Got up fairly early. 7ish. Had a nice egg breakfast with toast and guava jam, fresh pineapple & papaya. We met our guide, Luis, at 9 am and walked through town to a farm area where our horses were waiting. I decided to wear shorts, which in hindsight, was not the best idea. My thigh rubbed on the saddle and got pretty chafed. That being said, it was such an excellent experience. We rode through the countryside, which is a National Park. There are rounded mountains that are covered in foliage that are breathtaking. It reminds me of Jurassic Park's flying in scene and at the same time, reminds me of Yosemite valley.
We
rode through farms on dirt paths past pigs, chickens, many birds,
goats, sheep, cows, horses, and more. We saw tobacco plants, yams,
sugar cane, black beans, and more. Watched a farmer plow his field
with an ox and directly behind his newly plowed path, more than a
dozen birds were getting all the worms that it was turning over.
Unique. My stirrups were a little long, so it hurt a little bit to
trot, and we trotted somewhat regularly. My butt and thighs are sore
tonight! But it was well worth the pain. We rode to a cave in one of
the mountains and were guided through the stalactites and stalagmites
by flashlight to a natural pool 30 meters long. We didn't have
swimming clothes, but washed our faces and arms and watched while
others swam. One of the swimmers was a lady who lived in Glacier
National Park on the Canada side, very nice.
We
rode a bit more to a tobacco farm where we were served coco dios by
the tobacco farmer. To make this drink, he cut open a coconut, cut
some skin off, added honey to the skin and offered us the skin to eat
while he made the drink. Drained about ½ of the coconut water and
let us drink it, then cut fresh oranges, pineapple, and another fruit
and squeezed the fresh juice into the coconut. Added rum made in the
valley and some honey. Wow! Best drink presentation ever!
He
then offered us a cigar and rubbed honey on the tip you put in your
mouth. That's the way to go - so good. While we smoked, he showed us
how cigars are made from the tobacco plant and what the difference is
between the types, and he hand rolled a cigar right in front of us.
We
drank Mayabe, a new beer to us, it was good. The people at the stand
were playing with a little animal that looked like a mix between a
large hamster, rat, opossum, beaver, and who knows what. It was the
size of a small dog and they called it a hotillo. I guess this one
was a baby and they said it was in the rat family. They were laying
with it like a dog, rubbing its belly, etc. and could grab it by the
tail and put it on their arms, shoulders, etc. Rachel was the first
to pet it, and I followed suit, then had a local put it on my
shoulders for a photo. He liked my beard.
He
asked if we preferred regular hiking or to ride in a horse pulled
vehicle for awhile. I had been wanting to ride in one of these two
wheeled metal carts pulled by horse since I saw one on the way into
town. We chose that. It was a bit scary at first. Nah, mostly the
whole time.
The
cart was fairly wobbly with nothing to really hang on to, there was a
small wooden bench on either side, wide enough to sit about 3 people
very closely. The roads are rutted and part of the journey was on
dirt roads and paths that were also rutted, uneven, and at times,
rocky. It was fun though. Check that off the list.
We
rode to his family's tobacco farm and he took us inside the barn
where they were going through the same thing we had done earlier.
Rachel and I were good on that, so we left and told him what was up.
We felt a little bad, because it was Tamara's family who would have
gotten the money if we would have bought from them, but we didn't
know it was part of the “hike” and the farmer earlier was so
cool, I would have rather bought from him anyway.
We
went over to the house and had a coffee drink and enjoyed the view
before heading back out in our horse cart. We arrived at a place
where they had a giant prehistoric mural painted on the mountainside
and walked around there for a bit. I got a beer and as I was sitting
there, I was playing with my Cuban coins and my magnetic money holder
on my wallet. I stacked them so 3 coins were balanced on top of one
another. One of the bartender's faces when he saw it was priceless.
He must have thought I was a wizard. A few people wanted to know what
as up and were all talking about it. I told them it was santeria.
It's a slave/christian/voodoo type religion in Cuba. They laughed,
and then played with the “magic coins” themselves for awhile.
Google Maps is also going over extremely well here.
I
imagined it would since I have been hard pressed to be able to find a
frickin computer to dump my photos on to a thumbdrive. In Havana, the
hotel computer was closed on Sunday & Monday, the only days we
were there, and to my knowledge, Vinales has only 1 public computer
at the post office, open from 8-5 with a 1 hour siesta in there. We
haven't been able to make it there on time yet with our daily
activities. Crazy.
After
the prehistoric mural park, we rode through the breathtaking views of
the National Park and then, after grabbing a couple guys who needed a
ride, went back home.
Rachel
and I showered and had some down time before dinner. For dinner,
fish, black beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, plantain
chips, fresh fruit, green beans, and cerveza. We arranged for a cab
to a dive location tomorrow leaving at 6:30 am, so we decided to have
an early night tonight and went to bed.
For photos from this trip click here.
For photos from this trip click here.
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