The Best View in Cuba: Los Jazmínes

One of the things that you really can't miss when visiting Viñales is what my Lonely Planet Guide calls "the best view in Cuba!". Hotel Los Jazmines is a strawberry pink villa nestled into a hillside that looks out across a brilliant green chequer board of coffee and sugar plantations splashed with the deep rusty red of the Cuban soil. The best times to soak in the view are in the early morning when the mist creeps back as the sun rises and at sunset when the sky is streaked fiery orange behind the mountains. 

We set off on the short and winding walk up the hill hopeful but without holding our breath- that afternoon we'd had a rainstorm and the sky was still full of fat grey clouds. The spectacular sunset we had been promised looked like a no show...

On the journey we came across oxen trudging through fields dragging a plough, a troup of teenagers playing with a horse and everlasting vintage cars that would whoooosh past so that we had to hold on to our hats.

As we got higher and higher the scenery started to unfold beneath us:

After a bit on confusion we found the right track and then the hotel appeared:

 

The sky had been white with cloud and the air was still heavy with the rain that would fall throughout the night; we sat on the terrace under the canopy and waited. As we watched, the setting sun burned a hole in the clouds and the sky was set alight.

 

 

 

 

 

By the time the clouds cleared enough for a truly spectacular view the sun had already sunk too far below the skyline and the light was fading. For a few brief moments though Viñales had been lit up in all its glory and we were glad we took our guidebook's advice and bothered to hike up and find the best view in Cuba!

Viñales - A Trip to the Jardín Botánico

In my opinion a trip to Cuba is not complete without a visit to Viñales; this gorgeous sleepy little town is about as far from the frenzy of La Habana as it's possible to get. Once you've enjoyed a morning's horseriding, a little birdwatching, soaked up all the afternoon sunshine from the terrace of your casa particular and settled down to watch the shooting stars and glow bugs light up the night your mind will turn to the next day...and what you plan on doing.

As travellers it can be hard sometimes to resist the urge to spend our time rushing from guidebook suggested site to tripadvisor recommended restaurant but Viñales is one of those places where this kind of attitude doesn't really work. The pace of life, the size of the town and the incredible natural beauty wherever you point your nose really just encourages you to go for a wander and see what you find... What we found was the gorgeous Jardín Botánico, or Botanical Garden, a perfect place to spend an hour or so (and a haven for photographers with its vast range of plant life).

You make your way through a rickety gate up towards a low house and knock on the door to be greeted by your guide. During our trip we were shown around by the young man of the house accompanied by two tiny and very naughty dogs that yapped and scuffled in the undergrowth for the entire time we were there.

The garden was started by the grandmother of the house around which it sits and is absolutely full to bursting with plants of every shape and size and from all around the world. There are also a few novelties such as the doll's head tree...

There are huge chocolate pods and delicate chocolate orchids that smell so delicious it's a wrench not to bite them off their stems:

Knobbly Durian or Jack fruit with their repulsive scent of dead flesh, bright forest flowers and sharp thorns...

Suddenly we heard an awful strangled scream from above our heads and looked up to see a large green lizard with a tree frog clamped in its jaws:

I've since found out that the lizard was a Cuban Knight Anole which is the largest of this type of lizard in the world. Not a pleasant sight to be honest but an incredibly interesting one! (More posts on the fantastic cuban wildlife we saw coming soon).

I'm so glad we stumbled across this gem of a place; it is actually in our lonely planet guidebook but we must have missed it the night before. Entry is free but you're encouraged to make a small donation at the end of your visit and after all the in-depth info given to us by our guide we really couldn't grumble. (2-3 CUCs should be about right)

Afterwards we headed back to the town for lunch and what better way to round off our morning than with fried plantain stuffed with ham and melted cheese accompanied by an incredibly flamboyant piña colada and a scrummy strawberry daiquiri!

Two Weeks in Cuba: Horseriding in Viñales!

After our first three nights in Havana I was keen to set off again and arrive at our next destination: Viñales. This sleepy little town consists of a single road lined with colourful houses that trails off into the green mountains, or mogotes, that this part of Cuba is famous for. Horses clop along pulling carts of onions, chickens scratch in the rust-red dust and cowboys in wide brimmed hats call to each other across the fields. Compared to the heaving Havana, life here was positively in slow motion with nothing to do but wake up in the morning to the glorious sunrise, swig a glass of ice cold guava juice, don your cowboy hat and set off for a day of horseriding in Viñales!

The view from the terrace of our lovely casa particular:

We were picked up bright and early and dropped off a little way into the mountains where we met our guide Andres and our horses for the day. Mulatto, Caramelo and Chocolate were our transport for the rest of the trip and were great. Mulatto did get a bit hungry so kept sneaking bites of foliage as we trotted along and also seemed to have a bit of a superiority complex needing to be leading us at all times...actually Mulatto was a bit of a handful...but a lovely horse nonetheless.



The views of the mountains with the lush fields and bright orange earth were gorgeous and at times it was like being on the set of jurassic park.



We passed through fields of maize and sugar cane while bananas, guava, mango, avocado, coffee beans and a kind of purple sweet potato called patata americana or malaca grew alongside the path. Arriving at a small thatched hut Andres lead us inside to meet the tobacco farmers who showed us how they harvest the tobacco, prepare it and roll it into cigars.

Next stop was a cave full of squawking chickens and rock formations that the enthusiastic guide was certain looked like "an elephant! a crocodile and the queens head!"



Although we set off as early as possible to avoid the midday heat, after 3 hours we were ready for a rest and a cool off. The horses were lead into the shade of a large tree and we ran down to the edge of a mountain lake for a swim in the still water.

Tiny yellow water lilies bobbed around our heads and trails of silver bubbles gave away the shoals of little fish that nibbled at our toes. Once out of the water and dried off we came across this little lizard who was hopping all over us trying to catch the flies attracted by the horses and mud on our shoes.

 

 

Ready to go we swung back up into the saddle heading for the next stop on our journey; a coffee plantation nearby.

 

 

As Andres showed us into the plantation another man hailed him and, smiling, passed a tiny puppy into his tanned weatherbeaten arms. We were shown how the coffee is ground and stored ready for shipment.

We drank rum and lemon cocktails and danced salsa under the shade of a large thatched hut in the centre of the plantation.

After the fun was over the horses started the last leg of the journey back to our casa. On the way we came across some of the locals in their bright vintage cars.
 

That night, aching but happy after our long day, we sat in rocking chairs on the terrace while ghostly green glow bugs floated between the trees and shooting stars zipped overhead. The only sounds were the crickets, the howling of the occasional dog and the soft snorting of the horses in the field opposite. I decided I really quite liked Viñales.

 

 

If you too fancy a day pretending to be a cowboy surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in Cuba it couldn't be easier to organise. Just mention it to the owner of your casa once you arrive and they'll be sure to call and arrange it for you whenever you like. Have you been to Cuba? What was your favourite moment from your trip? Comment below!