Of Horses and Pigs

West of Havana lies the Vinales Valley. After a somewhat strenuous journey (mostly due to the ancient minibus), you reach a very beautiful, green valley. For some reason, tobacco thrives particularly well here, so much revolves around this plant. The town of Vinales itself is not a visual delight, but you can take nice hikes to the surrounding hills. We also took a horseback riding tour, even though we both don't know anything about horse riding. But it was very nice, a pleasant travel speed and somehow something different. We visited a tobacco plantation (unfortunately it was not the tobacco season and the plants were still very small) and of course smoked cigars. Furthermore, coffee is grown in the valley, honey is made and liqueur is produced. We tried everything.

From there we took a taxi, an old American car, to Playa Giron, located at the historic Bay of Pigs. There are no pigs here, but there is an interesting small museum about the 1961 invasion when Cuban exiles supported by the CIA attacked Cuba. The hero worship for the "first victory against imperialism in Central America" is huge, there are many displays with portraits and slogans.

This place doesn't offer much else, but it is beautifully located and has a small beach. Furthermore, there are some diving spots that are still quite untouched and have intact reefs. The underwater world made up for the slightly adventurous equipment. Beautiful dives.