Mexico - 3/6 - i should log off

Zona Bici

April 12, 2009 By Jillian

Through our guidebook we found Zona Bici, a bike shop with rentals and tours around Oaxaca. When we walked in we were surprised, a real bike shop here in Oaxaca! We were needless to say thrilled to see the quality equipment and booked a half day tour (45km) for the following day.[ad#final-review-ad]

Like many tours in Mexico, we found that we were the only ones on the tour. Initially we thought the lack of other participants would be good and we’d have more flexibility to stop and stay at places. We were quickly fitted for bikes and took off through the streets of Oaxaca to the country side. Our guide spoke a little English, but the tour turned out to be more of a ride than a tour. The pace was good, we were moving at a nice clip through the small villages, and the guide was careful and concerned about our safety. We made a few stops along the way in small pubelos, but mostly the guide stayed about 500m ahead of us. It was disappointing to say the least, we would have had a better experience had we rented bikes and taken a map on our own. We did get a little perfunctory background and history at one of our stops, but I definitely expected more discussion or conversation about the pueblos and the people. The whole time we felt like the guide had somewhere else to be. The tour lasted just over 3 hours and while it wasn’t a truly negative experience, our expectations for a tour (it really was just a ride) were not at all met given the the price we paid.

Kayaking the Rio Pescados

April 6, 2009 By Danny

The typical kayak trip begins with some form challenging logistics such as how best to drive the small car to the river and have it waiting for you when you get downstream. Despite the fact we had neither boats nor cars to take care of, this trip started no differently. We arrived at the bus station in Xalapa at 8:30 a.m. to find that the next bus to Jacamulco (where our outfitter was located) was at 10 a.m. Great! After 1.5 hours on the bus, did I mention it is only 30 km away, we saw the sign for our outfitter, got the bus to stop. Sort of. The ticket collector told us that the entrance was further up the road. Yup, you guessed it. We made it to the end of the line (“downtown” Jalcumolco) where the bus driver told us they would turn around and take us back. Only that story changed once we got to downtown Jaculmoco. You can see the pattern here. We figured enough was enough and called for a ride. The day began with a um… backfire. It did get much much MUCH better….for me anyhow.

Once at the Kayak 360, our outfitter, Tio (Uncle) Memo got us fitted into boats and he, the two of us, and a pair of lodge staff in a raft were off to the river. Jill lucked out and got into the very same boat she paddled back in DC, while I unfortunately had to take a step-up into a boat with more play.

Once on the river, Memo told us the water was low as this was the dry season, and we would find many of the rapids to be very rocky and technical. He was correct but we did still find some decent water and had a great time. In comparison to paddling waterfalls just a few days prior this was harder, more technical work; still a blast for sure but by no means child splay. We needed to paddle hard and stay alert as going over in some of the shallower portions meant we were in for some nasty bruises.

We started off simply enough, easily navigating the first few rapids. Toward the end of one of these entrance rapids Memo instructed us to go between two rocks. Jill and I both took a look and couldn’t figure out which two….certainly he didn’t mean those two big ones on river right just a mere meter apart, that was a tight hole to fit through! Before we knew it Memo was off and yes, he did mean those two on the right. Jill went first and nearly missed but managed to get through. But, she went through crooked and by the time I got there she was already upside down in some big whitewater. We didn’t have time to warm up at the top of the river because it was shallow so she ejected, came up smiling and so began our day. (To be fair, the pair in the raft hit one of the rocks and got stuck…took them forever to free themselves).

A little while later, at the “strangulator” our day took a turn for the worst…but that’s where the good stories come from don’t they? The water was extremely rocky, big, and fast and it took all of our effort to stay up. I slammed into a rock hard enough to throw my bow up into the air and as I came down it was my elbow that slammed another rock, keeping me afloat. Surprisingly this was the biggest injury of the day. The big problem with this rapid was that all of us, 3 kayaks and a raft, entered more or less together rather than in a line. The raft, on account of its size, simply isn’t as maneuverable as a kayak and at one point the raft nudged Jill into a rock where she found herself pinned. For you non-boaters out there, being pinned is nothing unusual and is quite common. It is when the water pushes you against a rock and you are basically stuck against that rock. It took some time, Jill eventually freed herself, but as a result of having been pinned and coming off the rock unbalanced, flipped right then and there. In the middle of a fast moving rocky rapid, she attempted to roll a few times before signaling for help. We could see her bouncing along the river bottom, but as she signaled for help her body (I say body because she was upside down) was slammed against the next rock so hard that not only was the entire boat in the air, but we also saw her back exposed to the air as well. After that happened I don’t think Speedy Gonzales (yes, I realize I’m referencing him while in Mexico) could have ejected as quickly. We saw her back and I think before the boat hit the water again she was out of the thing and swimming up alongside it. It was a nasty swim to say the least, and she has a nice bruise on her shoulder to show for it, but she got right back in the boat and kept on going asking only: “which rock was I on?”

