Santa Clara , in memory of Che Guevara
Trip Start
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Trip End
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Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
I went south to reach the 4520sq. km Cienaga Zapata, the biggest and richest biosphere in Cuba..
There are 900
differents species of plants and 223 of animals.. Every kilometer, i
could see so many birds, butterflies and huge, very huge insects !
Riding trough that part also reminded myself that I should never again forget mosquitos' repellent ! They were killing me !
One of the main
reasons why I came to Cuba was to learn about the history of the country.
That is why visiting Playa Giron was a duty..
Playa Giron is known as " The bay of pigs".
On
the 17th of April 1961, 1500 Cuban exiles trained and armed by the US
invaded Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro. Within 72 hours, Fidel and his
forces ( Fidel came personally to fight with his troops) defeated and
captured 1153 of them.. After negotiations , Cuba released them in
exchange of 53 billions dollars in food and medicine... Yes, food and
medicine..
Why not in cash like all other leaders would have done ? Just think about it..
A
few days later , I arrived to Cienfuegos.. It is situated in a natural
bay. The city offers thousands of guesthouses, restaurants , cafes, all
of
that in a very relaxing atmosphere ..Sitting on the beach, I could enjoy
dramatic sunsets. The city that for sure is a visit worthy.
And now, the great thing.. I was riding to Santa Clara and I could not wait to be there !
Che
Guevara was waiting for me .. El Che ! A few kilometers before
entering the city , I could see far away his statue situated on the
place where the mausoleum is. A bit later , I was there in front of it..
Why in Santa Clara ? He was not born there, didn't live there and died
thousands of kilometers away from there .. Still, on the 29th of
December 1958, Che and a few fellows attacked a train full of
soldiers.This victory is seen as the decisive moment in the
Cuban
Revolution as Batista fled Cuba less than 12 hours later with a personal
fortune of more than US$300 million amassed through graft and payoffs..
No food or medicines ?
In 1987, Fidel let build the mausoleum and
make a bronze statue to commemorate his friend and ten years later in
1997, the rest of Ches were returned to Cuba .
Visiting this museum was one of the strongest experience i ever had..
One minute of silence at the eternal flame and i left the museum..
A tear was slowly rolling down my cheek...
Comments
waow..........beautiful places and beautiful experience!
I am kind of jealous.. :-)
Wow! It amazing I agree with the first comment and I want to be there once of my life
Cool man! keep it up! fkin awesome