senderoviñales

   The pleasure of observing places populated by abundant native species of flora and fauna, with trails full of history, increasingly attracts national and foreign visitors to the Viñales Valley, declared by UNESCO a Cultural Landscape of Humanity.

   Routes that in some cases had European immigrants and their slaves living in Pinar del Río centuries ago as the first walkers, make the traveler fall in love with its diversity of birds, the endemism of its flora, as well as geological and cultural aspects.

   The tourist is captivated by the appreciation of the rocks, the enigmatic mogotes scattered in the profuse valley and in a special way, exponents of the vegetable world, which constitute true rarities.

   This is the case of the so-called cork palm, considered a living fossil due to its prehistoric origin, endemic to this most western region of Cuba, which was declared a Natural National Monument, a condition that distinguishes it as a botanical relic.

   Its popular name is due to the spongy constitution of its trunk, while the palm reaches an average of five meters high, with a diameter of up to 60 centimeters and its leaves, also called pencas, have the shape of a copious green crown.

   It is one of the prototypes that adorn the landscape tinged by the almost exclusive hummocks of that pine forest area, where other rarities grow as the beautiful of the mountain range, a curious specimen that dies when its flowering ends.

   But Viñales also has other charms, as the largest cave systems in Cuba are located there, such as the Great Cavern of Santo Tomás, while among the profusion of speleothems, the Cueva del Indio, crossed by the San Vicente River, stands out.

   In 1870, its urban center was founded, which thanked its economic boom to the lively coastal trade carried out through Puerto Esperanza, and still preserves its colonial air and is the pride of the locals.

   Famous for the beauty of its landscapes, its valley "sown" with mogotes, which some poet compared to sleeping elephants, today conquers travelers from many latitudes, interested in knowing the area, one of the oldest in Cuba. (Martiza Padilla, ACN)

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