Travel to the west and the Vinales Valley region, beautiful and peaceful, it is equally interesting from a geographical point of view. In the Jurassic era the area was topped by a limestone sheet that was eaten away by the rainwater seeping into the crevices in the rock. Vast caverns formed, their roofs supported by huge columns of rock that were slightly more resistant to the water. In time the roofs collapsed, leaving the columns behind. Erosion turned the rubble to a rich soil and flattened the columns, creating mogates, flat-topped stumps of rock that exist in only a handful of places on earth.

Vinales, the town of the valley is as pretty as the surrounding country, with rows of neat, freshly painted houses shaded by pine trees and a fine colonial church.  Much of the surrounding land is planted with tobacco.