Day 3: San Antonio Canyon
Our Story: We continued hiking the San Antonio Canyon toward La Higuera. Looking up from the canyon, we could just imagine the pressure that the guerrillas were feeling as they edged closer and closer to La Higuera. The canyon "walk" gradually changed to more to "bouldering" (climbing), which made the terrain and scenery even more fun. We passed about 70 small waterfalls (between 50cm and 8m in height), and David also showed us a plant that can be tapped for drinkable water during the dry season when the rivers run dry. The plant is called a Bromeliad and it can apparently retain its water store for about a year. After another 5 hour day, we reached our encampment and this time set up a tent instead of hammocks as the temperature had become much colder. For dinner, David taught us how to make empanadas, and we also decided to make pizza over the fire…. mmmmmm
Che's Story: Nothing new in the Che story other than their continued slow progress back to La Higuera. Since the army was near, they had to hide out during the day and only travel short distances at night. It's also interesting to note that by this time, they had been travelling for just under a year so their shoes were long worn down and had been replaced by basic pieces of leather wrapped and tied to their feet.
Day 4: Churro Canyon and Final Battle
Our Story: Our last day was the most technical - on several occasions we had to secure ourselves with a climbing harness and rope before climbing up the rocks and boulders. We also reached and entered the Churro canyon which was a lot smaller and denser; this felt like a real guerrilla canyon! Here we saw the location where Che took a shot to the leg, and where he was eventually captured (both the official and unofficial locations). Along the way, we collected a San Pedro cactus (a cactus with hallucinogenic properties) which had fallen to the ground so that David could plant it in the wall of his house. We ended the 6 hour day by taking a trail back up to the main road and hitching a ride back to La Higuera.
Che's Story: At the Churro canyon junction, Che had the choice to either continue through the San Antonio Canyon to reach another remote town, or enter the Churro canyon and return to La Higuera. At this point, Che seemed intent on returning to La Higuera - he chose to split the guerrillas into 3 groups and took his group into the Churro canyon. Soon after, Che's group was confronted by the army. In the battle, Che took one bullet to his gun, and one in the leg. His group tried to flee up the Churro canyon walls where they were quickly intercepted. Che was now wounded and his rifle had been hit and rendered disabled - he was forced to surrender. The 3 survivors of Che's group were locked in separate rooms of the school in La Higuera. All 3 were executed the next day.
Note: David told us that there is a discrepancy in the location where Che was actually caught. The "official location" is located on the left side of the Churro canyon where a large memorial now stands. The unofficial location, according to some of the locals and surviving guerrillas, was actually on the right side of the canyon….weird. Anyways, we saw both.. ;)
Note to Other Travellers:
We really enjoyed hiking the Che Trail. Even without the Che story, this is a really fun and beautiful trek. We would recommend doing the trek with David as he was a big part of what made the trek enjoyable, plus you could easily get lost going on your own if you aren't familiar with the area (especially the first day).
Guide: David Lebras Tel: 72683414 Email: Davidlebras@Hotmail.fr (Note: It is easier to contact David by phone than by email as there is no internet in La Higuera.)
Tour Cost: 300bs/day/person (in our case: 2400bs for 4 days, for both of us)
Hotel in La Higuera: We stayed at La Posada del Telegrafista (50bs/night/person). David also offers rooms at his place for 20bs/night/person.
We really enjoyed relaxing at the Posada, but would recommend that you buy food for breakfast before going as it's a bit pricey to eat at the Posada (Breakfast=30bs, Lunch=35bs, and Dinner=45bs per person).