The landscape in this part of Cuba (and indeed, much of the center of the island) is notable for its total lack of drama. Flat, scruffy, occasionally marshy, and ferociously hot most of the year, it has no alluring tropical features—no palm forests, no wooded mountains, and no sinuous rivers. What it does have is the richest soil in the entire country. The area around Ciego de Avila is the breadbasket of Cuba, and the city itself is the island’s Kansas City.