Whether she admitted it or not at the time, she was still a bit shaken. The next rapid, the “white witch” (and if anyone is curious, that is a literal translation…I have been assured that no one calls this rapid the gringa) would be Jill’s final swim of the day. The rapid was basically a large rock garden on a gradual decent with fast moving water. At the base of the rapid, on the river’s right, was a large rock and we needed to turn hard behind this rock (to the right) as going straight would have meant getting slammed into the canyon wall. Well as we got closer to the bottom the water got bigger and bigger and when trying to make that sharp turn Jill went over again. The only reason she went over was that she was simply exhausted and beaten on the last rapid and after white witch we took a break to recoup.

As I said somewhere above, the biggest injury of the day was to my elbow. I cannot begin to express what a big jump up this was (previously Jill had only kayaked the Potomac, which hardly counts, and the Lower Yough) and this water was much larger and more technical than either of those. Every time she got beaten she got back in the boat and was ready to go again. Good attitude and spirit.

Unfortunately, drama on the high seas isn’t so conducive to breaking out the camera and taking pictures. In fact it is advisable to ensure that your wife is still alive before making any attempt at documenting the event with photographic proof. That being said, here is the only video or documentary proof of our day on the river. This is my best and longest surf (the kayakers out there must be groaning b-c this is clearly a weanie surf) ever….even with my hurt elbow!

It was a great day on the river!!

Xalapa… are we still in Mexico?

April 4, 2009 By Danny

Xalapa was everything we’ve come to expect in a big city. Cab drivers who honk when you don’t need a cab and cannot be found when you do. Hot dog stands on every corner. Falafel and Shwarma for dinner. Sears was having a sale just down the street from our hostel. Oh, did I mention, we are still in Mexico?

After the surreal gardens in Xilitla we needed a little break and headed further south to Veracruz and Xalapa. To get there we took a two hour bus from Xilita back to Ciudad Valles where we had gone kayaking. Then needed another two hour bus from there (somehow this bus was $1 extra and was “grand comfort” which means it had food, water, half as many seats, tons of legroom, and free wifi) to the big city of Tampico. Then needed an 8 hour overnight bus to Veracruz where we spent the day before getting on another 2 hour bus to Xalapa. Phew, ok we were still in Mexico.

On our layover in Veracruz we wandered the Malecon (sea wall, like a boardwalk, but not in New Jersey and made of cement), grabbed some ice cream (yay!), wandered into the (surprisingly large, cheap, and enjoyable) aquarium, were accosted by English speaking waiters demanding we choose their restaurant, and ultimately made it back to the bus station in one piece. Veracruz is definitely a tourist destination, we haven’t seen so many signs in English or souvenir shops since… Tijuana? Needless to say we were glad to be only passing through…

Once in Xalapa it was like we’d walked out of Mexico and back into Washington. The streets were full of unique boutiques, restaurants and cafes. The crowd was young and we heard multiple languages on the street (English not being one of them!). For dinner we strolled around and happened upon an middle eastern restaurant. Their Taco Arabe (Shwarma) was our first truly non mexican meal, not one chili pepper to be seen. Seriously. And it was amazing. Coming from a place like DC where there is every time of cuisine imagineable, even from cultures that you don’t expect to have “cuisine”. As we said before, having mexican everynight has begun to wear on us, thank you el bedouin for reminding us about non-mexican food!!

As Xalapa is home to the best archaelogical museum in Mexico, so we checked it out and learned about the peoples who populated the state of Veracruz, many of whom actually predate both the Aztecs and the Mayans. We also learned that the river we went kayaking on (our next post) was the same river used by Cortez when he landed in Mexico and started making his way inland to Mexico City. Pretty cool!The museum was full of artifacts from around southern mexico including huge heads from the Olmetec period. The heads are really famous here, after going to the museum, we saw a replica at the bus station!

Kayak 360

April 4, 2009 By Jillian

We were introduced to Kayak 360 through the good people at Kayak Huasteca who had showed us the way down the waterfalls at the Rio Micos only a few short days earlier. Working out the logistics of where to be and when proved to be a bit of a challenge [ad#final-review-ad]was Kayak 360 is located off the beaten track, down by the river, far away from the city of Xalapa where we were staying. Had we had a car, this wouldn’t have been so difficult as Kayaking is just not a public transportation friendly sport.

