Before going to Pico Turquino, we went to the campismo shop in Santiago, where they made a reservation for us at camp Mula. We did the transport to the camp in a 'colectivo' cab, which we arranged beforehand. (There is a bus from the bus station opposite the old train station, but it leaves very early in the morning). It took us about 3 hours to get to the camp.
The personnel expected us, but said we had to wait a bit before checking in, because they were very busy with a lot of local tourists. While waiting in the ‘tourist part’ of the restaurant, we ordered something to drink and eat. After 2 hours waiting, we only got our drinks, while all the Cuban tourists – seated in the ‘Cuban’ part - had eaten. After having a lot of patience and trying to keep friendly with the staff, we went to the check-in counter, but had to wait again because the responsible… was having her lunch break! An hour later, we finally got our room, cancelled the lunch and ordered our dinner.
Later that evening we had to wait for the dinner again, but with the company of other ‘starving’ tourists, it was a lot of fun. We wanted to order a big breakfast and other food and drinks for the next morning, for our hiking trip to Pico Turquino. It was not possible to get it that night, but it would be ready for us the next morning. We made very clear we would leave at 5 am already (we could join the bus of a small group of Cuban tourists) and that it was very important we would get the food and drinks, because we really needed it to be able to climb the mountain. The next morning, all the personnel was still asleep, so no food, no drinks,… Fortunately, the people of the group were very patient and helpful, and after driving around for almost 2 hours we found a place where we could buy food and drink, and left for the mountain.
When we arrived there, the guards said we couldn’t hike anymore that day, because a group of students already had gone up, and they allowed only 20 people a day to climb the mountain! After some bargaining, we could get up for 20 dollars a person (the Cubans paid about 1 dollar). After some more bargaining, we could leave for 15 dollars.
But it was worth all the impatience and fuss! The female guide Maribel was fantastic: she spoke English very well and we had a lot of fun, with her and the local tourists. The hike was quite heavy but fantastic too: great weather, nice views,…
The next day we left the camp with a small overcrowded local bus (we had to stand for 4 hours, and being very stiff and tired, it was a heavy journey ;-).
So if you like hiking and adventure, it’s definitely worth the trip. Just make sure you have your food and drinks to do the hiking with you, don’t expect a lot of friendly service at the camp and make sure you’re in time at the foot of the mountain.