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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 18, 2018 12:55:12 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 18, 2018 13:04:36 GMT
Guayabita is the local liquor and is not considered to be a type of rum or any other generic alcohol. Guayabita is distilled from cane sugar and the berries of the dwarf guava tree. It was absolutely fascinating to see everything done without robots and just minimal machines -- filling the bottles, putting on the labels.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 18, 2018 22:50:24 GMT
Kudos to Kerouac for the great introductory pictures. Not being able to stop for pictures was frustrating at the beginning of the trip, as we went through parts of Havana we hadn't seen yet, including the mansion area -- supposedly now all schools and embassies. At any rate, there's nothing like a group tour to a factory, is there? And in this case, we got to see happy socialist workers ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 19, 2018 1:59:31 GMT
Once past the bottle washing room, we saw vats and barrels of liquor being fermented or aged ~ Then we shuffled back the way we came, past the bottling nerve center ~ After that we were squeezed into the narrow hall where we'd originally entered. I say squeezed because arriving and departing groups were using the hall at the same time. Our group was put on hold in the hall until there was enough space in the gift shop for us to enter. I used the time to capture a stirring sentiment ~
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Post by bjd on Jan 19, 2018 6:20:36 GMT
Those socialism-building signs remind me of "advertising" in the USSR. The Cuban ones tend to be a little more feisty, with struggle and revolution, the Soviet ones said things like "electrification for the whole country".
It must be tough -- not only working in a factory sticking labels on bottles, but being looked at by groups of tourists.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 19, 2018 6:37:37 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Jan 19, 2018 9:51:56 GMT
Gosh Kerouac - Just when I thought we were all done with Cuba, you present us with another surprise! Very interesting to see the distillery being run with very little mechanisation. I love the lush countryside which has that lovely 'island' feel even if there is no view of the sea. Anymore ?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 19, 2018 12:19:56 GMT
There will be plenty more!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 19, 2018 13:08:38 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 19, 2018 17:34:23 GMT
Rolling through the countryside on our way to the tobacco plantation ~ My main interest in this part of the trip was to see more of the island. I used to live in North Carolina & have seen a lifetime's worth of tobacco fields & barns. Still, these were Cuban fields & barns and I was eager to see as much of Cuba as I could. Our group was pleasant and well-behaved, making it all the easier to split away from them before and towards the end of the barn presentation to get the pictures I wanted. I was particularly interested in the barn, as the building of palapas -- pole & palm structures -- is a highly respected skill where I live. But since I'm in a city, mostly the ones I get to see are the open-sided ones meant for shading areas. The guide, who did a wonderful job throughout the tour, was somewhat challenged by the farm owner giving the tobacco talk. It turned out that job usually fell to his father. Yes, Son looked the part & knew his stuff but didn't hide his cynical amusement in having to be there. In fact, he rather took it out on the poor guide with his machine gun delivery. It was the only time in the whole tour that the guide slightly faltered, as she was forced into almost simultaneous translation.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 19, 2018 17:51:05 GMT
Outside again. Here is the exterior of the barn ~ The farmhouse ~ The mogotes, or karst hills for which the region is known. Wikipedia tells me that these Cuban hills are specifically kegelkarst ~ The piggies come out to clear the weeds at the edge of the tobacco field ~ The confused runt scrambles after them, finally managing to join in the feeding ~
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Post by bjd on Jan 19, 2018 19:36:26 GMT
In all the pictures I have ever seen, it has been women rolling cigars in factories. Did this place only supply the tobacco or were they also making and selling cigars?
I like that countryside. Was it cooler than in Havana?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 19, 2018 19:56:12 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 19, 2018 20:42:55 GMT
Those socialism-building signs remind me of "advertising" in the USSR. The Cuban ones tend to be a little more feisty, with struggle and revolution, the Soviet ones said things like "electrification for the whole country". It must be tough -- not only working in a factory sticking labels on bottles, but being looked at by groups of tourists. Well, the USSR had somewhat longer to get tired of sloganeering, plus a generally more tumultuous history. And yes -- there were tourists continuously tromping past those liquor factory workers. I wonder if they could escape for privacy at mealtimes. Interestingly, I had a friendly chat with a woman at the entry desk when we were trapped in the hallway, a nice example of the legendary Cuban openness. In all the pictures I have ever seen, it has been women rolling cigars in factories. Did this place only supply the tobacco or were they also making and selling cigars? I like that countryside. Was it cooler than in Havana? Bjd, the only other time I ever saw a cigar rolled, it was by a man in Puebla. ( here) We saw no evidence of commercial cigar production at the farm. The other day I was lucky enough to see the 1964 movie Soy Cuba. It has a scene of a cigar rolling factory, and all the workers are men. The countryside really was gorgeous and like nothing I'd seen before. I don't remember it being so much cooler, but the air was amazingly fresh.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 19, 2018 23:26:49 GMT
I would think that Havana is cooler because it has the sea breeze.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 20, 2018 5:18:17 GMT
After leaving the farm, we were taken to where we'd have lunch. This was an immense open-sided palapa able to serve several tour bus loads at a time. It is also the site of the "prehistoric painting". I'd read about this before visiting Cuba, and was initially excited. Then I found out that it was a 20th century work, but assumed it must be artistically spectacular, considering its location. Then I saw a picture of it and could only think "vandalism". It was conceived in '59 or 61 by Leovigildo Gonzalez Morillo, director of Cartography at the Cuban Academy of Sciences. It was completed with the help of local residents who hung from parachute cords to paint the mural. source
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Post by mossie on Jan 20, 2018 9:53:12 GMT
Another learning experience. Am I correct that the pigs are wild?
