Turquino National Park, Granma. Cuba

• ( 2 reviews)
• Granma. Cuba
• Daily
• Destination: Granma

Rating Turquino National Park

Your experience is very valuable for other travelers.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

National Park is in the Sierra Maestra Mountains, the highest, steepest mountain range in the Cuban archipelago. The park contains the highest mountains in the country, including Cuba Peak (6142 feet [1872 meters] above sea level) and Turquino Peak (6476 feet [1974 meters] above sea level), the last redoubt of several species of Cuban flora and fauna, with notable differences among them depending on the altitude: they include everything from dry coastal thickets to mountain rain forests and small bushes typical of low-lying plateaus.

Covering a large area in both Santiago de Cuba and Granma Provinces, in eastern Cuba, it is a land of rivers, forests, mountain peaks and valleys covered with lush vegetation, giving visitors the sensation of being on the top of the island. This is a wild place whose difficulty of access and great variety of well-preserved species of flora and fauna make it one of the most important protected areas in Cuba.

he Turquino Royal Peak on Sierra Maestra is considered by its natural values and also for the place that occupies in the national history as a Cuban symbol, the Turquino Peak rise in the same Sierra Maestra heart, the biggest mountain range that conforms a scenario of 17 thousand hectares of rivers, forests, valleys and summits crowned by this elevation. To arrive until their peak it is necessary to ascend and to lower for abrupt places, with a great variety of species of the flora and the fauna, some endemic ones as the Sabicú, the Savin, the Oak of Maestra, ferns and birds like the Cartacuba, the Tocororo and the Zunzún.

Calls the attention the variety and the state of conservation of the landscapes. Beautiful rivers and springs refresh the ascent to the three higher elevations of the island, the Turquino Royal Peak, to 1 974 meters on the level of the sea, call the Roof of Cuba; the Cuba Peak (1 834 m) and the Suecia Peak (1 732 m).

The temperature average oscillates between the 16°C and the 25°C and the biggest rain volumes they register in the months of July, September and October, on the other hand, February, March and April are amazingly dry.

Turquino National Park Map

Turquino National Park is located in Granma

The territory limits to the north with the provinces of Las Tunas and Holguín; to the west with the Gulf of Guacanayabo; to the south with the Caribbean Sea, and to the east with Santiago de Cuba. It has more than 760 000 inhabitants in its 8 470 , Km2 of territorial extension.

There are two airports: Sierra Maestra, located in Manzanillo for international operations, and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, in Bayamo, for domestic flights. By road, the Central Highway links Granma with the other cities of the country. The Sierra Maestra majestic mountains, main mountainous group of Cuba, the intense blue colour of the Caribbean Sea and the fertile plains bathed by rivers coming from the high mountains present Granma as presenting a wide range of contrasts. "Desembarco del Granma" National Park is within the limits of this province, declared by UNESCO, as World Natural Site.

The province is known as the Birthplace of Cuban Nationality and preserves a rich historical and cultural heritage. It was in this city where the National Anthem of Cuba was sung for the first time. In this region is indispensable to visit Desembarco del Granma National Park, with its very interesting natural phenomena and areas of exceptional beauty. There are also other places to be visited, such as La Demajagua Park, where on October 10th, 1868, the Cuban struggles for independence began; Manzanillo, a coastal city wrapped in an atmosphere of pirates and corsairs' legends, and Bayamo, provincial capital and National Monument.

A stay at Marea del Portillo hotel, with a beach that draws attention for the dark colour of its sand, is ideal to discover the charms of Cayo Blanco, a place of suggestive sea bottoms; to enter the impressive system of marine terraces or to come closer to the natural and archaeological reservation El Guafe. Excursions to its mountainous system are one of the biggest attractiveness, for the visitor has the possibility to go into one of the more preserved, intimate, and better places of Cuban nature.

 

 

 

Review about Areas of Natural Interest: Turquino National Park