Hot Springs, Volcanoes and Africa in Mexico!

This is an update that we wrote way back in 2010 that I am sorry never made it onto the site. It was the last long, and best, trip we did in the van in Mexico. We continued to explore around Jalisco and Nayarit through 2012, but as I started working as director of the Costa Verde International School we never got this kind of time and freedom to explore again! All good things will continue in the future..

Many people are afraid to get off the toll roads in Mexico, but every once in awhile we got itchy and here is a little example of what can happen “off” the nice pavement…

           

We notice from the toll road that there is a consistent plume of white, pure smoke coming from some hills in the distance……

Roll up to a very well developed geothermal energy production area…. Steam pushing through valves and turbines and out through stacks all over the side of a pine forested mountain. The mixture of industrial construction, large tree cut fenced areas with miles of pipes, and the knowledge that there was clean energy being produced here makes you consider carefully how land can be managed and used. And then on the side of a the road a young man approaches the van to hand you a flier for a natural sulfur hot spring open for soaking! Mulit-use land! As it turned out, around the corner from all the energy production were many sites of natural human energy rejuvenation. Families and tourists were spread around different thermal springs to soak up the healing properties of the springs and breathe in the clean mountain air.

            We took a turn at the Azufres Spa. Apparently it is the original and oldest around. Nothing fancy here, just a huge pond with some mud at the bottom that you can spread all over your body before moving to the temzcale, or sauna that is heated from steam coming right from the rocks and captured in a dark room made of old boards and tin. Then when you run screaming from the heat and smell you can slip into another pool of bubbling, murky, water around 90 degrees to “rinse” off. The sulfur and minerals in the mud are supposed to be very therapeutic and your skin does feel noticeably softer, if not also drier afterwards. However, be warned, the smell you emit for the next 24 hours can be trying. John spent the next four days trying to clean everything that he had touched in the six hours after he “soaked” at the springs and would constantly comment, “Do you still SMELL that? Or me? When will this stop?” to which Julie’s response might be “Yes, I smell the sulfur, its healing me.”

The only remedy for John was to sweat out the stench on some great mountain bike trails so we headed to Valle de Bravo. “Valle” has it all, mountain biking, sailing, waterskiing, parasailing, go-karting, and the list goes on if you live there and are a member of one of the many sporting clubs. Consider it Mexico’s mini-New Zealand. It is the get-away place for many upscale “D.F.ers”, and if you want to spend your time oogling new dirt bikes in some fancy stores you won’t be alone. This was our second time to Valle and we had a great spot to camp right in the park of Monte Alta on the well laid out mountain bike trails. We also hired “no name guide” (we never did catch his name, and don’t think he made much effort to tell us) to take us on a route outside of town. After our gringo-test ride of uphill two hours, down forty-five minutes we treated ourself with a night out on the town of Avandaro where we browsed bike shops and ate some great pizza.

Great campsite right at the summit and on the bike trails!

View  of Valle de Bravo from the paragliding launching site.

We tore ourselves away from Valle and headed to the Itzaccihuatl-Popocatepetl National Park. These two volcanoes are the second and third tallest in Mexico. We approached from the west side just as dark was coming and we had to scurry for a camping spot. With no light left we found a lightly used road that seemed to go up the side of Popo into nowhere and we took it. We had a beautiful spot overlooking the lights of the valley with cool temperatures at 3,180m – 10,400ft! And there was more to go up! When we woke up in the morning John scouted the road and found that it continued and at some point would meet up with the main route, so off we went! It turned out to be some of the best 4x4ing that Tonto has done in a long time!

Volcan Popo is spewing steam and still considered active so it is off limits, but we found out that Itza is climbable, so we went to check it out. We paid the entrance to go up to the highest parking lot on the volcano and then started our hike, at 4,000m. Ouch. Lobo was having no trouble pulling John and I up the mountain and he made instant friends as we hiked up the trail. Finally at 4,500m, that’s 1500 feet of climbing at altitude, we were pretty cold and decided to have some lunch and then turn back down. There is a refugio not much further up that is used for the staging of a full ascent to “El Pecho”, but Lobo forgot his winter coat. 

After a ridiculous downhill from Itza-Popo through probably the dustiest, twistiest, longest and busiest dirt road ever we pointed toward the small town of Chalula to see the Chapel of the Virgin of Remedies which is built on top of the widest, and possibly the largest, pyramid in the world. There is still some speculation on its actual size since it has been built on top of by three civilizations, culminating in the Spaniards and their chapel. There is a lovely hotel right across the street and it was time to get out of the van for a night and into a shower and a pool after all the dust. How were we to know it would be one of the worst nights sleep ever. Apparently being the Easter Vigil, all of the 36 churches (Cortez really wanted 365) sent off a firework or two to “celebrate” the resurrection of Christ. Julie even had to stop and question a nun to clarify that a bomb going off at 2:30am was a kosher form of celebration since it seemed in juxtaposition of all the candlelight vigils that normally happen during the Easter program in Northern countries.