And you have shattered the myth about cigar production, we have always been led to believe that cigars are hand rolled on the ample thighs of virgins.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 20, 2018 11:37:11 GMT
I'm sure they are domestic. "Free range hogs" ?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 20, 2018 11:44:12 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 20, 2018 22:17:11 GMT
I really love that penultimate picture -- gorgeous b&w. As you can see from the previous post, we had to wait our turn to enter the mogote. This cavern, the Cueva del Indio, was rediscovered in 1920. The nomadic Guanajatabey Indians built homes in caves hollowed from the limestone mogotes. The San Juan river runs through this cavern in which relics of the pre-columbian cultures have been discovered. We rode through part of it on a boat.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 21, 2018 22:17:22 GMT
On this kind of dual thread it is sometimes hard to tell whose turn it is to post. I'm taking Kerouac's pause as my cue to go ahead. Once inside the cavern, we walked for what seemed like a fair bit to where we'd board the boat. There was much stopping as each bunch of people ahead boarded a skiff. Then we'd all shuffle forward to fill the gap.
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Post by breeze on Jan 22, 2018 1:47:22 GMT
This is so different from Havana. You wonder why people leave peaceful and productive farmland or pleasant rural towns to move into crowded, dilapidated conditions in a city dominated by concrete. Maybe it's an intense dislike of farm labor.
Tobacco plants are a familiar sight in Pennsylvania, where it's a traditional crop of Amish and Old Order Mennonites, though nowadays Amish kids are not as keen on farming as their grandfathers. They're more likely to start their own small non-agricultural business.
I really like the photos of the countryside (especially kerouac's b/w one). The red soil, the green tobacco plants, the cattle, and the free roaming pigs make me think that Cuba could be self-sufficient in food, but I see by wikipedia that's not so.
Some gorgeous trees and shrubs you two have photographed. Amazing hills, unlike anything I've ever seen in person. The karst formations are so intricate and so varied.
Bixa, at least you were in a boat and knew it would eventually float to the cave's exit. We toured a totally dark except for our puny flashlights karst cave (primokarst, perhaps not as spectacular as kegelkarst). Come to think of it, E backed out early on. It had low headroom and we stumbled through one room after another seeing practically nothing. The cave was known to host a rare type of bat, of which we saw only one and that was plenty. At what we thought was the end of the walk, the guide couldn't remember how to get out. He tried a few different approaches before he found the exit. That may have been my last cave visit.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 22, 2018 2:04:49 GMT
Some other Caribbean countries (I'm thinking of Haiti, but it is not the only one) are even less self-sufficient in terms of food.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 22, 2018 4:53:04 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 22, 2018 5:02:59 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2018 5:58:43 GMT
After the underground boat trip we we taken to where we could look upon a magnificent vista. The guide had mentioned it many times during the tour, always with glowing superlatives. Really, it did not disappoint and I am pleased with what I was able to capture even with the dinkoid zoom on my camera. That ended the tour except for the long and mostly scenic ride back. When we first arrived in Havana we toyed with the idea of sandwiching a couple or a few days in the Viñales/Pinar del Río area in between Havana. We ultimately decided to devote the time available to Havana. No regrets, but I'm glad we also got to see the completely different rural area as well.
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Post by bjd on Jan 22, 2018 6:54:01 GMT
Is that animal in the last picture in #23 a water buffalo? And zebu rides? Some Cuban soldier sent off to Africa must have thought zebus would acclimatize well in Cuba!
Indeed incredible countryside. Are those groves of bamboo you can see in the distance?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2018 16:00:26 GMT
Is that animal in the last picture in #23 a water buffalo? And zebu rides? Bjd, that is a zebu. They are extremely common around here, which is why I knew the name. I just now looked them up & the originated in south Asia. There are miniature zebu, too. Look ~ this could be you! Yes, dense groves of bamboo -- zoomed picture 6th from bottom in last picture post.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 22, 2018 16:44:58 GMT
I love caves and magnificent hidey-holes so your photos really intrigued me. There are a few photos that have not come to life but the Zebu looks like an Afrikaner bull/cow which we bread here except they are very pale tan or grey. The hump is not dark.
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Post by amboseli on Jan 23, 2018 15:50:51 GMT
Wow, such beautiful scenery. This is more 'my cup of tea' than Havana, although I do want to visit Havana.
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