Welcome to the land of revolution, communism, rum and cigars - Cuba
In the last part of our series about our experiences in Cuba, we take you on a short trip to the city where the final battle of the Cuban Revolution was fought. The city of Santa Clara is the city in Cuba most inextricably linked to Che Guevara through the revolutionary period.
Have fun reading!
Unfortunately, our stay on the beach in Cayo Santa Maria was over far too quickly, so it was time for us to slowly start our way back towards Havanna. Before we had to go back home, we decided to spend one more night in Santa Clara to get at least a brief impression of this city.
Our accommodation this time was more of a Cuban standard, but the very hard bed was absolutely fine for one night.
As briefly mentioned above, the last battle of the Cuban revolution was fought near Santa Clara in 1958 between the troops of the Batista government, which was supported by the USA, and the Cuban revolutionaries around Fidel Castro and, among others, Ernesto Che Guevara, who was supported by the Soviet Union.
Since Che Guevara was active in the battle himself as one of two commanders, the city is closely associated with him. This is also the reason that his mortal remains, after their rediscovery in 1997 (he was shot in Bolivia in 1967), were brought to Santa Clara and immortalized there in a mausoleum. The main attraction of the city is therefore also the Che Guevara Monument and Mausoleum.
This is about 2 km outside of the city. From our Casa Particular it was a nice, but shadeless walk.
The saying "Hasta la Victoria Siempre", meaning "Always to victory", is one of Che Guevara's most famous quotes and was therefore also included on this monument.
Back in the city, we went to the Parque Leoncio Vidal, a beautiful, centrally located small park, where the theater and the library are also located.
Otherwise, Santa Clara doesn't have much to offer in our opinion. It's just a sort of pilgrimage site for people interested in Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution.
The next morning we took the Viazul back to Havana and boarded the plane back home.
We can highly recommend Cuba as a somewhat different travel destination. It is not an easy country to travel to, but the experiences there are unique due to the still very lively history.
See you next time!
