TUESDAY, JAN. 29
This was another very full day and could aptly be called “cigars and scenery.” It was sunny and probably the warmest day we had. Cuba was experiencing a cold front and it was mainly in the 60’s until today. We traveled three hours west on our comfortable tour bus to the Vinales Valley, a World Heritage Site. This agricultural region is known for its limestone outcroppings called mogotes and is deemed to have the best soil for producing very fine tobacco.
Tobacco farmers are obligated to sell 90% of their crop to the government, but get to keep the rest for themselves. On the way we made two stops, a pit stop at a service area that highlighted tobacco and then a visit to a small tobacco farm. Here we saw the tobacco leaves hanging in the drying house (where they hang as long as two to three months) and then we watched that farmer roll a cigar.
Rolling a cigar is a several step process starting with filler leaves that are layered and then rolled up. The ends may be cut at that point and then there is a wrapper leaf added. This is a special leaf that is very thin and flexible and is sealed around the rolled leaves with some kind of natural glue. It could be honey, for example. Commercial cigars get a band with a label added, but these farmers’ cigars are “lesser ones” which the farmer can sell, but they don’t get a label, unlike expensive brands such as Cohiba. We were offered a cigar to take home and the opportunity to smoke one, but only Laurie took up the latter offer. Several of our group collectively purchased a pack of 23 cigars.
Our destination for lunch was another tobacco farm run by the 4th generation of a family. We met the father, his son and wife, and an aunt, all of whom are involved in running the farm. To get to said lunch, the original plan was to leave the bus and then walk 15-20 minutes up a dirt trail to their outdoor pavilion. But the heavy rain of two days ago left the track muddy, puddly, and slippery. So…drum roll…we rode up in an ox cart! The oxen were hitched at the front and the driver in his straw hat, said he would put in planks for us to sit on.
I assumed planks running vertically along the sides of the cart, but no, three boards were put in running cross wise. Greg and I and Marian were on a board in front just behind the wooden yoke where the driver and our local guide from Vinales perched. That meant we had the clearest view of the path ahead and all the possible obstacles. The rest of our group, another seven people, piled in on other planks. It was a jouncy, sometimes lurching ride, up the hills, around the worst ruts, and also through some seriously deep puddles! We did wonder if we might tip over, but we made it.
This family had slaughtered a free range pig yesterday which this morning they roasted in a cylinder-shaped black oven. The pork was flavored with sour orange, cumin, and salt and was absolutely luscious, some of the best I’ve ever had! Accompanying the chunks of roast pork were plates or bowls of sliced cucumber, sliced tomatoes, Moors and Christians, boiled yucca, tamales (wedges of corn flour spiced with a bit of chili), squash cubes, shredded white cabbage, and shredded lettuce. To end the meal, they served homegrown fresh pineapple and coffee. Everything was very fresh and delicious!
We then saw their drying house, and the son demonstrated his technique for rolling a cigar and how he used honey as a sealer. Their cigars also include some other flavor notes, and my colleagues who tried one pronounced it mild and pleasant.
After lunch, we stopped in the town of Vinales, very popular with tourists, and walked around noting several attractive hotels, and a plethora of restaurants. The last stop of the day was a visit to an artist’s home. Roman Vasquez Leon is an artist who was previously represented by a gallery in Miami, but now shows and sells his paintings out of his house. His works have a surreal quality and some are Bosch-esque in their depiction of human activities of all sorts.
The trip back was another three hours, getting us to the hotel shortly after 7 p.m. Most of the group was going on to a show at the Hotel Nacional, but we demurred and ordered sandwiches and a glass of wine. We had a long conversation with John, an American photographer and hotel guest who visits regularly to document particular aspects of Cuban life. There was no internet connection at all, something to do with problems from Sunday’s storm, so I felt rather disconnected from world news.
Tomorrow is our last day in Havana and we will visit a couple museums and see some dance.
Note: All photos except the couple, ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).
