We visited a tobacco plantation in the Viñales valley

We visited a tobacco plantation in the Viñales valley

The tobacco farmer told us about the process of tobacco cultivation and showed us how he rolled a cigar

Click on the movie and you see it

The Viñales valley is growing, according to experts,

the best tobacco of the World

Since 1999 this valley is on the World Heritage List of UNESCO

The Pinar del Río province covers an area of ​​10.860 km ², has over 726.000 inhabitants and is situated in the extreme west of Cuba

Pinar del Río is, with seventy to eighty percent of the Cuban tobacco production, the main supplier of this famous Cuban product

The provincial capital is therefore called the

"Tobacco Capital of Cuba”

During the growth the flowers are cut out, so all the nutrients benefit to the leaves

Because not all the leaves are ripe at the same time, they are plucked one by one

The leaves are after harvesting bundled in size and structure and hung out to dry in a well ventilated tobacco barn

This causes the tobacco brew (ferment)

This process takes about 10 weeks and then the tobacco originated is often a little bitter

To improve the taste different varieties of tobacco are mixed

with each other

We were invited to drink a delicious cup of Cuban coffee and were allowed to see his house

Alexander von Humboldt National Park is on the UNESCO World Heritage list

Park “Alejandro de Humboldt” is a national park in the Cuban provinces of Holguín and Guantánamo

It`s named after he German scientist Alexander von Humboldt who visited the island in 1800 and 1801

Being one of the most important biosphere reserves in the Caribbean basin, the National Park, along with Cuchillas del Toa was declared a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 2001

The rivers that flow off the peaks of the park are some of the largest in the insular Caribbean

The park is said to be the most humid place in Cuba and this causes a high biological diversity

The park has an area of 274.67 sq miles of which 264.76 sq miles land area and 8.74 sq miles marine area

Elevation ranges from sea level to 3,832 ft on El Toldo Peak

16 of Cuba's 28 endemic plant species are protected in the park including such fauna as Dracaena cubensis and Podocarpus ekman

Hummingbird flies to the flower of a mango tree

Fauna present in the park includes various species of parrots, lizards, hummingbirds, the endangered Cuban Solenodon (endemic), hutia and snails

The Alexander von Humboldt National Park has historically been an area of land little used by man, with only one archaeological site from the pre-Columbian period being known, located in the coastal zone of Aguas Verdes

The park began to be laid out in the 1960`s, with the declaration of the Jaguani and Cupeyal del Norte nature reserves

This continued into the 80`s with the proposal of the Ojito del Agua Refuge, associated with the last sighting of the Royal Woodpecker, a last remnant of this species which was already extinct in its other habitats in the United States and Mexico

Termite nest

In 1996 these protected areas were united to form a National Park that was named after Alexander von Humboldt

There are unique flora and fauna elements in this unique ecosystem, with some of the highest indexes of endemicity in the archipelago

Trinidad in Cuba is on the UNESCO World Heritage List

The city of Trinidad in the province of Sancti Spiritus, central Cuba,

and since 1988 on the UNESCO World Heritage List

Trinidad was founded in 1514 by Diego Velazquez de Cuellar,

first with the name of Villa de la Santisima Trinidad

The provincial town, just north of the Bay of Ancon, has the

authenticity of the Spanish 16th century preserved

The picturesque center with the church of St. Francis, around the Plaza Mayor,

the Palacio Cantero and the Palacio Brunet are the highlights

Trinidad has become rich by the sugar trade

After the collapse of the world trade the residents went away and the city fell into decay

With much dedication the old buildings are gradually restored

The city has retained its originality

Trinidad is known for its colorful houses and beautiful wrought iron

Although much still has to be restored you could see that once it was a beautiful city