I had a month to explore Central America, and took the opportunity to visit Cuba for almost two weeks, a destination I’ve been meaning to go visit for a long time. First stop was Havana, the capital, the center and by far the most developed of the cities in the country, for better or worse. I spent a few days there trying to figure out how to move from one place to another, and finally, after feeling a bit frustrated with the options, I decided to do what I almost never do – and take a full day tourist tour arranged by one of the local hotel tour companies. It turned out to be a wise decision. I’m still not entirely convinced that if you have only two weeks that the Vinales area is must for more than a day, and then having everything pre-arranged for me without me having to plan or think was a great relief. However, with such tours you can expect downsides, and there were a few, like the “rum tour” stop was basically an unnecessary stops to get us to buy things. But, generally, it was pretty nice with plenty of time to see the country side, do some underground water tunnels, and learn a bit about the local cigar manufacturing. Lovely.
Here’s a bit from that day trip from Havana to the Vinales region…
Location: