SIERRA NORTE

We have spent two days walking in the mountains of the Sierra Norte north-east of Oaxaca – very beautiful mountainous forest with a lot of pine (at least 2 species – including radiata?) and supposedly up to 30 species of oak. I managed to identify a number of birds without much help from our guides(!). The area is in the hands of a group of villages who work on a cooperative basis for tourism, forest management, a sawmill and a few other things. The journey to get there was an adventure in itself… The bus left from the 2nd class terminal (at the other end of the city) at 0700, so we bought our tickets the day before – we had some difficulty finding the terminal, hidden behind a market and street stalls. We set the alarm for 0600. Having packed and left our cases in the hostel, taking only light rucksacks, we caught a taxi to the terminal. The driver went round the north side of the city to avoid the centre… apart from having to reverse back up a one-way street because the exit was blocked by a parked truck, we arrived without incident and 20 minutes early as recommended. Shortly after we arrived, someone thumped on the bus door to wake the driver who rolled up and stowed his bedding roll. The bus bore the name of the company which might have been appropriate when the bus was new but now seemed a trifle optimistic – La Flecha de Zempoaltepetl (the Zempoaltepetl arrow). We had been told to take the bus for Yalalag, so the fact that this one said Cajonos the front did not inspire confidence. At 0700 on the button the driver started the engine, but this proved to be merely in order to warm it up! At 0710 we were allowed to board and at 0719 we started to move. We got as far as the exit gate from the terminal, where all buses have to pay their tax for using the terminal. Our driver had no change (or no money?) and started reversing back to get the necessary, but one of our fellow passengers lent him the cash and we set off into the maelstrom of Oaxaca’s rush-hour, going round the south side of the city! At 0750 we passed within three blocks of our hostel, having completed our circumnavigation, and started to make progress at last. From there on it was plain sailing. After another 20 minutes we turned north into the mountains and started to climb. Our start point was the village of Coajimoloyas – at 3,200 masl – where we were served an excellent breakfast with hot chocolate Mexican style. Then we set off through the pines, mainly downhill, on the six-hour hike to Latuvi. Half-way we were handed over to a new guide from Latuvi, while our first guide returned to Coajimoloyas… We had a picnic lucnh here, with a view of our destination... On arrival we were booked into a very nice cabaña and went to have a Temascal (a Mexican sauna). Thereafter it was spicy supper and early bed. The second day was five hours walking – again with a change of guide half way. We walked down a long river valley and then up to our destination village of Amatlan. There were fewer pines, and some bare trees that appeared to be a species of alder. We had a good lunch, but slightly rushed as they were holding the truck for us, and then the long journey home, including a 2-hour wait for a bus that never arrived…