Once there we had our choice of boats, mostly wavesports which suited us well, and were able to try on PDFs and skirts as well. All gear was in great shape and, even better, dry! Within a matter of minutes we were loading up the truck and hitting the river. As it was only two of us on the trip, one guide was plenty and the other members of the lodge who joined us in a raft were a welcome addition. Our guide, Tio Memo,has been paddling the area for 18 years and knew every nook and cranny of the river. He was a great guide, telling us everything we needed to know in advance. As the river is in Mexico, it was doubly appreciated that Memo spoke fluent English and we never had to be concerned with a language barrier.

For a full trip report click here but suffice to say we had a great day on the river. The folks at Kayak 360 were a pleasure to kayak with and, despite the fact that our group numbered only 2, were willing to handle all logistics and give us a very private day on the river. Thank you Kayak 360!

Whitewater Kayaking in Mexico: Rio Micos Waterfalls & Xilitla

April 1, 2009 By Jillian

The gulf coast region of Huestaca is known for all sorts of adventure activities: from the hub for whitewater kayaking in Mexico, to spelunking, caving, and rappelling. Needless to say we were drawn to the area and took an overnight bus Friday night to Ciudad Valles. We even took two unsupecting victims with us on our adventure, Phil and Severine. Although its not the season for whitewater, the guys at Kayak Huasteca told us that heavy rains (read: flooding of 30 year proportions) earlier in the year left enough volume to run the waterfalls at Rio Micos. Yes! Since the volume is down the waterfalls are mostly class II so taking our friends who’ve never whitewater kayaked before would be ok. Or just that they probably would not die on the adventure. 🙂

Aaron, Marjie, and Tomato outfitted us with gear and we headed off to do some whitewater kayaking in Mexico! Hola, Rio Micos. After a substantial climb down to the river, including a few slips, we suited up, gave our friends a mini lesson in how not to die (ie. how to get out of the boat safely), and headed down our first waterfall. A series of 8 with large deep pools in between, I will admit that I was definitely scared on the first and maybe the second. By the third I was having a great time and wanted to do each one again and again.

One, called the serpent, was particularly fun and Phil, Danny and I ran it backwards. Eventually the waterfalls got bigger and bigger and when the boat hit the bottom we would completely submerge before coming back up for air. I think the largest one we did was a 15 foot (5m) free fall! It was scarey going over the edge of the waterfall, but the water cushions your fall if you land correctly. Fortunately all of us did and we came up smiling again and again, even those of us that came up outside our boats. (I think it only happened once though!)

It was an awesome day on the river, the water was warm and the sun was hot so we got out at some of the falls for a swim and even a jump or two off the falls. Although scrambling up the rocks with boats was a bit of a challenge, especially for our newbies, it was a lot of fun and definitely a good first place to kayak waterfalls. The take out was at a picnic area full of local families enjoying a lazy Saturday at the river and the smell of roasting chicken was overwhelming. We packed up the gear, headed back into town, grabbed some food and bid our new friends farewell and hit the bus station.

Got to Xilitla (first person to pronounce that right, no seriously, gets a postcard!) after dark and attempted to find our accommodations, Cabanas Las Pozas. Cabanas in the jungle right at the landmark we were going to in the morning, Las Pozas, incredible right? According to lonely planet they were in the park, we jumped in a cab, got to the park and…..not so much. No cabanas. After an hour in the jungle around Laz Pozas, driving back and forth a number of times without finding the right cabanas we settled on other privately operated cabanas outside the park. A tad more expensive, they at least had hot water and a place to lay our heads. Many discussions with the cab driver and locals determined that the Mexican government wanted more money for the cabanas, the park refused and closed down the cabanas either a month ago or a year ago (seriously, thats what we were told, what a time difference!). Lesson learned – the coolest and cheapest option might not exist. Create a plan B.

Las Pozas, the main attraction in Xilitla, is a surreal garden park in the middle of the Xilitla jungle. This was of course not of Mexican design, but that of a strange British man, Sir Edward James. In love with the area around Xilitla, he spent several decades and almost $5million USD to build a surreal jungle park with lots of strange sculptures and different open air buildings. Huge concrete flowers and concrete stairs to nowhere gave us something to climb on and great views of the area, but I could not really connect with James vision of the place. It almost felt like we should be in SE Asia, but we were definitely in Mexico. It was unusual to say the least. Never completed and not taken care of in his will, Las Pozas is quickly becoming another Mexican ruin… a very surreal feeling ruin. Overgrown and being consumed by the jungle, the concrete sculptures and unfinished buildings add a sense of despair to the garden.

Zona Bici

Kayaking the Rio Pescados

Xalapa… are we still in Mexico?

Kayak 360

Whitewater Kayaking in Mexico: Rio Micos Waterfalls & Xilitla

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