Sierra Maestra -- Cuba's highest and longest mountain range stretches about 140km (90 miles) west to east, across three 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. While there are many trails just begging to be explored, until recently most remained closed to the public; hard-core hikers should perhaps anticipate encountering some closed trail heads. 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 2,000m (6,560 ft.).
Deep folds and craggy ravines make these mountains very inaccessible, and they are, not surprisingly, very sparsely populated, with only small numbers of guajiros -- 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.
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. The two 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 machete-wielding farmers roam, with the rounded, green peaks of the Sierra Maestra looming in the background. Villa Santo Domingo, 65km (40 miles) 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. The Hotel Villa Santo Domingo (tel. 23/59-5302; www.islazul.cu; CUC$34-CUC$37 double, including breakfast), where Fidel and his brother Raúl have been frequent guests in the past (Fidel favors cabin no. 6), sits down a bit on the left side of the road, on the banks of the Yara River. The 20 attractive little cabins have twin beds, private bathrooms, air-conditioning, TVs, solar-powered hot water, and fridges. Also on the grounds are a good restaurant and outdoor grill, as well as a bar, video and game room, and hammocks. Even for those not staying at the hotel, the rustic, open-air Restaurant La Yamagua is the best place to eat in the area if you didn't bring your own provisions. For groups, the restaurant does a good parrilla (barbecue) of cerdo asado (roast pork), salad, rice, dessert, and coffee for CUC$14 a head. The menu includes standards of comida criolla, several different preparations of chicken, and pork steak.
