Vinales

After 5 nights in Havana our lovely driver and guide Manuel met us at our hotel. He was going to be with us for the next 6 days. Our drive to Vinales was very picturesque through the province of Artemisa, stopping at  places of interest on the way. Our first stop was at a restaurant built on the ruins of a coffee plantation founded by Jean-Pierre Soroa, a French immigrant, in the 19th century,

These trees are nicknamed "The English tree" because they have pink peeling bark! 

The cute little Loggerhead Kingbird and the stunning Cuban Trogon, the National Bird which was more elusive so the image is slightly blurred. 

Our next stop was Las Terrazas, a small community and nature reserve in the municipality of Candelaria, Artemisa Province. It is located in the Sierra del Rosario mountains, which was designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1984. 
In 1968, President Fidel Castro forged the idea of a green revolution: he would reforest the mountains that had been logged by Spanish conquistadors, plant fruit trees in areas destroyed by coffee plantations, and nurture land ripped up by hurricanes; and he would improve the lives of Cuba’s campesinos (in this part of the island, mainly illiterate charcoal makers) who lived in poverty in remote rural ridges of the Sierra del Rosario mountains. Work brigades created 1,360km of terraces with six million cedar, mahogany and hibiscus trees, plus grapefruit, mandarin, papaya and avocado. 170km of roads were built through the mountains; and a village of homes, schools, playgrounds, and clinics was created.
The young community of Las Terrazas flourished but in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and with it Cuba’s economy, people “were forced to make ‘steaks’ from grapefruit rind, and ‘beef stew’ from banana skins to survive".

With the fate of the community at stake, Osmany Cienfuegos opened Las Terrazas to tourism. Twenty two years ago the Hotel Moka greeted its first guests. It is a white multi-level structure, screened by teak trees and built around a 100-year-old rain tree that soars through the lobby. Since then, trekking trails, a zip-line, a restored coffee plantation, artists’ studios and restaurants have opened. It is home to what is claimed to be Cuba's only authentic vegetarian restaurant with 70% of the food served coming from Las Terrazas and the remainder from withing a radius of 25km.
Everything at Las Terrazas is government owned, private businesses such as B&Bs and restaurants are prohibited and the houses can’t be sold but they can be handed down to family members.
It is a thriving self-contained community of villagers, musicians, singers and artists, including Lester Campa, whose work has been exhibited internationally, and who was in his studio when we visited

and a popular holiday resort for tourists, and Cubans who can afford to stay there. 

flamingos on the lake

Surrounded by lush foilage, indigenous species and a respect for nature 
it is a hallmark of success, tranquility and sustainability.

Cafe de Maria, a small unassuming coffee bar that really does serve the best coffee ever. Manuel recommended the Cafe Las Terrazas, a refreshing cocktail with milk, coffee, cacao liquor, chocolate and ice. It was so delicious we had to have another cup each before departing for our next destination.

The botanical gardens at nearby Soroa which contains an excellent orchidarium,

home to more than 700 different 

types of orchid. The surrounding countryside is lush, hilly and very pleasant to wander around.

We arrived in Vinales late afternoon. 

Casa Margarita

Our stay for the next two nights, run by Yuliet with help from her husband and mother, who the casa was named after, I think Margarita originally ran the business. Casas are like our B&B's and are run by families who take a share of the profits, but owned by the government.

There are two small detached bungalows in the garden, both immaculately clean, offering comfortable beds, 

air con, en-suite shower room and a well stocked fridge. We also had use of the roof terrace 

Breakfast was a generous serving of fruit, hams, cheese, bread, crackers, cakes and eggs - scrambled, 
fried or boiled. Juice, tea and coffee.

The small town of Vinales is spruce with well tended gardens and brightly painted houses and restaurants. 

Vinales valley is encircled by mountains and sprinkled with mogotes, sheer sided limestone masses
covered in thick vegetation, remnants of a collapsed cavern system that was created underwater 
during the Jurassic period.

It does look and feel as if dinosaurs would suddenly appear 

Parque Nacional

Mural del la Prehistoria
Discovery of fish fossils, skulls of large saurians and evidence of aborigine settlements found in local caves led to the idea of a mural on the wall of this mogote. Horizontal lines were painted by farmers of the locality who hung by strong ropes attached to parachute harnesses, whilst being directed from the ground by the artist. It depicts evolution from ammonite to Homo sapiens. 

There was a restaurant and bar where we had Pina Coladas - we had quite a few during our holiday :-) - at this one you can pour your own rum!! They were exceedingly good pc's and we didn't take advantage.

This lovely chap was singing very nicely at the opening to some caves. 

I'm not a huge fan of underground caves, the best one I have ever been to was in Australia. 
This one was allright and it wasn't very long.

And of course you can't visit Cuba without going to a tobacco farm. What a handsome chap.

Tobacco seeds, stages of drying out and ready to be rolled

Cutting the leaves, rolling, and the finished cigar. It smelt good. This guy was really enjoying his smoke.

