Vinales
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A mogate
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Farming near Vinales
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Vinales was the climax of our trip, and we stayed there for 5 nights. The village is just a
couple of parallel streets, with simple houses. But the setting was stunning, with limestone outcrops
rising more or less vertically all around, to a height, I guess, of 300 to 500 metres. The tops
and much of the sides were thickly wooded. On the undulating valley floor were farms with mixed
produce, but predominantly tobaco.
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Tobacco drying shed
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Swimming pool at Vinales
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There was lots of bird life, much in bright colours, including
woodpeckers with red coxcombs. Overhead, magnificent vultures soared, waiting for our demise! We
spent 2 days cycling in the valley and foothills, stopping to do the tourist trip through an indian
cave with boat trip on its subterranean river. We took a guided walk around the nearest mogate, and
the guide pointed out the birdlife we'd otherwise missed, and took us to a small tobaco farm where
we were presented with freshly-rolled cigars. Late each afternoon we repaired to a hotel on the
hillside overlooking the village, swam in its pool and sipped beers while taking in the whole
valley as a vista.
And one day we had a "day off", when we left our bikes in the casa and took an
excursion bus to Cayo Levisa on the North coast. A short boat trip brought us to a pristine white
coral beach. The pristineness was the result of hurrican Katrina sweeping away most of the hotel,
leaving only a bar/restaurant slightly inland from the beach. The snorkelling over the reef, around
500m off the beach, was great, with 100s of different multicoloured fishes.