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Cuba Vinales Photo Gallery

The Vinales Valley, 200km southwest of Havana, is in Pinar del Río, Cuba's westernmost province where the best tobacco in the world is grown. It is also very picturesque with stunning karst hill formations, known locally as mogotes, riddled with caves.

11 Cuba - Highway from Havana to Vinales We took an excellent bus tour from Havana to the Vinales Valley driving along the almost deserted national highway. As we watched the scenery, the tour guide told us about the different facets of Cuban life, including education, housing, health care, and cars.

11 Cuba - Highway from Havana to Vinales

12 Cuba - Vinales - Cigar factory On the way from Havana to Vinales our tour started with a very interesting visit to a factory to see the process for making Cuban cigars from the leaves through quality control to final packaging.

12 Cuba - Vinales - Cigar factory

13 Cuba - Vinales - Tobacco Curing Barn The second stop on our bus tour to Vinales was a casa de tabaco, or curing barn, where the green tobacco leaves are hung on long wooden poles for about 50 days to dry.

13 Cuba - Vinales - Tobacco Curing Barn

14 Cuba - Vinales - Vinales Village - Parque Marti - Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus The main square in the village of Vinales, Parque Marti, has the Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus (1888), Church of the Sacred heart of Jesus.

14 Cuba - Vinales - Vinales Village - Parque Marti - Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus

15 Cuba - Vinales - Vinales Village - Parque Marti - Colonial Building Diagonally across the street from the main square in Vinales Village is a beautiful yellow colonial building, with different forms of transportation on the street including jeep, old American car, motorcycle and bicycle.

15 Cuba - Vinales - Vinales Village - Parque Marti - Colonial Building

16 Cuba - Vinales - Vinales Village - Palacio de Pioneros with a Che Guevarra image Across the street from the main square in Vinales Village is the Palacio de Pioneros with a Che Guevarra image on the wall.

16 Cuba - Vinales - Vinales Village - Palacio de Pioneros with a Che Guevarra image

21 Cuba - Vinales Valley - Vinales Valley and Mogotes from a lookout above the valley floor There is an excellent view of the Vinales Valley and mogotes from a lookout above the valley floor. Mogotes are rounded, tower-like limestone hills.

21 Cuba - Vinales Valley - Vinales Valley and Mogotes from a lookout above the valley floor

22 Cuba - Vinales Valley - Vinales Valley and Mogotes from a lookout above the valley floor There is an excellent view of the Vinales Valley and mogotes from a lookout above the valley floor. Mogotes are rounded, tower-like limestone hills.

22 Cuba - Vinales Valley - Vinales Valley and Mogotes from a lookout above the valley floor

23 Cuba - Vinales Valley - Mogote Close Up As we drove through the Vinales Valley, we had a closer view of the mogotes, mountains with steep sides and rounded, jungly tops caused by limestone erosion.

23 Cuba - Vinales Valley - Mogote Close Up

24 Cuba - Vinales Valley - Mural de la Prehistoria On a cliff at the foot of the 617m-high Sierra de Vinales, the Mural de la Prehistoria is a 120m-long painting on the side of Mogote Dos Hermanos. It was designed in 1961 by Cuban painter Leovigildo González Morillo. The huge snail, dinosaurs, sea monsters and humans on the cliff symbolize the theory of evolution.

24 Cuba - Vinales Valley - Mural de la Prehistoria

25 Cuba - Vinales Valley - Eroding Mogote Close Up Just before getting to the Cueva del Indio (Indian’s Cave) in the Vinales Valley, we had a close up view of an eroding mogote giving us an idea of how caves and underwater rivers can happen.

25 Cuba - Vinales Valley - Eroding Mogote Close Up

31 Cuba - Vinales - Cuevo del Indio - Colourful Rocks The Cueva del Indio (Indian’s Cave) in the Vinales Valley was discovered in 1920. Some of the rock formations are very colourful.

31 Cuba - Vinales - Cuevo del Indio - Colourful Rocks

32 Cuba - Vinales - Cuevo del Indio - on foot through tunnels The first part of the Cueva del Indio (Indian’s Cave) tour in the Vinales Valley is on foot through tunnels with artificial lighting.

32 Cuba - Vinales - Cuevo del Indio - on foot through tunnels

33 Cuba - Vinales - Cuevo del Indio - Motorboat on underground San Vicente River before exiting the cave The second part of the Cueva del Indio (Indian’s Cave) tour in the Vinales Valley is on small motorboat that took us on the underground San Vicente River before exiting the cave at a dock area crowded with souvenir stands and a little snack bar. The obvious tourist trap did not detract from the awesome experience of walking through and marveling at the enormous limestone caverns.

33 Cuba - Vinales - Cuevo del Indio - Motorboat on underground San Vicente River before exiting the cave


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