Sierra Maestra and the Comandancia de la Plata

Cuba'S Highest Mountain Range, Containing Pico Turquino At 1,974 Metres And The Preserved Guerrilla Headquarters From Which The Revolution Was Run In 1958 · Bartolome Maso, Granma

The Sierra Maestra runs along Cuba's south-eastern coast and holds Pico Turquino, at 1,974 metres the highest point on the island, with a bronze bust of Jose Marti at the summit that was carried up and placed there in 1953. It also holds the Comandancia de la Plata: the headquarters from which Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and their column ran the war through 1958, preserved in cloud forest exactly where it stood. You walk three steep and usually muddy kilometres from the road head to find sixteen wooden buildings under the trees - Castro's hut with its bed and a trapdoor cut for escape, the hut that housed Radio Rebelde and broadcast to the whole island, and the field hospital Che ran as a doctor. A guide is compulsory, a passport is checked, and the road up to Santo Domingo is among the steepest in Cuba, climbed by truck because ordinary vehicles cannot hold it. Almost nothing is signposted or explained, which for a site carrying this much weight is startling.

Comandancia de la Plata, Parque Nacional Turquino, Santo Domingo, Granma, Bartolome Maso, Granma, Cuba

The Comandancia de la Plata is visited on a guided walk from Santo Domingo village, leaving in the morning; A GUIDE IS COMPULSORY, a passport is checked, and cameras have been restricted at the site with a separate fee. Pico Turquino is a two to three day trek booked in advance. Everything depends on fuel and staffing, and heavy rain closes the trails and the access road.

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