The Mexican artist Leovigildo González Morillo liked the area so much that, in 1961, he created a huge painting on a rock wall in the Valley of Vinales. Precipitation makes it necessary to renew the color of the painting every once in a while. Of course we can visit this place with our bikes!

Built since the Revolution, this mountain community was constructed around a lake to provide a sustainable livelihood for impoverished locals suffering from decades of deforestation. Millions of trees were planted in the 1960s, creating a forest reserve. The community is today a center for ecotourism and has an active artist community. We will have the chance to visit a local artist that has chosen to live here and has participated in exhibitions also abroad.

The Bay of Pigs is an inlet on the southwest coast of Cuba. Its name originates from "cochinos", which in Cuban Spanish refers to the queen triggerfish, inhabiting the coral reefs at the Bahía de Cochinos.
It became famous in April 1961 as the landing site for the CIA-trained army of exile Cubans. They wanted to link up with counter-revolutionaries and topple the Castro regime. Fidel himself led the defense in the three-day battles that resulted in defeat of this fatally-flawed invasion. Its failure led directly to the cause of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Let’s find out more about the invasion!

Topes de Collantes is a nature reserve park (and UNESCO World Heritage Site) established in the southeastern ranges of the Escambray Mountains. The vistas are sublime and the air crisp and pine-scented, as we ride past coffee plantations and through stands of Royal palms.

The valley was a centre for sugar production from the late 18th century until the late 19th century. At the peak of the industry, over fifty cane sugar mills were operated in this valley, with over 30,000 slaves working in the mills and the surrounding sugar cane plantations. The entire area covers 100 square miles and includes the sites of over 70 former sugar mills. Our stop at Hacienda-Torre Iznaga is an opportunity to learn about the brutal history of slavery, but also to enjoy a fresh-squeezed guarapo (sugarcane juice).

The Mausoleum of Ernesto Che Guevara, guarded by a gigantic statue of himself, contains the remains of the marxist revolutionary and his 29 fellow guerrilleros killed in combat during the attempt to encourage an uprising in Bolivia during the dictatorship. The monument was created in 1988, but only in 1997 Guevara's exhumed remains were transferred to Cuba. Santa Clara was chosen as it was the city that in 1958 saw the final battle between the Revolucionarios and the govern of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, who fled into exile after the Santa Clara battle.