From the capital of the Province due north a line 52 kilometers in length has been built straight across to La Esperanza on the north coast, a little fishing village located on the bay formed by the outlying islands some six miles from the mainland. The road ascends by comparatively easy grades to a height of some 1800 feet, where the top of the ascent is reached. Here the line takes a sharp curve to the east, bringing suddenly into view, as Rex Beach exclaimed: “The most picturesquely, dramatically beautiful valley in the world!” This strangely hidden mountain recess or park is known as the Valley of Vinales, and forms part of a strange basin, that has been carved out of the heart of the Organ range by erosion, leaving a quiet grass covered, flat bottomed basin 2,000 feet below the top of the ridge from whose level surface strange, round topped limestone hills are lifted perpendicularly to an altitude of 2000 feet. A small stream courses through the rich grass that carpets the floor, and one lone picturesque little village, with houses of stone and roofs of tile, nestles in its center. The inhabitants of the place seem absolutely content with its quiet charm and seldom see anything of the outside world, except as represented by the occasional tourist, who sweeps through with his car, stopping for a moment perhaps for some simple refreshment, and then on, through the narrow gap between the towering “magotes” that form the northern wall of the valley. Here the road suddenly swings to the west, following the foot of the mountain which towers above for a few kilometers, whence it again turns north, and passes out into the comparatively barren pine covered hills that continue on through San Cayetano until the gulf coast is reached at La Esperanza. In returning after a rather primitive fish breakfast which can be had at La Esperanza, it is worth one’s while to pause for a moment in front of the little country school, on the west side of the road, just before the Valley is entered from the north, and there to secure a child guide, whom the courteous professor will indicate, and with the services of this little pilot you may find the reappearing river, a stream that slips under the base of the mountain within the valley, and reappears from a picturesque, cave-like opening on the other side. The stream is only a few yards in width, with the water clear as crystal and very pleasant to drink.