See full trip report here: Eating, Painting, and Climbing through Cuba


On Wednesday, after resting in my room the day before, I felt a little better and we left in the morning for Viñales, a village a few hours from Havana where tobacco was grown and the rural landscape featured mogotes, limestone formations covered in jungle and resembling haystacks. When we arrived at our casa particular (hostel), we did the necessary administrative stuff again and Dave, Melanie, Ted, and I collected our two ropes, quickdraws (eighteen or so), and climbing gear and set off for our first climbing destination. Our friend, Harrison, had just returned from climbing in Cuba a couple weeks prior, so we generally followed his advice and trekked a mile or so directly to a small bar in the jungle: Raul’s place. Raul was there when we walked up and welcomed us immediately. I guess it was thanks to Raul that access to climbing in the area was so easy because his farm bordered Cueva Larga and the climbing areas close to town. Raul’s place was the local gathering spot for climbers, covered with stickers and cards from around the world; hammocks were strung in between coffee trees, kittens and puppies ran around while a stubborn ox, bleeding from its nose where it had been pierced, moved brush from one place to another. A small restaurant served local favorites and Raul sold cigars for the best price around, from his tobacco.



We left Melanie and my parents at Raul’s and continued down the dirt road—lots of little chicks running about, shepherded by their hen mothers—to Cueva Larga; I felt proud to have been able to bring my family to this more remote part of Cuba. We reached a hill up to a small home and was invited through by an incredibly warm woman who also wanted to share coffee and space with us. There was a group of four climbers inside around her table, looking over the guidebook.


The wall ahead had four or so parties on it and they directed us around and up into the Cueva Larga where we climbed a warm up, 5.9 or so. The mosquitoes were pretty bad and it was generally cool outside, so we ventured back into the sunlight for our second route. A local guide there showed us a plant growing up the wall, poisonous and to be avoided.


The limestone was solid and peppered with sharp solution pockets. The cave was pillared with tufas and other-worldly formations. Jungle grew around it like icing. I was so happy to be at the crag!


That night, our hosts (Josefina y Esther) put out an amazing spread of fish and vegetables. Viñales was a little more vegetarian-friendly, I think because it was frequented more by climbers.

Our second day of climbing, Melanie joined us. We ventured back out onto the dirt paths, past lazy horses and cows, toward Raul’s, then up old, crumbling steps, through Cueva de la Vaca, and out into an even more rural area where we climbed a few good moderate routes at Paredón de Josué. It was Melanie's first time climbing outdoors and she was a rock star!




In the afternoon, we met my parents and Armando and headed back for Havana. We stopped at Cueva San Miguel (Palenque) to scope the climbing nearby (but there was a wasp infestation on the main wall) and enjoyed a parting mojito at the bar inside the cave.