Viñales

Took the tourist bus, Vizul, to the valley of tobacco plants and the town of Viñales a few hours bus ride from Havana. Casa particulares are a cheap way to stay in Cuba and do a home stay with Cuban families at the same time. Viñales does not have a lack of casa's to stay at, we were met from the bus by a gaggle of women holding pictures/descriptions of their homes. Tamara and her husband took us back to their house a short walk from the main street. Apart from the first day we didn't see the husband again, and Tamara every so often, our hosts were really casa grand pa and ma who were so cute, they spoke hardly any English and between using my very limited Spanish and the international language of signs, we managed to communicate what we needed. 

It's the norm to get the meal deal along with accom at the casa as there aren't really many places to eat out. Breakfast was usually a plate of yummy fruit with bread and/or omelet. Dinner for me was vegetables with some kind of protein, fish, chicken or lobster. Sarah's a vegetarian and was served seven omelets in three days, that's a lot of eggs.

Top left clockwise: Breakfast at the casa, tobacco farmer, main street, Casa grand pa/ma.

Tamara persuaded us to go on a horse riding tour though the tobacco fields which had been harvested, the leaves now being smoked in huts then rolled. Our guide, Louis, took us to a tobacco farmer where he made a fresh drink from coconut juice with rum and honey. The house itself was under renovations, but there was a corner to have a drink and buy cigars and again, speak in my limited Spanish and the guide's broken English. Thanks to Manu Chou, I know how to say 'I like you' in Spanish and therefore I can also say 'I like rum', 'I like Cuba', 'I like horse', 'I like men'. Part of the tour was also to a cave with no lights, just a guide with a torch. At the end was a pool of very still, cool water, went for a little dip with a little nudge from the guide, I thought he was joking about swimming in it until he started undressing. I walked though the water to a second pool and got a little mud massage, very strange.

Before and after the tropical storm

Day trip to Cayo Levisa, a thirty minute boat trip from the coast and one of the prettiest beaches I've ever been too, the water was so clear blue. Apart from a small resort there was no one else on the island. I walked along the beach, past the huts and there was literally nothing but the sand and sea, I could almost see a pirate ship off in the distance.

Cayo Levisa

I really like Viñales, it was really relaxed, we had more cocktails in hotels that over look the valley and a few more in a local cafe waiting for a tropical storm to pass or in the Casa de la Musica. The whole trip felt like a lot of sitting and watching the world go by, it was lovely. More photos of Viñales here.