Youths of Contramaestre climb Pico Turquino
Making an old dream come true, 26 young students from the Contramaestre Medical Sciences Branch started the ascent to the highest elevation in Cuba: El Pico Real del Turquino, in La Sierra Maestra.
The adventure, as a worthy tribute to the 11th Congress of the Young Communist League, began on April 26th before 6 a.m. It was joined by five young workers from Havana’s national zoo, who had the same goal.
For such a journey, they prepared the appropriate costumes, the necessary food and the indispensable staff that would impel them when fatigue reached their legs. The best breath of the road, the exotic flora and fauna that can be enjoyed, as well as the cool temperature.
The guide’s alert that no one could be left behind or abandon the crossing meant that none of the boys gave up. That’s why, although difficult, the will remained. It was necessary to discover what was at the end of the 11 Kilometers. As youth is the age of selfless sacrifices that first experience of all Contramaestrian youths allowed them to enjoy a journey sacrificed and dangerous, rather than being afraid of the road that sometimes seemed endless.
El Paso del Cadete, El Paso de las Angustias, Pico Cuba, each with legends, led to reflection on all the chapters of national history that accumulate these narrow roads.
But it was worth it when the bust of the Apostle José Martí, climbed by a group of Marti’s ideas followers on May 21, 1953, among them Celia Sánchez Manduley, became a reality at noon.
Then, they were photographed next to the monument to Martí and the flag of the University Student Federation (FEU). Proud of their feat, they recorded a unique moment of pure love. They also watched the beautiful landscape, the clouds on their faces, the climate and the cliffs.
The most difficult part began for most of them, to come down. However, when they reached the starting point, they had the satisfaction of having made an old dream come true. The joy of having won new friends, strengthened values such as solidarity and being able to demonstrate to anyone who managed to overcome the 1974 meters above sea level of these historical mountains of Santiago de Cuba.
Written by Radio Grito de Baire