Before we left John had read in the lonely planet about a place called Africam, described as one of those drive through zoo experiences with lions and tigers. Our expectations were low, but we felt that a look-see would be worth it, and honestly, Tonto would look bad-ass next to a African animal. Luckily Wally World was open. Grandma didn’t die on the way, and we didn’t accidentally leave the dog tied to the bumper, but he did have to go into “quarantine” because his smell might “stress” the animals. We were pretty aware that Lobo might lose his bark and sprain an ankle in the ensuing mayhem if we passed through a herd of zebra, so we were glad they had a pet care area. The motorcycle and bicycles also had to be removed before we could enter because the monkeys might be attracted to them. What mammal wouldn’t be attracted to Tonto? Of course we understood. 

Then we crossed the threshold into Africam. Immediately the Giraffes, Antelope, Ostritches and some friendly Lemur were ready to great us. Sure we had to follow a line of cars, but we had Xm radio playing Jam-ON, a cold cerveza, and cameras at the ready. We were on safari.

Our fellow man checks out the big van...

The park was excellent. In operation since 1974, and well sponsored, this was not your usual third world zoo trip that leaves you depressed and seeking out the local authorities. Rather we were so happy cruising in Tonto past white rhinos and bengal tigers, strolling through the kangaroo enclosure, flirting with the Emus, and buying a stuffed blue giraffe for Lobo in the giftshop. In the end we had to go through a few closed gates to get our accessories back. That night we camped on an incredible hillside of the reservoir near the reserve in a forest like what you find in Joshua tree.  

Riding in Chico National Park, Hidalgo, MX

Camp and yoga after a ride in Chico

The summit after a day of rock climbing in Chico National Park

Update from Julie - Fish Spears Surfer

Update from Julie:

Sayulita, Mexico

As I write I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of John, Lobo and our friend Michele who is hitching a ride from Texas. I have been here in Sayulita for six weeks working, tending to the house, and ducking for cover in some of the crazy rain and lightning storms of the tropical season. I started working in a new school that is being referred to as a “project” by my director. The idea is to have a non-profit school with an ecological focus, which also serves as a cultural center and a resource for environmental sustainability in the area. So far we have the school
part up and running and I teach math, science and English to 3rd and a combined 4,5,6th grade class. We have six other teachers in the school for preK-6 and the cultural center is offering after school English and computer classes to the public school kids. There are lots of jobs for English teachers in town if anyone is looking for a project. When John gets here I will take some photos of the school and some of my students who are a mixture of Americans, Mexicans, Canadians, and Italians. I only have five 3rd graders right now (up two more from last week) and supposedly more are coming as their families return for the high season.

The story I want to share though is one of those “What are the chances?” kind of tales. Last weekend was the Mexican Independence day so we had a much deserved four day break from school. My friends Steve, Cassie, Mike and I piled into a car and headed south to La Ticla to find some waves. The first morning we paddled out and caught a few waves in the slop. After a bit I was just tired of the hot, extra salty water and the New England style smushy waves so I got out to hang on the beach with Cassie and watch. As we were sitting there another surfer entered the water, and minutes later was stumbling out of the water waving his hand looking desperate. As I walked towards him, he was pointing to something in his chest. Yes, IN. There was a two inch barb-looking thing sticking out of his check just below his right collarbone. As we sprang into action to lay him down he explained that a fish had jumped AT him and something on the fish had stuck. He wasn’t sure if it was a tooth or what. It looked to us like something from the dorsal fin of a needle fish. Who knows, really, but it looked like a two inch square stick with serrated edges and we had to get it out. Steve and Cassie ran back to the campsite to get water and a first aid kit and Mike and I stayed with the patient.

As he calmed down I started making small talk with him and I asked where he was from. Here is the crazy part: he was at University in Guadalajara but originally from Costa Rica, and he had been a student in one of the first schools I worked in as a Chemistry teacher, and he was on the soccer team I coached!! After a minute his face started coming back to me. He had been a senior at the time, and he remembered when I had made the team run up the hills of Escazu on the first few days of practice. Such a crazy small world!!

So now I had to pull the scale out of his chest. No options for hospitals or clinics very close by to do anything else really. We checked that it didn’t have a hook on the end, we couldn’t feel anything under his skin that might get stuck, so we all decided the best thing to do was grab it as close to the skin as we could and pull it out. It hurt him, but it came out cleanly. Then a little more cleaning of the wound, a bandage, and all set. Turns out he was camped right next to us! Crazy world.

Note: I am pretty sure that the chances of getting speared with a fish scale while surfing ranks around there with lightning strikes, so I am not deterred about getting in the water.