looks out over a vast square. Beneath the plaza is an interesting museum dedicated to the story of Che and his thirty-eight comrades killed in Bolivia in 1967. Next to this is a moving memorial chamber where the remains of seventeen fighte... read more