Rosie and The Operator are up at dawn, its our first full day in Vinales! From the deck this morning the sunrise was still pink, a man walked the street calling out in a loud rich baritone ‘el Pane el Pane’ – he is balancing on his shoulder a huge board loaded with bread buns, calling into houses as housewives came to the door. Rosie has never seen or had a slice of bread here, they seem to only bake buns… we watched kids walking to school in their sharp, neat uniforms, horse and buggy drivers clip clop past on their way to work and the large trucks loaded full of people to work the fields give way on the narrow street to horses and then roar off in a belch of smoke.
We are ready and rearing to go, today we are going horse trekking into the national park, Mignelys has organised a local guide and during our ride we will be visiting a tobacco plantation and other various sights on the way, the cost is $20 each for 4 hours. We are going to beat the heat of the day and start our trek at 0800. Our guide is Roberto, he collects us from the Casa and walks us to his ranch through the back streets and pathways of Vinales, he speaks zero English and Rosie and The Operator are his only clients this morning.
Rosie has never ridden a horse before and is very nervous, Rosie wasn’t even sure she could mount the beast. The Operator gave assurances that all would be well and he would help me up. I found out the name of my horse was Pape Tullo and The Operators was called Poko Loco.
My sign language for never having ridden a horse before was met with a smiling Roberto nodding his head saying ‘ Pape Tullo automatico’…OK. Roberto motioned for me to put my foot in the stirrup and throw my leg over….like that was ever going to happen….Rosie has never lifted her leg that high since 1991. The trusty Operator was behind me and with two hands on my backside man handled me up into the saddle…wow, it is a long way to the ground.
Roberto gave me the bridal and motioned left and right, of which I assumed were steering instructions and Rosie was off leading the way, well, Pape Tullo was leading the way. Rosie being the novice wasn’t sure if she liked leading, she motioned for The Operator to take the lead, he surged forward on Poko Loco looking like a natural cowboy…
….he had just drawn up to my shoulder when Pape Tullo lurched into a trot…are you shitting me, Rosies bones were rattling and she was slipping sideways! Rosie grabs the pommel in the middle of the saddle and hangs on for grim death.
Roberto is motioning for The Operator to pull back, apparently Pape Tullo is the pack leader and no other horse goes in front of her. Great. Pecking order is restored and my brown beast, feeling non threatened, slows down to a plod that Rosie finds very comfortable. Off we trek onto the red dusty trails that line the tobacco fields of Vinales.
The silence is amazing we are already only about 400 metres from the street and the vehicle noise and mayhem is gone completely, we can hear birdsong, the creak of my saddle and the plod and snort of the horses. It is like we have entered another world entirely, and, taken a step back in time.
We are riding on the local paths between tobacco fields, no vehicular traffic is coming down these paths which is two horses wide. The field workers are already hard at it and have been since sun up at 7.30am. Most are hoeing the fields, some are cutting tobacco, some are steering bullock teams as they plough the fields. The horses that they have arrived at work on are tied to trees in the shade.
Condors wheel overhead and birdsong fills the air, the red of the dirt contrasting with the green of the fields is amazing, the sense of stepping back in time is incredible, it is a glorious day in Cuba and Roberto’s office is magnificent!
We have our first break about 45 mins in to our trek. We have stopped to visit a local tobacco grower. He has a small holding where he grows leaf, 90 percent of his take goes to the government and 10% is kept for himself and his family.
He shows us his drying house, the harvest is in for the season and all of the leaves are drying in the free flow of air that permeates the house made of thatch. The harvest is started in March and the leaves dry for 5 months during that time the leaves are moved higher in the house as time goes by for maximum dryness.
The leaves that are ready to be rolled into cigars are soft like leather, he removed the central stem of the leaf as this contains the nicotine. A dried out leaf is laid out on the table and three other leaves are bunched together for the infill. The outer leaf is then wrapped diagonally to create the cigar that doesn’t fall apart.
These home made cigars are then wrapped in paper for 2 days to absorb any moisture and make then rigid. Voila, home cigar rolling 101. During this time he lit one of his cigars for us, Rosie had a couple of puffs…asked if she should inhale…he said if we like, OK, here we go.
Rosie has not had a cigarette since she pinched some aged 13 years, out of her mothers ciggie packet and smoked them down the back in the chicken coop with her brother. This wasn’t a good experience and one she never took up.
These cigars are made from organic product, there is minimal nicotine and no chemicals are added. It was kind of a smooth taste, the smell was lovely, Rosie inhaled….and coughed a little…and went back for a couple more puffs….and started to feel a little light headed and sick. It was definitely nicer tasting than cigarettes, but not something Rosie will take up as a hobby. The Operator on the other hand was chugging away….he said it was quite nice….and ended up buying 5 locally made huge cigars from the farmer for $2US each. OK, will see how our bio security handles this trying to get these back into New Zealand.
Back on the horse we entered the Valley of Silencio, stunning scenery was laid out on either side of us and we were climbing higher and higher. We stopped at the highest point, a lookout Mirador that was a spot to stop for another break in our trek plus a break for a juice and a wee tour of the valley by Enrique.
This lad showed us all of the native plants to the valley, limes, lemon, guava, pineapple, banana, star fruit, coffee, papaya, mango, cacao, avocado, cinnamon and so much more…beautiful tropical fruit hanging from the trees, such a bountiful place…total paradise! Enrique showed us how the coffee was harvested and roasted and also we tasted the local honey, one was made from the coffee flowers and the other honey was made from the fruit trees, runny beautiful deliciousness with such a distinctive, different taste.
He was selling his honey in recycled water bottles. I can say our bio security will have a field day with that, sorry Enrique. He was not getting any sales from us today…off he went to another tour group that had just arrived. No before he showed us the native tree rats that live in these here parts….yuuuuuk really!
Pape Tullo and Rosie were fast becoming the best of friends, Rosie was even feeling a bit like a cowgirl nearing the end of her ride…Pape Tullo on the other hand new when she was near home and started going a little faster…faster than Rosie liked, and there was no stopping or controlling her! Hold on Rosie, you are not that good yet.
What a great day, Rosie will remember this for a long time to come. Especially for being so apprehensive starting out and then totally enjoyed her morning thanks to Pape Tullo for playing the game so well and the awesome guiding by Roberto who is pictured below.
PS – Roberto sprinted ahead to check the road for traffic. Pape Tullo could smell the scent of home and was jogging along with Rosie bouncing on her back. Thank God there was no traffic, there was no way Rosie could get that horse to stop!
Rosie has rambled on longer than she meant too, will fill you in tomorrow on the rickety balcony we had dinner on and the making of the balcony where we were staying….it was classic.
