Today we arrived our ¨home sweet home¨ in Havana, after a week living in the surroundings of great, green valleys, tobacco plantations and forrested mountains. What an amazing view... We hung out with our two chileno amigos and enjoyed the tranquility of the small village Viñales.

Getting to Viñales from Santa Clara, was quite a bumpy ride, which we will not comment any further... Transportation, finding food and mini banks certainly requires high level spanish skills and a great deal of patience... This country is not recommended for those who like things coming along easily... And quickly!

So we finally got there, and jumped up on the horseback. A five hours foxtrotting and galloping in the valleys led us to a deep mountain cave, in which we got the opportunity to swim in a natural pool--in complete darkness! Scary! We also visited a campesino (tobacco farmer) who tried his best to sell us some overpriced cuban cigars.

The most memorable experience from Viñales was getting to know the cuban family living next door. Their kids play baseball with a ball made out of paper and a wooden stick for bat... Still they are the most generous people we´ve met so far on Cuba. If we cound´t afford dinner one day--they forced us to accept their tomatoes and other veggies grown in their back yard. We sat and talked for hours and really got a taste of the cuban culture and their way of life. To them, every day is a ¨lucha por la vida¨(a struggle for surviving), which is why they hardly have time for politics or things happening outside of their village. Despite a tough everyday life, in which they still use ration cards and tooth paste costs about one fifth of a persons monthly salary--they maintain a positive attitude and really believe that money is not the most important thing in life.

They invited us to join a fishing trip with their family and the chileno guys. While the men had water reaching their hips fishing, and a chileno guy played latin songs on his guitar, we enjoyed some freshly fried (homemade) potato chips in the shadow. They didn´t have much luck fishing, but they surely shared of their deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep whole fried catch.

Now that our trip is taking a new turn, in a new country, we look back on three exciting weeks loaded with cuban experiences--some great, and some not so great! But all over, it has been educational on so many levels, plus we´ve had soo much fun!

See ya in Costa Rica!!

ps! We´ve been smooth criminals and got to send a bunch of pics to helene´s sister to post on the blog... So look for´em soon!!!!!!!