Stop What You're Doing, Get to Viñales!

This winter, twelve GWU students, two faculty members, and one chaperone toured Cuba for ten days… leaving with rum, cigars, and the memories to last a lifetime. Entering the country on educational visas, our group was escorted through four different Cuban cities via Intrepid Travel’s Hola Cuba! Tour. Although each stop on our trip was incredible, I’ll never forget our trip to the Viñales tobacco farm.

Famously known for the top-of-the-line cigars produced in this region, Viñales, (a rural farming town in Western Cuba), is the perfect combination of natural beauty and cultural wonders. Life in Viñales revolves around agriculture, so visiting the incredibly lush and abundant farms in Viñales was a no-brainer for our group.

However getting there was another story…

Our journey to the Correa family tobacco farm was not an easy one- but fun none the less! After being deposited by a bus on a never-ending stretch of dirt road, our group began the hour and a half-long trek up the mountain. Luckily, we had an incredible guide that spent much of the trek teaching us about the flora and fauna of the area, the history of Viñales, and day-to-day activities of farmers in the region. 

He let us stop at various points so that we could fully take in the incredible views of the valley’s famous limestone ‘mountains’, and was very patient with our group of animal lovers- giving us time to visit with ALL of the animals.

Finally, after making our way through steep mountains, lush rain forests, and tight cave-like passages, we made it to the Correa family's farm- a small but beautiful facility at the base of the limestone mountains. We were immediately greeted by the farmer’s mother with small cups of farm-produced espresso and rum. After a quick tour of the facilities, we met with Wilfredo and learned about the art of cigars, the production process, and the Cuban government’s involvement with cigar factories. We even learned the recipe to the farm’s secret cure-mix for leaves! (think: rum, lime, honey)

After the lesson, we hung out with the farmer, smoked a few cigars, visited the curing facilities, and began our trek back down the mountain. Of course, not before saying bye to all the farmer’s furry friends!

All in all, our trip to the Correa‘s farm was a huge highlight for our group! The only downside was that a few of our members were sick and couldn’t join us that day. As far as recommendations go, there really isn’t much I’d have wanted to do differently… except maybe horse-ride. The area is known by tourists for horse riding, and perhaps the members that couldn’t attend that day may have been up for coming had they not had to walk.