Vinales Final Voiceover

This is a non-touristy video of Vinales Valley in Cuba. The tour was booked on Airbnb to support locals. The valley has unique rock formations and a mural of prehistory. Traditional farming methods are used here, making Cuban tobacco of the best quality. The tour also includes a visit to a coffee farm and exploring caves. The locals have limited exposure to the outside world but are excited to meet tourists. They make most of their money from tourism. This is a genuine non-touristy video of Vinales Valley in Cuba. Vinales is a world-famous place where the tobacco is grown for Cuban cigars, and this is the authentic tour of Vinales because we visited farms that were not already set up for tourists. We booked this tour on Airbnb, which we recommend for anyone visiting Cuba. If you book on Airbnb, then you can ensure all the money for your tour goes into the pockets of locals rather than the government. We drove from Havana to Vinales and we stopped just before the valley to get a cup of coffee and see an incredible view of the mountains. This part of Cuba is remote and feels almost like another world with the distinctive and enormous rock formations. This surprised me because, for some reason, I always imagined the terrain in Cuba would be flat like Florida, where I grew up. Our second stop on the tour was to see the Mural of Prehistory, which is painted on one of the giant rocks. The work for this mural began in 1961, and the purpose is to represent the evolutionary process of life. The prehistory mural is one of the largest open-air paintings in the world. Vinales Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Center with traditional techniques still used in agricultural production. We felt like we were stepping back in time as we saw a lot of horses and donkeys rather than modern-day farming equipment. On this tour, we will hike to three different farms, and I'm excited to show you everything. Most people living in Vinales own farms, and their families have lived here for decades. The options are to drink a virgin pina colada or to add Cuban rum. Anyone who books this tour can walk with the group or ride on horseback from farm to farm. This next stop on the tour is to visit the farm where we will learn how tobacco is grown in Vinales Valley. This part of the tour was fascinating because we had the opportunity to learn about the process of growing tobacco and creating cigars. As I mentioned, the farmers use traditional agricultural methods in Cuba, and that's because of the U.S. embargo and the economic situation created by the government. There is a lack of many things on the island, such as modern technology and equipment for any industry. There is a lack of many things on the island, such as modern technology and equipment for any industry. Also, mechanical methods for cultivating and harvesting lower the quality of tobacco. The farmers in Vinales use animals instead of modern farming equipment, so Cuban tobacco is considered the best quality tobacco in the world. We tried the cigars and thought they tasted so good that we bought a few packages to bring home. After visiting the tobacco farm, we walked to our final destination, which was a coffee farm. We thought the tobacco farm would be the highlight of our tour, but the visit to the coffee farm was our favorite. Once we arrived on the farm, our guide took us on a walking tour towards the rocks and caves on the property. If you are interested in cave exploring, then you'll love Cuba. There are many caves in Vinales Valley and other parts of the country. Che Guevara was even known for commanding revolutionary fighters from caves. While most people think of Vinales Valley for the tobacco farming and cigar rollers, the mountain ranges also make Vinales well known for world-class rock climbing and sun terrain adventures. This area in Cuba is so special that it's been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many of the caves here have underground lakes or reservoirs that provide a unique travel experience, and it's not what most visitors would expect of Cuba. This cave provides enough fresh water that the family who owns the land extracts from it and uses it for drinking water. After exploring the cave, our host cooked lunch for the tour group and made a special vegetarian meal just for me. This was one of the best meals we had during our stay in Cuba. After lunch, we were introduced to the coffee-making process. Our host was one of the most delightful human beings I've met in my entire life. She was so much fun and excited to meet tourists from around the world. In this part of Cuba, the locals don't get much opportunity to understand anything about the world outside of Vinales Valley, and it is evident that she was an inquisitive person who enjoyed meeting us as much as we enjoyed meeting her. The coffee she grew was so tasty. In Cuba, the locals make 100% profit from selling directly to tourists. However, they can only sell 10% of their coffee to tourists. It is mandated to sell the rest to the government, which only pays minimal to farmers. The majority of the money that Cubans make is from tourists. If you enjoyed this, please like and subscribe for more content from traveling around Cuba and the world.