Commandancy of La Plata, Sierra Maestra.
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Sierra Maestra is the main mountain range, situated in south-eastern part of the island, extended on the axis West-East, from the Granma province to the suburban areas of Santiago de Cuba, in the province of the same name. This is region where the National Park Turquino and the Commandancy of La Plata are located, a place from where Fidel Castro leaded and organized guerrilla against Batista’s regime. To visit Commandancy of la Plata, the cities from where it is more appropriate to head out are Bayamo, Granma Province and Santiago de Cuba. Commndancy of la Plata functioned like a general barracks for Fidel Casto, Che Guevara and their rebel army, mwanwhile they planned and put into practice the revolutionary campaign against Batista. Today the installation are maintained in the original style, simple, with just one cabin traтsformed into the centre of information. The only way to access the museum is on foot or on a mule, accompanied by a guide. The wild life is very rich in snakes, lizzards and birds. In theses paths you will find dense vegetation, observance points used for the protection of the barracks. |
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Arrived to the Commandancy of la Plata, you can visit Fidel’s cabin, with his bed, beer fridge, writing desk and other utilities conserved, and equipped with fast escape way.
Moreover, the original cabin of Rebel Radio is still functioning. There is Che’s place, where he worked as a doctor, also its originality conserved.
Currently the visits are permitted into installation of the Commandancy of la Plata, in the are of Santo Domingo, Sierra Maestra.
in the Sierra Maestra and now a tourist site.
Our guides picked us up by jeep and travelled the 3 hours north of
the Sierra Maestra to Bayamo then pack down south again into the
mountains to the village at the base of the mountains called
Santo Domingo.
Our guides drove us from Santo Domingo up a steep road to the beginning
of the trail to the camp.
From there you can either take a trail to Pico Tourquino or
La Comandancia. We went to Fidel's camp with a park guide.
If you have hiking boots great but we just used our
running shoes and were fine.
The trail is somewhat cooler too because
of the tree cover and altitude but we did build up a good sweat with it.