This plantation also grows cocoa beans and coffee beans 

Enjoying a cup of coffee laced with rum and I had sugar in mine, mmm delicious

The chicken whisperer. He made a kind of cooing noise and they all came running from different directions.

It's interesting that the world's finest tobacco is grown in fields cultivated by good old tried and tested farming methods. The rich red soil is turned by ox and plough.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to Vinales

Up next: Trinidad

Cuba

Hola and welcome to Cuba. Well apart from missing President Obama and the Rolling Stones I've had a great holiday. 

We were en-route from Vinales to Trinidad on the day Mr Obama arrived and our holiday ended the day before the Stones concert! 
Seriously bad timing.

There's so much to say about Havana, it's an exciting city, lots of museums, cafe's, shops, colour, peeling glamour, diesel fumes mingling with tantalising aftershaves, and of course lots of rumba and salsa.

Our trip started in Havana, staying at the Inglaterra Hotel, located in the heart of the city overlooking Parque Central with Old Havana and many popular sights within easy walking distance. Founded in 1875 it is the oldest hotel in Cuba, and was declared a national monument in 1981. In its heyday it was an elegant, graceful building featuring a beautiful neoclassical facade with a colonial period atmosphere. The interior decor features stained-glass windows, colourful mosaics and intricately decorated ceilings. Considering how old it is and the restraints imposed on refurbishing materials it still maintains a grand feeling. 

This is how I pictured my room would be

This is what I got. It was fine. It had a balcony overlooking the square,

air conditioning and the bed was comfortable. 

The bathroom however left a lot to be desired, whoever placed the toilet there must have had a warped sense of humour! But the water was hot and the hairdryer worked.

The room I had at the end of the holiday had a much better bathroom. 

They are slowly renovating all the rooms.

In house salsa and rumba bands perform on the veranda at the front of the hotel

Fancy an attractive sandwich :-)

Getting around: on foot; these cute little Coco taxis

horse and carriage; three wheeled cycles; licensed yellow taxis; buses

and my favourites, the gleaming chrome American cars

We chose this lovely pink one for a tour of the city. 

I was trying to do a sophisticated Audrey Hepburn look!! ha ha

The circular tour took us all round the city visiting China Town, the university, hospital, 

various government buildings, Revolution Square, John Lennon Park finishing with a 

drive along the Malecon (beach side promenade)

The University

Revolution Square is dominated by the Jose Marti Memorial. At 109m tall, it's one of tallest buildings in Cuba.
Top right is an image of revolutionary guerrilla fighter Camilo Cienfuegos in the front of the building of the Ministry of Informatics and Communications. The legend says: "Vas bien, Fidel" ((You're doing fine, Fidel). 
Bottom right is the Che Guevara building.

I think Che was quite a handsome guy.

John Lennon Park. The sculpture is by Cuban artist Jose Villa Soberon. On a marble tile at the foot of the bench there is an inscription reading "Dirás que soy un soñador pero no soy el único" which is a Spanish translation of "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one," from the song "Imagine"

Lennon's signature round-lens glasses have been stolen or vandalized several times, so now during the day a security guard can be found sitting next to the bench, and he will place glasses on the statue on request. How good is that.

Oh he was a handsome young man, and the accent............... ahem....um...er.. where was I...  oh yes

Our tour finished back at the square in front of the very impressive El Capitolio, or National Capitol Building. It's based on the White House building in Washington DC but marginally 
taller and much richer in detail. 



In La Habana Vieja (The Old Town) many buildings have been beautifully restored as a result of the UNESCO World Heritage Site designation fund. 

Restoration is an ongoing process. 

Many of the large grand buildings around Havana are being converted into hotels. 

But for every street that is renovated there are many more that will have to wait, hopefully not too long if countries and governments now start to invest in Cuba.

President Obama's visit was a good opportunity for a face lift. Roadworks, painting and maintenance projects were taking place all around the city. The tarmacing was done along the full length of the road outside our hotel. It was left tacky overnight, you could walk a short way up to the theatre to cross but most people just walked over it, it made a heck of a mess in the lobby of our hotel. 

It looked good when it was finished.

The theatre next door to our hotel is a beautiful building 

inside

and at night time

Lunch near the Cathedral

The Cathedral is very pretty inside

In the tower at the top of the building on the left is the Camara Oscura, a clever optical device providing live, 360-degree views of the city. It was very good with explanations in Spanish and English.

This darling little girl was delightful, she was dancing and excited by the pigeons. 

The exquisite “statue” had pigeon food in his hand and his hat on the ground. 

The beautiful Russian Orthodox Church

Ladies in traditional Cuban dress

Street Life
Top left: this band were very good, the girl had a lovely singing voice and played the flute beautifully. 
Top right: I wonder if Ernest Hemingway ever sat here to have his shoes polished?

I hope you have enjoyed your tour of Havana

Up next: Vinales, Trinidad and Hemingway