The Tobacco Fields

A fantastic breakfast awaited us at our Casa Particular. Silvia, our hostess provided coffee, juice, an omelette, pancakes and French bread as well as fruit. It was a feast but we had no problem trying everything. Along with the other two guests in our Casa we joined the walking tour through the tobacco fields. We set off down a different street than yesterday, much prettier with attractive bungalows, many with rooms to rent. Soon we were on a path through the fields with our guide, Douglas, and an Australian, originally from Czechoslovakia. The Dutch couple were very good at spotting birds and one of the highlights was seeing a humming bird. Another thrill was to see leafcutter ants taking their bits of leaf down to their colony to feed the fungus they live on. We have seen it on TV and even at Butterfly World but not in the wild. another first was seeing a giant tree rat perched on a post at a refreshment stop on the walk. We had a fresh coconut drink then ate some of the coconut.

The main aim of the walk was to learn about the tobacco growing process and see a cigar being made. This is the season when tobacco is ready to dry and we saw lots hanging up. The farmers have to sell 90 per cent of their crop to the government. They keep the other 10 per cent which they can use or sell. We all had a try but decided smoking was no longer for us!

After a tapas lunch we headed off to Hotel Jasmine, 3 km out of town. Luckily the weather though warm was overcast so we survived the

climb and the view over Vinales Valley was well worth it. After a beer we braved the steep path down to the valley floor and found our way back to Vinales with little difficulty. The little houses on the way were very pretty. A stop at a craft place on the way back yielded a few souvenirs.

We saw among other birds the Turkey vulture, king bird, bullfinch and nightingale which is very rare.

We had another lovely meal with far too much provided, courtesy of Silvia.We then had a walk down the Main Street where there was music and dancing.