On the Trail of Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra
As mentioned in the last post, next to the Viñales valley the Sierra Maestra was the most beautiful landscape of our road trip across Cuba: the mountains around Pico Turquino, Cuba’s highest peak, densely covered in jungle and dotted with small villages. We stayed in a lovely casa in Santo Domingo and drove by jeep early in the morning to the start of the hike.
On foot to Fidel Castro’s hideout
In a small group we hiked for about three hours through the dense jungle to the former hideout of Fidel Castro and his people, among them Che Guevara. The path is so remote that it’s no wonder the army searched and bombed in vain back then. The buildings still stand today and are well kept; the Cubans are visibly proud of them. Fidel’s hut (see the cover picture) has a double bed, a living room and supposedly even a working fridge.
Sunset over the jungle
We returned through two small jungle villages to Santo Domingo, where we enjoyed another beautiful sunset over the forests of the Sierra Maestra.
Mist lies on the treetops – early morning in the Sierra Maestra.A cracked road disappears into the mist.Signposts to Pico Turquino, the Comandancia de la Plata and Santo Domingo.A hut on stilts in the mist and three hikers on the muddy path.Mossy signs: La Platica to the right, Casa de Medina to the left.Tall trunks in the dark and a path over mossy rocks.Pine branches frame the misty slope.A dark path between pale boulders.Dense palm undergrowth in the shady jungle.Palm fronds packed tight, dark trunks behind.Palm fronds and pale trunks in the undergrowth.A muddy path winds through the green jungle.A tall palm rises out of the mist above the forest.A wooden house with a tin roof, a palm hut beside it, clouds on the ridge.A palm before the wooded ridge, mist above the canopy.A wooden house with an open door on the grassy slope.Looking up: pale trunks grown into one another.Casa de Fidel – the arrow points the way to the hideout.A palm-thatched hut on the slope and a narrow root-laced path.Mist hangs on the wooded ridge – no wonder the army searched here in vain.Mist in a hollow between dark treetops.A fern-covered slope with a path and a ridge in the mist.Large palm fronds, some already yellow, before the misty slope.A sign to Radio Rebelde and tall palms seen from below.The palm roof of a hut, almost hidden by leaves.A plank hut with two dark doors between slender palms – still well kept today.Looking up into tall, pale palm trunks.Two tall palms above the dense canopy.A fern-covered slope, a tall flower stalk, mist in the valley.A palm frond up close, trunks against a pale sky behind.A hand-drawn map with the Turquino and an old photograph – memories in the hideout.Thick trunks and palm fronds in the jungle.Lush slopes and a palm before a cloud-wrapped hill.A large tree fern with pale green, finely feathered fronds.A white orchid with a purple lip in the dark forest.A village path between tin roofs – back through two small jungle villages.A wooden house behind red flowers and hydrangeas.Houses with palm and tin roofs behind the hedge, laundry on the wall.Con Cuba para todos los tiempos – on weathered boards.The sun sinks behind the wooded ridges of the Sierra Maestra.Wisps of cloud and red streaks above the ridges.A cloud with a glowing underside above black mountains.
