Sierra MaestraCuba's highest and longest mountain range stretches about 140 km west to east, across 3 provinces: Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo. Its highest peaks are only several kilometers from the coastline, making for some exciting visuals whether you're perched up in the mountains or cruising along the coast. The entire range forms part of the Gran Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra, and its thickly forested, rugged nature, with steep, deep green mountains swathed in wispy clouds are impenetrable for most traffic, though the area is splendid for hikers. The heart of the Gran Parque is a park-within-a-park, the Parque Nacional de Turquino, which includes Turquino, the nation's highest summit at just under 2,000 m. The Gran Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra and Parque Nacional de Turquino are perfect for hikers and nature lovers. Deep folds and craggy ravines make these mountains very inaccessible, and they are, not surprisingly, very sparsely populated, with only small numbers of campesinos -- many of whose families once gave shelter and support to the rebels in their midst -- living very simply in thatched-roof bohíos with no electricity or running water. Tucked away in the mountain range are dozens of endemic species of birds and plants.
The 2 main trails into the mountains are the Pico Turquino Trail and the La Plata Trail; the latter visits the rebels' base camp. The road south from Bayamo is a long, lush tropical adventure; it cuts through beautiful sugar-cane fields where pigs, peacocks, and farmers wielding machetes roam, with the rounded, green peaks of the Sierra Maestra looming in the background. Villa Santo Domingo, 64 km south of Bayamo by good road, is where you'll find the entrance to the national park as well as a rustic hotel and restaurant that serves as a perfect base camp for those who want to trace the trail of Fidel and Che, ascend Pico Turquino, or just explore the rugged beauty of the national park. | |
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Unless you're a physically prepared hiker with all your own equipment and several days or more for hikes, your best bet is to head to the Turquino Park, where there is at least minimal infrastructure and the lasting legacy of Fidel Castro and his committed band of rebels, which formed the Comandancia de La Plata, a base command for their guerrilla war in 1956 after return from exile in Mexico.