Granma, Cuba

Granma is the Cuban province located in the most southern area of the archipelago, and is made of hills and coast. Its savage nature and its geographic location do not put it in the first position in the rank of places to visit, although it is worth enjoying its wild landscape, its shop of saints and the authenticity of the Cuban street dances that each Saturday are celebrated on the city as it was a ritual. The music of the organs by night and the appetizing smell of food float in the Caribbean night.

Granma is a synonym of patriotism and the gith, since on it was declared the First Cuban Independence War, after Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Father of the Nation, decided to free his slaves in the ranch of La Demajagua th 10th October 1868.

In 1895, he was shot to death by José Martí, who decided to begin the revolution that had been developed in the island against the North American oppression.

However, the most heard episode was the defeat of Fidel Castro by Batista’s Army on the 2nd December 1956, few days after they arrived at the province. Although this failure, twelve men could escape, among them Che Guevara and Fidel, and they hide in the mountains of Sierra Maestra Range, where they established their headquarters, Comandancia de La Plata. This is located in a perfect condition of preservation, and is a very interesting place to visit, since there Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and their men planned the strategies which will lead them to the victory of the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

Currently, several museums preserve some archaeological remains of some aboriginal cultures, especially the most developed one, the Taíno.

Nowadays the economy of Granma has its foundation in the growing of rice, sugar cane, coffee and cocoa. This variety of food is possible thanks to the geographic differences of the land and the climate that you can find in the province. Also the breeding of cattle is a decisive factor in the economical working of the province.

However, the locals do not forget the times when Granma was a key piece in the commerce between pirates and ranchers.

The best time to visit Granma depends on your preferences; if you like sun and beach, then the best months to visit it are January and February, since in this season the Marea del Portillo is the warmest area in the island. The first months of the year in Marea del Portillo are the guarantee of good weather and unforgettable times in the beach.

On the contrary, if you prefer the mountain and go to trips by mysterious spots, the best time is between March and April, when the climate of Sierra Maestra Range is neither so wet, nor the night so cold. Granma is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Bayamo. Other towns include Manzanillo (a port on the Gulf of Guacanayabo) and Pilón. The province takes its name from the yacht Granma, used by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro to land in Cuba with 82 guerrillas on December 2nd, 1956; until 1976 the area formed part of the larger "Oriente Province". The American who sold the guerillas the secondhand yacht in Mexico apparently had named it "Granma" ("Granma", more usually "Grandma", is an affectionate term for a grandmother) after his grandmother.[2] The name of the vessel became an icon for Cuban communism.

The province is full of reminders of the Cuban Revolution, and of the Cuban Wars of Independence; plaques in the mountain commemorate the 1959 struggle against Fulgencio Batista. Other sites, unmarked, include archaeological digs, the sites of several palenques, and the fortified hamlets of escaped slaves. In 2005 Hurricane Dennis destroyed the site of Castro's headquarters at La Plata. There are numerous abandoned gold, silver, and manganese mine sites.