Viñales

In Havana we had booked transport to Viñales not knowing that it was part of a tour. It worked out well as we were planning to go to a rum factory anyway and later went to a lookout point on top of Viñales Valley.

After the first night at Casa Bertha, we went on a horse riding tour in the valley with tour guide, Alfredo. As the horses trotted through the rich red coloured soil, we passed a few coins lying on the ground. According to Alfredo there are some crazy people who drink goats blood and will come after you if you pick up the money which they had put there.

After our first stop at some caves, we had a longer break to sit and drink coffee which had been made at the coffee farm in which we were sitting. The rain started pelting down so Geert and I made our way inside the hut and challenged the tour guides to a few games of dominoes, waiting for the rain to stop.

The tour was coming to an end but first we made our way to a tobacco farm where the farmer demonstrated how he makes organic cigars. For a good price we bought our souvenir and headed off. When we reached a river which was too rough for the horses to walk through, we walked the last part, dodging the huge muddy puddles. Sweet old Bertha washed our clothes in time for our early bus ride to Trinidad the following morning.