Cuba

Sierra Maestra

Helechos

Parque Nacional del Pico Turquino is open to hikers since september 2000.
You have several options :
  1. Las Cuevas -> Pico Turquino -> Alto del Naranjo (min. 2 days)
  2. Las Cuevas -> Pico Turquino -> Las Cuevas (1 day)
  3. Alto del Naranjo -> Pico Turquino -> Las Cuevas (min. 2 days)
  4. Alto del Naranjo -> Pico Turquino -> Alto del Naranjo (1 day)
  5. Villa Santo Domingo -> El Cojo -> Pico Turquino -> Las Cuevas (min. 2 days)
  6. Villa Santo Domingo -> El Cojo -> Pico Turquino -> Alto del Naranjo (2 days)

Fees.
Entrance to the national park has to be paid. The entrance fee includes the guide.
Prices are as follows :
  • The hike to the top and back down following the same route (you stay in the same province, see 2 , 4 and 6) costs 15 USD.
  • Hiking from one province to the other, thus from Santiago to Granma or vice versa (see 1 , 3 and 5) costs 20 USD.
  • An addition of 5 USD has to be paid when you want to visit the Comandancia de la Plata.

Accommodation.
You can find a shelter at Campamento Joaquin, El Cojo, Pico Cuba, La Majagua. A sleeping bag is necessary as it gets very cold at night. There is a project to build some cabaņas at Las Cuevas, Pico Cuba, Campamento Joaquin, Palma Mocha and La Platica.

Getting there.
  • Las Cuevas : the nearest place to sleep now is Campismo La Mula (5 USD/person), at 12 km from Las Cuevas. It is a beautiful campismo with nice cabaņas. A beach is nearby. You can have drinks and dinner there. Unless you have the luck to catch a truck, you'll have to walk to Las Cuevas to start the hike. From Santiago de Cuba take the camioneta to El Frances (1 hour). Catch a truck to Chivirico (1/2 hour). There you'll find trucks going to Marea del Portillo. Ask to get dropped off at La Mula (1 hour).
  • Alto del Naranjo : Nearest accommodation is in the hotel or in a casa particular (ask around) in Villa Santo Domingo. The entrance to the park is there too. Alto del Naranjo is 5 km from Villa Santo Domingo, a very strenuous walk uphill on the steepest road I ever saw. Sometimes you can find transport to get up the hill. To get to Villa Santo Domingo, you can sometimes catch a truck from Bartolome Maso (irregular schedules) or a taxi from Bayamo (20-25 USD).

Our hike.
We did the hike from Las Cuevas to Alto del Naranjo with our (heavy) backpacks on. (For your info, we are both 28 years old and have a quite good physical condition)
Distances and walking times :
Day 1 :
La Mula ->Las Cuevas : 2H30, distance 12 km
Las Cuevas -> La Majagua (height : 600 m) : 1H30
La Majagua -> Alto de Cardero (height : 1265 m): 1H15
Alto de Cardero -> Pico Cuba (height : 1872 m): 1H30
Distance from Las Cuevas to Pico Cuba 8.3 km
We slept at Pico Cuba (could get dinner there too). It was freezing cold at night.
Day 2 :
Pico Cuba -> Pico Turquino (height : 1972 m) : 40', distance 1.3 km
Pico Turquino : Campamento Joaquin : 3H, distance 4 km
Campamento Joaquin -> Alto del Naranjo (height : 950 m) : 4H, distance 9 km
Alto del Naranjo -> Villa Santo Domingo (height : 200 m) : 2H, distance 5 km


Difficulty.
We thought the traject was quite difficult, you come across a lot of steep ups and downs (without a backpack it would have been easier of course). Our plan was to go to the Comandancia as well on the second day, but we only arrived at 16H30 in Alto del Naranjo and were too tired to continue to the Comandancia (3 km one way). If we were to do it again, we would do this traject in three days and include the visit to the Comandancia.

Trail.
The trail is very well kept with good paths and every now and then wooden panels with explanation on the fauna and flora or history of the park. You'll see or hear lots of birds : zunzun, tocororo (national bird), ariero, ruiz seņor, hawk, owl, etc. Many different kinds of orchids, mariposa (national flower), and beautiful cloudforest.

Water and food.
Take water with you! You can fill your bottles at the shelters, but you won't find rivers on your way (except once between Campamento Joaquin and Alto del Naranjo at 100 m from the path). Take some food with you too for breakfast and lunch. We took high energy bars and were glad to have brought them. Oranges are very welcome to lessen the thirst.

Conclusion.
As we are great nature-lovers, the Sierra Maestra was definitely one of the highlights of our trip to Cuba!! Not very easy (we've never sweated "tanto" in our lives), but very very rewarding.