Greetings, today I'm going to tell you about a wonderful trip I took with family and friends to a place that is almost unique in the world for its remarkable natural and cultural value. I'm talking about Viñales, located in the province of Pinar del Río in the Republic of Cuba.
Its landscape is made up of mogotes that rise like enormous green elephants above a fertile valley of beautiful and varied vegetation.
This beautiful view is from the observation deck of the Hotel Los Jazmines.
Wonnderful resort with delicious food and a pool ready for a unique enjoyment. This hotel deserves a post at another time because it holds treasures of great value.
There are only two other systems in the world with similar landscapes: the Yugoslavian volcanic system and the China/Vietnam volcanic system. It is located in the Alturas de Pizarra. Its soils are extremely rich in metallic raw materials.
Since the Middle Jurassic, the Viñales Valley has emerged from the deepest parts of the Gulf of Mexico and its Pacific coast. A collision between the South American and North American tectonic plates has dragged this material, deposited in the form of mud. The same collision places it in this geographical area and then gradually elevates it.
The highest elevation is around 700 meters.
It is estimated that between 66 and 50 million years ago, the Viñales Valley was a large lake, and the slowly moving water created the valley with rich soils and its unique landscape characteristics.
Specifically, we find the Cueva del Indio (Indian Cave), crossed by an underground river that in sections emerges to the surface inside the cave and is navigated by boat.
The trip was breathtaking. A deep green took over everything. The fresh, pure air allowed us to breathe peacefully. Many environmentally friendly local traditions allowed us to enjoy the culture. It must be said that it's a privileged place on the entire planet.
For all these reasons, the place has been declared a national protected area, "Viñales National Park," and by UNESCO as a "Cultural Landscape of Humanity," as well as a Geopark or Geological Park for its unique geological features.
Viñales has many places of great interest for visitors. It attracts national and international tourists from all latitudes. It has caves with underground rivers where you can take boat rides. It has high viewpoints from which a majestic landscape can be seen. There are several hotels available to visit and many attractions.
One of the best-known is the prehistoric mural, where several mountaineers, speleologists, and artists since recreated the Earth's evolutionary history with a giant painting on the elevated rock face of a mogote.
It's beautiful, and I'm sure you won't want to miss it.
I have many more things to share; I'll be back soon with another post. I hope you're interested in visiting Viñales. Bye. Thanks for reading my post.
If you are interested you can read here
The images used in the publication are my property taken with my Xiaomi Redmi 12C cell phone.
English translation by Deepl Translate.
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