Los Acuáticos de Viñales is a tiny village at the side of one of the hills above the Valley of Viñales. The path to that village looks more like a dry riverbed than a path. It’s narrow, steep and stony. You really need solid shoes for that trip. And you need a local guid to find you way. Neither street signs nor direction signs will help you find this village. According to our guide, there are only about 12 people are still living in Los Acuáticos.
The name was given to the village, when an old, wise woman lived there like a hermit. She was a healer and was assumed to be able to heal with water. In the rush time, there were 60 people living there. But now, since the old woman passed away several decades ago, more and more people moved away to find another place, where living is a bit easier. The remaining families are still farmer and work in their steep fields as you can see in the photo gallery at the end of the post.
Coming from street in the middle of the valley, the path was flat and easy in the beginning. But soon the path began to become worse and steep. We needed about 1,5 hour to reach Los Acuáticos. It was very exhausting, but the view back in the valley was fantastic.
Although the people have to cope with hard circumstances to live here, they are very friendly and open-minded. They don’t have a shop or a kiosk over there. It’s not a destination for tourists. It’s kind of easy to come into a conversation with them, while you might get an offer of a cup of coffee, fresh fruit juice or a glass of coconut milk. A very welcome refreshment after the walk. But, keep in mind, all the goods the people have, came the same way up, you walked to Los Acuáticos.
Take care!
MyBlog - solaner 