PARQUE NACIONAL DE VIÑALES

The Valle de Viñales is enshrined within Viñales National Park. Dominating the valley are the dramatic mogotes in whose shadows guajiros lovingly tend their plots of tobacco and maize. The setting resembles a Vietnamese or Chinese painting, particularly in the early morning, when mists settle above the valley. At its heart is the eponymous village, Viñales (pop. 10,000), whose sleepy yesteryear charm is a draw unto itself. Viñales is 26 kilometers north of Pinar del Río and 212 kilometers west of Havana, and was founded in 1875.

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Calle Salvador Cisneros

Viñales’s wide main street is lined with turn-of-the-century, red tile–roofed cottages shaded by rows of stately pine trees. The handsome main square is shaded by palms and has a bust of José Martí at its center. To one side is a pretty 19th-century church. On the north side, a beautiful arcaded colonial building houses the Casa de Cultura.

Museo Municipal Adela Azcuy (Salvador Cisneros #115, tel. 08/79-3395; Tues.–Sat. 9 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m.–noon; CUC1) has motley displays telling the history of the region. Outside stands a bronze bust of Adela Azcuy Labrador (1861–1914), a local captain in the War of Independence.

The other local treasure is the Casa de Don Tomás (Salvador Cisneros #140, tel. 08/79-6300), dating to 1822 and now an atmospheric restaurant..

Two widows, Carmen and Caridad Miranda, maintain the Jardín Botánico de Viñales (8 a.m.–7 p.m.; entry by contribution), a garden full of fruit trees, medicinal plants, and orchids. The garden is festooned with plastic teddy bears, decapitated doll’s heads, and desiccated fruits, giving it airs of shamanic intrigue.

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Cuevas del Indio

The Caves of the Indian (tel. 08/79-6280; daily 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; CUC5), five kilometers north of Viñales, is named for the Indian remains found inside. The large grotto is entered via a slit at the foot of a mogote. You can explore the cave with or without a guide. The cave is four kilometers long, although you only explore the first kilometer by foot. A flight of steps leads to the main entrance, where you follow a well-lit path (slippery in parts) through the mesmerizing catacomb, which in places soars to a height of 135 meters. Eventually you reach an underground pier where a motorized boat takes you on a trip up the subterranean, milky green river that runs deep beneath the mountain and is a habitat for opaque fish and blind crustaceans. The cave is also inhabited by small bats. It is like a crossing of the Styx, setting your imagination racing in the Stygian gloom. Try to avoid it when the numerous tour groups are in.

A bird-watching trail begins at the El Ranchón restaurant, outside the cave.

Cueva de Viñales (CUC1 with a guide), one kilometer south of Cuevas del Indio, is mostly a curiosity. The cave entrance has been converted into a discotheque replete with laser lights. Bats and swallows nest in nooks and swoop in and out, disturbed by the flashing fandango of the lights and the discordant beat of the disco.

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Mural de la Prehistoria

The much-touted Prehistoric Mural (tel. 08/79-6260; 8 a.m.–7 p.m. daily; CUC1), five kilometers west of Viñales, is painted onto the exposed cliff face of Mogote Dos Hermanos. The mural illustrates evolution in the Sierra de los Órganos, from mollusk and dinosaur to club-wielding Guanajay Indian, the first human inhabitants of the region. The mural, which measures 200 feet high and 300 feet long, was commissioned by Castro and painted by 25 campesinos in 1961 while the artist, Leovigilda González, directed from below with a megaphone. The cliff face has been repainted in gaudy colors—a red brontosaurus, a yellow tyrannosaurus, and a blood-red homo sapiens! What was formerly a modestly appealing curiosity is now a testament to bad taste splotched on the wall of what is otherwise a splendidly beautiful valley. A curiosity in the restaurant is the órgano pinareño, an antique hand-driven organ fed, like a Jacquard loom, with a belt of cards punched with the musical score.

Horseback rides are offered (CUC5 per hour).

A small Museo de Prehistoria in the Campismo Dos Hermanos displays pre-Columbian artifacts, natural history specimens, and more.

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Comunidad Los Acuáticos

The Comunidad Los Acuáticos comprises 12 families who live midway up the east-facing slope of Sierra de Viñales and rarely
descend into the valley. The community, which believes in the healing power of water, was founded in 1943 by Antoñica Izquierdo, who Cuban authorities later judged insane (she was institutionalized and died in an insane asylum). Her followers continued their ritual practice, which included three daily baths and drying off in the wind. The tradition is virtually dead in the community, following the death of the village patriarch in 2002.

The trailhead to the community is about three kilometers along a dirt road that begins at Campismo Dos Hermanos. A more direct trail begins on the Viñales– Pons road, about 500 meters west of the turn for Mogote Dos Hermanos; the actual trailhead begins about one kilometer from the main road. You can make a complete loop.

Tour agencies are not allowed to offer services to Los Acuáticos, but you can hire “illegal” freelance guides in town. Better yet is to rent a horse (about CUC10) for the journey.

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Entertainment

You can’t beat Bar y Restaurant El Viñelo for a place to sup and play dominoes with locals.

A disco is hosted in the Cueva de Viñales (tel. 08/79-6290; Tues.–Sat. at 10:30 p.m.; CUC5 including a cocktail), four kilometers north of Viñales. A cabaret espectáculo precedes the disco on Saturday.

ARTex’s Palacio del Decimista (Salvador Cisneros #102, tel. 08/79-6014; CUC1) has live music nightly at 10 p.m. The happening scene at last visit, however, was the Centro Cultural Polo Montañez, on the patio of the Casa de la Cultura on the main plaza, with entertainment nightly, including noches campesinas (“peasant nights”) on Thursday and disco Friday–Saturday (CUC2).

There’s a cinema at Calle Ceferino Fernández, esq. Rafael Temos.

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Recreation

Caving and Climbing: The area is evolving as a mecca for caving and climbing. At least 100 climbing routes have been mapped up the mogotes. The unofficial base camp is the Viñales home of Oscar Jaime Rodgríguez (Adela Azcuy #43, tel. 08/79-3381), who is also a good source of information. Local climbers José Millo (Calle Rafael Trejo #108) and Abel Fleitas (Calle Joaquín Pérez #1, tel. 08/79-3231) also act as guides. For further information, visit www.cubaclimbing.com.

Hikes

The Museo Municipal Adela Azcuy (Salvador Cisneros #115, tel. 08/79-3395) offers five specialist hiking excursions for CUC5 per person, available 9 a.m.–3 p.m. The “Nature & Campesina” trip (four hours) is a stiff hike to traditional farmsteads; there’s also an easier three-hour hike. “In the Heart of the Valley” is good for learning about tobacco production. There’s also a three-hour coffee tour, and a “Paseo Artístico” that visits artists’ studios.

Hotel La Ermita offers guided hiking excursions, plus horseback riding (CUC per hour).