Pico Turquino

While I was studying abroad in Cuba this past spring, my friend and I spent two days hiking in the Sierra Maestra mountains. The mountains are in the eastern part of the country, and they hold a lot of historical significance for the revolution. It was here that Fidel Castro hid out for the better part of a year building up the resistance and support made the overthrow of Batista possible. Obviously, one of the reasons this spot was chosen was due to the geographical layout and the ideal protection the mountains provided.

The hike starts at sea level. We spent the night before sleeping on the floor of a shack with the Caribbean sea in front of us and the mountains to our back. Our hike began at sun rise- due to the fact that the mountains are so important to the country's history, you have to have a guide. Thus, the three of us set out for 11 kilometer hike to the top of Pico Turquino, the highest mountain in Cuba. Within 3 km, we stopped at pretty much the only farm in the area to have some fruit and so our guide could talk to his friends. After a while we continued on. The experience of hiking there is indescribable. If you turned around you saw the cliffs and the sea, and all ahead of you were the peaks of various smaller mountains. By the time we reached the 8th km, we were already walking through clouds and unable to see but white when looking out. We reached the summit by early afternoon and then hiked another 5 km to where we'd spend the night.

We stayed in a small cleared area with some field workers who maintained the area. Pico Turquino was directly behind us and it was as though we were spending the night in a small valley surrounded completely by mountains looming over us. We continued early the next morning and hiked 8 miles to our next destination. On the way there, we passed through a few seeminly different ecosystems. It went from barren dry rock, and then a ravine with a stream and dozens of banana trees as we continued our descent. Finally, after the 8km, we had 3 more to go in order to get to Fidel's command center. Once, again, it was just the three of us and we spent over an hour walking through where Fidel and other revolutionaries organized before taking Havana. In Kelly's post she explains that one of the significant parts of her experience was being alone. I'd have to agree that the fact that it was me and two other people in the middle of the mountains made the hike that much more meaningful and personal.

I also strongly agree with Kelly as far as why we should save nature. By this point, everyone knows we need to maintain the ecosystems and the natural services that earth provides in order to survive. However, if we approach it from this way it almost seems like we're only trying to save nature to save ourselves-it's just another mechanism in production to serve human interests. Too often the intrinsic value of nature is completely forgotten or disregarded. I like that Kelly talked about harmony and the behavior of people when their in nature- I hadn't thought about it but I completely agree that interactions and just the overall way of being is transformed when people spend time outdoors.