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spread over 1000 hectares of pasture, forest and wetlands, Rancho La Guabina ( 75-76-16; Carretera de Luis Lazo Km 9.5) is a jack of all trades and a master of at least one. You can partake in horseback riding here, go boating on a lake, enjoy a scrumptious Cuban barbecue, or even see a cockfight. The highlight for most, though, is the fantastic horse shows. The Rancho is a long-standing horse-breeding center that raises fine Pinto Cubano and Apaloosa horses, and mini-rodeo-style shows run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10am to noon and from 4pm to 6pm. Agencies in Viñales and Pinar del Río run excursions here starting at CUC$29, or you can arrive on your own. It’s a great place to enjoy the peaceful guajiro life. Limited accommodation is available (see opposite).

Sleeping & Eating

Villa Laguna Grande (Islazul; 84-34-53; Carretera a Ciudad Bolívar; s/d CUC$23/29) Something of an anomaly, this rough-around-the-edges fishing resort, 29km southwest of Guane and 18km off the highway to María la Gorda, is Islazul’s most isolated outpost. The 12 rather scruffy thatched cabins sit in woodland directly below the Embalse Laguna Grande, a reservoir stocked with bass where locals come to fish. It’s OK for a pit stop, but if it’s freshwater fishing you’re after, better options are in Embalse Zaza near Sancti Spíritus.

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THE CUBAN CIGAR

Groucho Marx, Che Guevara, George Burns, Arnold Schwarzenegger – you don’t need to be a monthly subscriber to Cigar Aficionado magazine to understand the universal popularity of the aromatic Cuban cigar. Sigmund Freud allegedly puffed his way through a box a day, Winston Churchill had a size named in his honor, while John F Kennedy purportedly told his press secretary Pierre Salinger to order in a thousand of his favorite Petit Upmanns the night before signing the US trade embargo on Cuba into law.

The unsurpassed quality of Cuban cigars in the world market stems from an accidental combination of geography, terrain and fine local workmanship. Grown primarily in the rust-red fields of Pinar del Río province in the island’s verdant west, all genuine Cuban cigars are hand-rolled by trained ‘experts,’ before being packed in tightly sealed cedar boxes and classified into 42 different types and sizes.

Cuba’s flagship brand is Cohiba, created in 1966 for diplomatic use and popularized by Fidel Castro who used to puff on Cohiba Espléndidos before he gave up smoking for health reasons in 1985. Other international favorites include the Partagás brand, rolled in Havana since 1845; the superstrong Bolívar, named after South America’s formidable liberator; the classic Montecristo 2, another fuerte (strong) smoke much admired by Cubans; and the milder Romeo y Julieta brand, invented in 1903 by a Cuban who had traveled widely in Europe.

In terms of purchasing, always avoid the many offers you will receive to buy cigars on the street. These substandard smokes are nearly always of dubious quality, with air pockets and hard wrappings containing protuberances. Indeed, some of them are outright fakes. The best place to wise up on cigars is in the numerous Casas del Habano that are dotted around the country. For factory visits there are three main options, although plenty more if you go as part of an organized tour. Try the Partagás factory in Havana, the Constantino Pérez Carrodegua factory in Santa Clara or, more appropriately (as it’s situated in Cuba’s tobacco heartland), the Francisco Donatien factory in Pinar del Río.

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Rancho La Guabina ( 75-76-16; Carretera de Luis Lazo Km 9.5; r CUC$65; ) Just outside Pinar del Río, this expansive farm (see opposite) offers eight rooms, five in a cottage-style house and three in separate cabins. It’s a charming and unhurried place with excellent food and friendly staff.

There are a couple of off-the-beaten-track beach resorts on the Bahía de Cortés halfway between Pinar del Río and María la Gorda, if you don’t mind going local. The Villa Boca de Galafre ( 829-8592; 3/6 beds CUC$15/20), 3km off the main highway, has 32 rock-bottom cabins on