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Hacienda in the coffee fields After completing the module Rolling through tobacco fields, most travellers choose to travel through colonial central Cuba and eastern Cuba. The coffee towns Soroa and Las Terrazas in the Pinar province are fun stops along the way. They're nestled in the Sierra del Rosario hills and they're surrounded by historic coffee plantations, the ruins of slave barracks, coffee drying platforms and the scent of the past. Because of the mild climate, high humidity and frequent rainfall, this area is known as 'Cuba's rainbow'. It's a very tropical environment and a natural greenhouse of ferns, orchids, begonias and other flowers.On the first night of this Las Terrazas Cuba tour you'll spend two nights in an eco-hotel, surrounded by exotic plants and animals. The hotel is perched upon a hill overlooking a lake filled with fresh water trout. If you decide to spend two nights here, you'll go on a guided tour through the area the day after your arrival. This module can also be shortened to just one night. As accommodation here is limited, if unavailable we would reserve a nearby alternative. |
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Duration |
3 days - 2 nights, daily |
Accommodation |
Eco-lodge in the hills overlooking a trout lake, double occupancy room with shower and toilet. Accommodation category 3 |
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Price |
From £98 per person - based on 2 people |
Includes |
Accommodation for 2 nights, breakfast, guided hike |
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Excludes |
Transport, other meals, excursions and entrance fees |
Day 1: Arrival in Las TerrazasLas Terrazas is surrounded by lush green forested hills in every shade of green and protected under Unesco's biosphere status. Back in the 70s then these hills were filled with dusty yellow and brown scrub due to extreme deforestation. Luckily the government started a reforestation programme and built an ecological hotel on a hill top near town to attract eco tourists. Farmers from neighbouring areas came to work here and because they did, their living conditions improved significantly. The farmers no longer needed to cultivate the land and stopped cutting down trees. Many of these one-time farmers know the area better than anyone else and have therefore been trained to guide tourists during their Las Terrazas Cuba trip.The hotel's unique reception area is built around a large tree; a hole in the roof allows the tree to continue growing. The hotel also has its own swimming pool, restaurant and an open-air bar. |
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Day 2: Las Terrazas - Excursion: 'Amor, naturaleza y historia'Today you'll explore the idyllic natural habitat surrounding Las Terrazas with a guide. Since some areas are a little too far away to reach on foot, you'll drive your rental car for some parts of the tour and the rest will be on foot. Your guide will pick you up at your hotel in the morning and together you'll visit Rancho Curujey. Here you'll learn more about the eco-project and you'll receive some information on the areas you'll visit during the tour. You'll visit historic coffee plantations where the heady aroma of roasting coffee beans floats through the air, you'll walk through a fabulous tropical garden filled with the most beautiful colourful flowers, you'll drink a hot cup of coffee with a group of friendly Cubans at Casa del Campesino and at the end of this Las Terrazas Cuba tour you can wash off the dust and heat with a dip into the natural pools at Baños de San Juan. |
In the evening of your Las Terrazas Cuba tour you can head into town for a bite to eat at a paladar - a small family-run Cuban restaurant (not government owned). There's even a simple, unpretentious, modestly-priced open-air vegetarian restaurant in a town named El Romero. If you're in Las Terrazas during the weekend, you can get your groove on at the local disco. People of all ages from the town put on spontaneous dance contests here. A word of warning though, after watching the fancy moves of the local 60-somethings... you may feel just a little hesitant to display your own moves on the dance floor. |
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Day 3: End of the Las Terrazas Cuba tourAfter breakfast and a last cup of coffee, your Las Terrazas Cuba trip in the Sierra del Rosario will come to an end.From here you can go on a Trinidad Casa. If you want to see the Bay of Pigs (the rather barren coastline where the Americans invaded Cuba), then you can cut off to Playa Larga halfway through your drive. Instead we recommend following the autopista to Santa Clara to see the Che Guevara monument, one of the most important monuments in Cuba. If you want to continue travelling through western Cuba, you could go on a tobacco tour in Vinales, or if you're in dire need of a few days in a bungalow on a deserted beach, try out our Cayo Levisa accommodation. |
A Peek at Your Accommodation (click to enlarge)
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