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| Fallas - Pinar del Rioo |
Pinar del Río province is located at the west end of Cuba and has the most beautiful landscape of all Cuba.
Viñales Valley covers an area of 132 square kilometers and stands out for the impressive mountains of vertical sides and round tops covered by an abundant vegetation known as mogotes and caves like Cueva del Indio (Cave of the Indian) and the cave of Juan Miguel, both of them located nearby.
According to experts, in Pinar del Rio, the valley's flora is closely linked to its ancient past, since it holds 17 endemic varieties that cannot be found anywhere on Earth, including the cork palm (Microcycas calocoma), which is considered a living fossil from the Jurassic period.,
Pinar del Rio's fauna is highly endemic, including birds like the bee hummingbirds (Calypte helenae), Cuban trogons or "tocororos" (Priotelus temnurus), cartacubas (Todus multicolor), nightingales (Myadestes elisabeth) and Cuban grassquits (Tiaris canora).
The Península de Guanahacabibes is located on the west end of the province of Pinar del Rio. There are here two natural reserves: El Veral and Cabo Corrientes, as well as an International Diving Center, María la Gorda, with nearly 40 diving sites and an abundant colony of Black Coral on its bottoms.
The Mural of Prehistory, which is 120 meters high and 180 meters wide, was painted on the slope of the aforementioned hill. It is a singular representation of the biological evolution of Sierra de los Organos, also in western Pinar del Río province. The passage of time has failed to erase this breathtaking work of art with images of the plesiosaurus and the megalonus rodens, painted with singular ability on the hill's slope.
Soroa is a beautiful site some 70 km (43 miles) west of Havana. It has a rich flora, with many species of trees, shrubs, wild orchids and ferns. Its fauna includes one of the smallest frogs in the world, and around 70 kinds of birds have been reported, many of which are endemic. The buildings in the Las Terrazas Community have been designed to blend with their surroundings. The nearby ruins of French coffee plantations from the 19th century are an additional attraction.
Cayo Levisa, off Pinar del Río's northern coast, where travelers arrive after a 30-minute boat trip from Palma Rubia, has three kilometers of excellent beaches and 23 diving sites. The coral reef has 500 species of fish, 200 species of sponges and large populations of mollusks, crustaceans and other marine animals.