February 19th to 21st, 2019
After spending five days in the thick of Havana at the beginning of February's trip to Cuba, it was a relief to get away from the congestion of the city and spend time in the countryside. My traveling buddy, Mark Cramer of Annapolis, and I spent three days with host, Rolando Lopez and his family. The Lopez family has worked the land for just outside of San Luis in the Pinar del Rio provence for six generations. This trip coincided with the peak harvest of the tobacco crop. Tobacco is the bread and butter for farmers in the western portion of Cuba. Cubans from this provence claim to grow the best tobacco in the world - just like people from Maryland claim to have the best crabs in the world. Not being a tobacco smoker, I had nothing to compare to the Pinar del Rio tobacco, so I just went along with it.
Immediately upon arriving to Rolando's 'casa particular' - Cuban slang for a private homestay - Rolando guided us on electric scooters out to his family's farm. Rolando's father, his brother and his son were all working in the field together, picking leaves of tobacco, one-by-one. The men didn't seem to mind our presence or the presence of a camera. I photographed them picking and then hauling the tobacco into the drying barn. In the tobacco barn, three women were using needles with twine to sting the tobacco leaves together for drying. The leaves would then dry out in the shed for 45-65 days before being sold to a sorting facility.
Throughout the remainder of our time with Rolando, we toured other plantations in the vicinity of his family's farm. At each stop, the Cubans welcomed us with open arms while we observed their way of life.
Cenavio Gonzalez, 83 years old, takes a break from work in front of his tobacco barn just outside of San Luis.
Picking tobacco in the Lopez family tobacco field.
A Tobacco Hornworm Caterpillar eats away at a tobacco leaf. These larval moths are found in Cuba’s tobacco fields.
A shared water jug that was filled with water from the farms irrigation pipes.
Detail of a farm workers hands as he transports a bundle of tobacco leaves.
Spreading fertilizer on tobacco plants that were just put into the ground.
Preparing an oxen to work in a tobacco field.
Ploughing the soil just after spreading fertilizer.
A farm hand at rest.
Cutting tobacco plants that have finished producing marketable leaves. After tobacco crops are finished, corn is traditionally planted.
Laborers at a ‘capa’ farm pick tobacco leaves. Capa farms use a shade-cloth to diffuse the sunlight that reaches the plants to create a finer leaf that is used for the outside wrapper of a cigar.
Transporting the ‘capa’ leaves into the tobacco barn.
Portrait of Rolando Lopez Ordaz inside of the family’s tobacco barn. Rolando is 73 years old and works the land with his two sons, Rolian and Rolando and his grandson, Daniel.
Rolando Lopez Ordaz, the patriarch of the Lopez plantation, rests in the doorway of the tobacco barn.
Tobacco plantation just outside of San Luis at dawn.
Anna Gloria Prieto, 86 years old, strings tobacco leaves in the Lopez family tobacco barn.
Detail of a tobacco leaf in the drying process.
A bundle of dried tobacco ready to be purchased by a sorting facility.
Rolando Lopez tends to the family’s vegetable garden.
A work horse at rest.
A game of dominoes on the streets of San Luis.
San Luis public housing.
