Dispatches from Cuba: Mountains, valleys, tobacco farms

Free Press travel writer Ellen Creager is with the first American tourists on a new "people-to-people" cultural tour that started Thursday. Except for a brief window 2000-2003, it is the first time in 50 years the average American can travel to Cuba.

VINALES, Cuba – It is nice to be out of the city, into the rural countryside.

We are staying about 3 hours west of Havana in this district of green mountains and fertile valleys, tobacco farms, orchids and waterfalls.

Previous Dispatches: Little to buy for American tourists in Havana | 81-year-old crooner highlights Castro tribute concert | Cuban culture, politics on the schedule for this tour | Americans get rare glimpse of island nation | Pre-1959 American cars common in Cuba | A paladar in Vinales

But here, politics seems far away. That is somewhat of a relief after the last few intense days.

This area is instead about nature in all its lush forms. Trees grow. Rain falls. People farm. Life passes.

Last night, we had an appointment at 8:30 p.m. to meet with members of the local branch of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution in Vinales.

We thought it would be a lecture.