OAXACA

After 3 days in Oaxaca we are starting to know the city and its surroundings. The city is full of churches, mainly from the renaissance to baroque period. Some are in the ultra-baroque style known as churrigueresque with amazingly ornate, painted 3-D stucco walls and ceilings. An example is the huge Santo Domingo church – which also boasts two magnificent gilt altarpieces. However on closer investigation these prove to have been created in the mid C20th! The building was taken over by the military during the war of independence and later the civil wars associated with reform and the imposition/defeat of Maximilian, and at some point the originals disappeared… Money was raised to replace them after the church eventually recovered ownership. It was quite a relief to enter the very sober classical church of the Company of Jesus… Oaxaca State is home to the greatest of Mexico’s public figures, Benito Juarez. He was born in 1806 to a poor Indian family 60 km north of the city and orphaned at the age of 3. At 12 he walked to Oaxaca to look for work and someone saw his potential and gave him an education. He eventually qualified as a lawyer and later entered politics. He was a great reformer, in particular his reform laws relieved the catholic church of ALL its property, except the actual churches. The threat of these reform laws was a principal cause of the civil war and the recruitment of Maximilian as emperor. After Maximilian’s death they were passed, and Oaxaca (like other cities) is full of hotels and other institutions in ex-monasteries (Cf. Mexico 1). There are two principal archaeological sites, both of the Zapotec culture. Monte Albán is by far the more important and claims to be the earliest planned city in the Americas and the earliest ruled by an organized state – the earlier Mayas were ruled by a hereditary nobility. It was inhabited from around 500 BC to 800 AD; virtually abandoned by the Zapotecs, it was later used for a short time by the Mixtecs who came from further west. Mitla is a later Zapotec site, ca. 1300-1400. The architecture does not present very great development, although there is more decoration as time passes. This seems to be true of all Mesoamerican building: the Mayas were building pyramidal temples from 1000 BC and the Aztecs were still using basically the same form when Cortes arrived in 1521. (This is of course a simplification.)At Mitla Magda saw a pair of shoes which took her fancy. I was more enthusiastic about the legs!! Monte Albán was only “discovered” in 1806, so was not damaged by the conquistadors. At Mitla by contrast they built a large church on top of the principal temple… We went to the village of Tlacolula outside Oaxaca and visited the market where women in brightly coloured local dress sell peppers, fruits and a range of other products. It was fascinating to hear them talking in Zapotec. We went into the church, also in churrigueresque style (with original altarpieces!). We were shown the beautiful little organ, made by Mexican craftsmen. The case is C18th century but the tubes and works are C17th. It has just been restored and they are very proud of it! however we didn’t hear it being played – there had been an inaugural concert the day before... As we were leaving a couple arrived (preceded by the town band) to celebrate their 75th (!!!) wedding anniversary. I don’t even know what that qualifies as – I only know as far as diamond!

MAZUNTE

Mazunte is a different kettle of fish altogether, a small village on the beach with atap roofed-houses, devoted almost entirely to tourism.

It is full of back-packers, mainly young (apart from us!!) and has a “turtle museum”, as local beaches are used for nesting by green and leatherback turtles. We travelled by public transport, which in the last stage meant a pick-up with canvas roof… We only spent one night here and in the morning I managed to organise a dive with an Italian who has been in Mexico for 20 years.

Visibility was not great but we saw quite a lot of fish, including a few little rays, a small green shark and another type of sea snake, pale with brown spots. When we got back, Magda found them preparing for a wedding on the beach!

Then we set off on the 7 hour journey to Oaxaca, 250 km inland. The road wound up into the mountains for 3 hours and we climbed into pine forests to reach San Jose del Pacifico at over 2,300 masl.

Then we dropped down the other side to a plain, hedged by mountains to east and west, which we crossed to reach Oaxaca at a mere 1,550 masl. More about the city and surroundings when we have had a day or 2 to explore…

HUATULCO

Huatulco, on Mexico’s southernmost coast, has existed for only 25 years, although there are older towns inland and along the coast. The town was planned for tourism and is ecologically friendly (all water is recycled for watering). It stands on the edge of a Nature Reserve which is where most of our bird-watching has taken place. We are in a little hotel in the centre, frequented mainly by Mexicans. A mile or two further east are a number of big, luxurious “all-included” hotels owned by international chains and full of gringos… Our companions in the bird-watching group, a nice French-Canadian couple, are in one (which came as a packet with their flight) and have suffered a week of party-animal neighbours banging doors at 2 or 3 in the morning. This has been especially taxing as our bird-watching has involved an early start every morning – the earliest was 0445 and the latest 0600!

Our guide, Eric, is very knowledgeable and comes from Oaxaca, where we are headed next. We have seen a great variety of birds (over 120 species) in a variety of habitats. Yesterday we went out to sea to see marine birds including a blue-footed booby which I saw in the Galapagos Islands, and a masked booby.

We also saw several schools of dolphins, a couple of sea snakes (said to be very poisonous) and a pair of green turtles making baby turtles! This evening is our last sally. Tomorrow we will stay in Mazunte, a few miles west, and then on to Oaxaca on Saturday so that Magda can go to the market on Sunday!!!

