A Day in Viñales: The Cuban Countryside

On a trip to Cuba last November, my two good friends and I chose to visit Viñales, a small farming town known for its tobacco and coffee plantations– but once we settled into our “casa particular”, we realized that the guide we had booked to take us on a horseback tour didn’t speak English as advertised. After awkwardly helping me onto a horse named “Mojito”, he showed me how to use the reigns to signal “left”, “right”, and “stop”. Focusing on this fantastic view was the only thing I could do to stop myself from pondering whether I was going to make it back alive.

After about an hour of beautiful views and loud shrieks from failed attempts to communicate with our horses, my friends and I finally made our first stop at a very small coffee plantation and bar. Our welcome wagon consisted of a few farmers, their dog, and a bunch of adorable pigs. Despite the omnipresent language barrier, they were very excited to show “the American chicas” their farm.

Being the typical caffeine-addicted New Yorkers that we are, we were very excited to try some authentic Cuban coffee. Luis, one of our new farmer friends, brought us over to a gated area with a bunch of tall plants with waxy, wavy leaves. It hit me in that moment that I had never actually seen a coffee plant in person before, and it was unexpectedly beautiful!

In the best broken English he could muster, Luis explained that the coffee plant actually produces a fruit that resembles a juicy cherry. Once the cherry is harvested, the dried out seed, or bean, is then made into coffee grounds. He then brought us over to a big tarp to show us what the coffee seeds look like once removed and dried out. They were a little smaller and rounder than I expected them to be.

Our action-packed morning left us feeling very hungry, so thankfully Luis lead us to a sheltered picnic table where we were greeted with some fresh bananas and cut up guava. Cuba is incredibly humid even in the mountains, and any attempt to stay out of the hot sun was welcomed. Almost every farmer came over to our table to greet us. Even this shy, serious older man in the corner gave us a quiet wave. (Cubans as a whole are very warm and welcoming to anyone passing through.)

Cuban coffee is notorious for it’s dark appearance and stronger taste, but the first thing we noticed was the cup it was served in. We gathered that the cup was made of shell remnants of an unnamed fruit. Cut in half, one side becomes the cup and the other gets cut again to form a make-shift saucer. The coffee itself was served with raw sugar cane and had an exceptionally rich flavor. Once we had our fill and bought some grounds to go, our guide got us back up on our horses and we were off to do some cave exploring.

The view on the way to the caves was completely striking. Being surrounded by the beautiful mound-like “mogote” mountains had us feeling like we were extras in a scene on Game of Thrones. Once we got to the opening of a very narrow and dark cave, we “parked” our horses and went inside. Once I had made it about halfway through, I could hear my very claustrophobic friend having a minor meltdown in the dark behind me. When it started to feel like we would never get out of there, I finally saw the light.

As we made our way out of the cave we were greeted by a group of very quiet but friendly tobacco farmers taking a break from tilling their field. After a somewhat awkward exchange of waves, I made eye contact with one of the farmers and pointed to my camera in hopes that I could snap some photos of him. To my surprise, his eyes immediately lit up and he leaned against his tractor. Once I had gotten my shot, he pointed to my camera and motioned me to come closer. I showed him the image on my LCD screen and he gave a smile and a hearty pat on the back.

My new farmer friend led us to the other side of the tractor to see the mighty cattle that had been working hard for him all morning. At first I had no idea what to make of the scene as I had never seen an old-fashioned plow, but what happened next made my heart melt. The farmer pointed to one of the cattle, placed his hand on the side of the animal’s face, and smiled lovingly at him like a proud parent.

Once our tour guide motioned that it was time to move on, the farmers jumped onto the back of their tractor and were riding away in a matter of seconds. The girls and I started to build more of a relationship with our horses as the day carried on, and after a brief tour of a tobacco plantation and a lesson on how to make cigars, our five-hour adventure was over. Once the stables were in sight, Mojito started galloping home. It was equally exhilarating and terrifying, but I felt like I was on top of the world.

For a long time, only government-owned hotels could host tourists. In 1997 a law was passed that allowed Cubans to register their homes as privately-owned businesses to host visitors and in a huge step towards economic freedom, the “casa particular” movement was born. After a long day of adventuring we walked back to our casa to find that our hosts had prepared a beautiful rooftop Cuban dinner of fish, vegetables, tostones, beans, rice, piña coladas and fresh pineapple to accompany the beautiful sunset that ended our perfect day in Viñales.