Cuba
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n 1958, when he came to power as leader of the Cuban Revolution which overthrew Fulgencio Batista’s U.S.-backed dictatorship, Fidel Castro became ‘El Presidente’ of this beautiful Caribbean island. Fidel is now an old man, having outlived most of his allies and adversaries, is seldom seen in public and has passed the reins of power to his younger brother Raul Castro. What will become of Socialist Cuba after the death of Fidel is anyone’s guess! Our own journey brought us to Cuba for an eight-day sponsored walk on behalf of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland; a unique opportunity to experience Cuba at the end of an era! Our plan was to trek south from the central highlands to the coast, and our excitement mounted as we prepared for the adventure. Our group even included a member of the Lynch clan – a name with great resonance in Cuba, as I will explain later! Leaving the vibrant capital Havana behind, we journeyed down the coast, firstly along the Malecón, an 8km seawall abutting the Straits of Florida, where in rough seas, the waves crash high over the seawall, soaking strollers and traffic alike - definitely not the time and place to be cruising in one of Havana’s iconic open-top Cadillacs! After passing the 16th century Spanish fortress of El Morro on the headland guarding the entrance to the harbour, we diverted inland to follow the Soviet-built and almost traffic-free six lane Autopista Nacional motorway, with its lane markings unpainted and its slip roads ending in sugar plantations, while turkey buzzards circled lazily on warm thermal winds as we headed east into Villa Clara Province. Before turning south into the mountains, we stopped on the outskirts of Santa Clara to visit the Che Guevara Mausoleum and museum, located in a great square overlooked by a large bronze statue of ‘Che’. In the mausoleum below, there is an eternal flame and stone carved niches dedicated to the other guerrillas killed alongside ‘El Comandante Che’ in Bolivia in 1967. Intriguingly, Ernesto (Che was his nickname) Guevara had an Irish grandmother, Anna Isabel Lynch who was born in west Co. Galway. After emigrating to South America she met a man called Guevara and they had a child they named Ernesto - Che’s father who was to explain his son’s restless nature thus; “in my son’s veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels!” The rugged 90km-long Sierra del Escambray, the highest mountain range in
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