QUERETARO

It being St Valentine’s day, Querétaro was in party mood. There was a wedding going on in the first church we passed and all the restaurants were full, most with live music. We found a recital in the Lutiers’ School, consisting of three pieces for piano by Brahms followed by Schumann’s “Dichterliebe” cycle (poems by Heine). The city dates back to 1539 and has lots of churches and other historic buildings. It was also at the heart of three of Mexico’s C19th historical high points. On 15 Sept 1810 (3 days before Chile!), Independence was declared here by a priest, Miguel Hidalgo. Followed 11 years of war before independence was finally achieved… In 1847, USA invaded on a flimsy excuse and took Mexico City – holding it for 10 months; the government fled to Querétaro where a peace was negotiated in 1848 under which Mexico “ceded” nearly half its territory (Texas, California etc.) Then in 1863 Maximillian von Habsburg, the Emperor imposed by France, was besieged here and finally defeated. He and his two principal generals were tried and shot by firing squad outside the town. We walked round the next day – the old centre is quite small but the city has expanded enormously in recent years and new buildings stretch far into the distance. In the afternoon we took a bus to San Miguel de Allende where we spent a couple of hours. We had a drink in a bar where Magda was overjoyed to find a piglet! It is smaller than Querétaro and also full of historic buildings, but absolutely overrun with tourists, mainly from the US, so we were glad to return to Querétaro where at least most of the tourists are Mexican and it seems more real! On Sunday afternoon we set off back to Mexico City where we took a flight down to Huatulco on the south coast of Oaxaca for 4 days bird-watching…

MEXICO CITY 2

Wednesday was devoted entirely to the fantastic Museum of Anthropology with information and artifacts relating to Mexico’s many Pre-Hispanic cultures. In the evening we went to an excellent presentation by the National Folk Ballet of Mexican dances in the magnificent theatre. On Thursday we went south to Coyoacan, once a separate town on the shore of the lake from where Cortes mounted his final attack, and where he lived for 2 years while (re-)building Mexico City. We visited a house with restaurant on the site of what were then his stables! The owners have created a very pleasant if slight Disney-ish garden which we wandered round. Nearby is the house of Malinche, his Mexican interpreter and mother of his son Martin, now a theatre school. A tunnel is said to connect the two, but it seems to me highly unlikely. There was no secret about their relations. The town centre seemed a world away from Mexico City, although it is now part of the conurbation. There is a low, yellow-painted Town Hall facing the large church across a little square. The church is one of the earliest Spanish buildings in the country, started in the C16th, but updated in the baroque style. We also visited the Casa Azul, the house where Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera lived – now a tranquil little museum with her beautiful studio. From there we went on to Anahuacalli Museum, designed by Rivera (inspired by the pre-Hispanic pyramids) to house his collection of mainly pottery artifacts. It is built of volcanic rock (teozintle) and has a fine view from the roof terrace. It also contains the cartoons of some of his murals. One I found in very bad taste depicted Stalin and Mao releasing white doves of peace. From there we went back to the National Palace in the centre to see some of the finished murals… The bird men descending from a may-pole is an old religious rite which is still practiced – we saw it done outside the Museum of Anthropology. On our way home we walked through the beautiful National library. Friday 14th was our last morning in the city. We went to the National Art Gallery to see a collection of Mexican painting and sculpture from the C16th-19th. The preponderance of religious works in the first few centuries was very striking. We went straight to the airport to catch our bus to Querétaro, 3 hours NW.

MEXICO CITY 1

The flight to México was long, but remarkable for two surprises. The first was in the airport at Lima where we changed planes, being hailed as we were walking to our gate by friends from Viña, on their way home from Colombia! The second was that on the onward flight from Lima we were served supper after take-off at 2.30 a.m., but no breakfast before arrival at 7 a.m… We travelled to our very friendly hostel “Anys” by metro, then set out for the historical centre, where our first action was to have lunch! Embarking on the programme recommended by Alfonso, we visited the enormous cathedral built between 1571 and 1813. It was rather crowded by devout tourists looking at the relics of a pope, so we climbed the bell towers to see some of the 38 bells led by a diminutive Quasimodo. We had views over the huge Zocalo (main square) to the S – which was filled by an armed services recruiting exhibition (its presence also discourages protestors…) – and to the NE over the Aztec Great Temple. The temple used to be thought to be under the cathedral, a common Spanish practice (c.f. Cusco) but workers digging in 1978 came across an Aztec carved stone disc which led to the discovery of the temple. It was excavated over many years and you can now see a surprising volume of remains – our next stop. Aztec power lasted only some 200 years, but each successive ruler built over his predecessor´s pyramidal temple meaning that there are (at least) seven superimposed structures, each bigger than the last. The final height with altars was 45m, about as high as the roof of the nearby cathedral. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templo_Mayor The temple has a very informative museum full of artifacts, including the famous disc of Coyolxauhqui. Next stop was the Education Ministry, decorated with idealistic murals from the 20´s by the socialist Diego Rivera (husband of Frida Kahlo). The building was a beautiful C17-18th monastery. Much church property was expropriated by the reforming government of Benito Juarez in the 1860´s. While we were inside, there was thunder and lightning and a brief shower of hail, but it had stopped by the time we set out westwards to have hot chocolate in the Café Tacuba (1912 and beautifully decorated). This was also once a nunnery… It was getting late, and the Art Museum was closed but the post office was not! The post office?! Yes! An extraordinary arabesque extravaganza built in 1911, carved stone outside (centre) and with a gilt cast iron flying staircase in the centre! Across the road is the Bellas Artes Palace (1934), where we booked tickets for a Folklore Ballet performance tomorrow. El vuelo a México fue largo, tuvimos dos sorpresas. La primera, estábamos en el aeropuerto de Lima cuando escuchamos un grito “Magda”. Unos amigos de Viña volviendo desde Colombia! La segunda que cuando salimos de Lima nos sirvieron una comida a las 02.30, pero no hubo desayuno al llegar a México a las 0700 … Llegamos a nuestro hostal “Anys”, muy acogedor, en metro, y salimos luego al centro histórico – fuimos directo a almorzar! Siguiendo el programa recomendado por Alfonso del hostal, fuimos al enorme catedral construido entre 1571 y 1810. Estaba lleno de feligreses que querían admirar las reliquias de un papa, así que subimos a la torres para ver algunas de las 38 campanas y disfrutar de las perspectivas sobre el Zócalo al sur y el Templo Mayor. Se pensaba antes que el templo estaba debajo del catedral, práctica común de los españoles (c.f. Cusco) pero en 1978 unos trabajadores del metro encontraron un disco de piedra tallada de los Aztecas y se descubrió el templo. Fue excavado durante varios años y ahora se aprecian unas ruinas enormes. El poder Azteca duró tan solo unos 200 años, pero cada imperador sucesivo construyó sobre el pirámide de su antecesor, y hay (por lo menos) 7 templos, cada uno más grande. La altura final fue de 45m – parecida a la del techo del catedral. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templo_Mayor Hay un museo excelente en el temple – es para pasar el día entero – incluyendo el famoso disco de Coyolxauhqui. Después fuimos al Ministerio de Educación, decorado con murales idealistas del siglo 20 por el socialista Diego Rivera (marido de Frida Kahlo). El edificio era un hermoso monasterio del siglo 17-18. Gran parte de la propiedad de la iglesia fue expropiada por el gobierno reformista de Benito Juarez en los 1860. Mientras estábamos adentro, empezó a tronar y cayó un aguacero breve, y cuando paró fuimos a tomar chocolate caliente en el Café Tacuba (1912 con decoraciones hermosas). También empezó como convento … Se estaba haciendo tarde y el Museo Nacional de Arte estaba cerrado. Pero el Correo estaba abierto! Una extravagancia arabesca de 1911, de piedra tallada y con una escalera de fierro fundido dorado! Al otro lado de la calle está el Palacio de Bellas Artes (1934), donde compramos entradas para el ballet folklórico de México mañana.