The Cactus Trip Diaries

Sunday 5 March – around Villahermosa

What did you do on Sunday?

We visited Comalcalco, is a city located some 60 km northwest of Villahermosa in the state of Tabasco. Near the city is the Pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site of Comalcalco, and that’s where we spent a pleasant morning strolling between and climbing the two large pyramids. They are said to be the most western Maya settlement, and due to the lack of limestone in the region, it is constructed of fired bricks, held together by mortar made of oyster shells. We made the local Mexicans laugh by turning our backs on the pyramids and taking pictures of epiphytic cacti growing in the tops of the trees.

We then visited another local attraction, Hacienda La Luz, where Ana Parizot Wolter, of the third generation of the Wolter family, gave us a private tour of the gardens in perfect English. She explained that it was important to keep with traditional methods of growing cocobeans that require the shade of taller neighbouring trees to produce the tiny flowers from which the surprisingly large fruits are produced. It is a complete ecosystem. See http://www.haciendalaluz.mx for more. Very interesting, with lovely chocolates made material to finish!

As it was still early in the afternoon, we went on to the beach, similar to the one visited on a rainy day a few days earlier, but this time heaving with people. We clearly stood out as foreigners and were viewed with curiosity.

I had forgotten to enter the coordinates of the hotel in SatNav, and yet, when we got closer to town, Alain’s mobile phone SatNav and my Garmin brought us to the same place.

We had seen a Steakhouse in town, on the internet, and so took a taxi that way, enjoyed a T-bone steak and some beers before taking the taxi back to the hotel.

That’s what we did on Sunday!

Saturday 4 March – Coatzacoalcas to Villahermosa

We’ve reached Villahermosa, capital city of the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in the southeast of the country bordering the states of Campeche to the northeast, Veracruz to the west and Chiapas to the south, and the Petén department of Guatemala to the southeast. It has a coastline to the north with the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the state is covered in rainforest as, unlike most other areas of Mexico, it has plentiful rainfall year round. For this reason, it is also covered in small lakes, wetlands and rivers. The state is subject to major flooding events, with the last occurring in 2007, which affected eighty percent of the state. The state is also home to La Venta, the major site of the Olmec civilization, considered to be the origin of later Mesoamerican cultures. Even though it produces significant quantities of petroleum and natural gas, poverty is still a concern or so says Wikipedia, and they are right.

We reached our hotel at about 13:00 hrs after the usual testing time of driving through a major Mexican city. Rather than staying in the hotel that had been earmarked, but which was not where SatNav told us, we picked the nearest hotel to the spot that is perfectly adequate and a fraction of what we paid at the last hotel. We’re here for two nights.

This afternoon we walked into town to take some touristy shots, then found a terrace for the traditional margarita and a litre of cerveza oscura (for me, similar for Alain) followed by a Chinese buffet, cheap but adequate and the luxury of a taxi home to the hotel. According to the Marvin Gaye / Paul Young song, where ever I lay my hat is my home. Yes, I bought my third hat, more typical of the state of Tabasco, and perhaps more for special occasions than the two already bought earlier.

Tomorrow we are going to Comalcalco to see the pyramids and chocolate farms to which the Aztec civilisation owes much. I photographed one cactus, yet to be identified – an epiphyte doing its best to strangle a tree along the roadside in town. We’ve made some adjustments to the journey back to Mexico City, but you have to read the following episodes to learn  how we did it in the end.

Friday 3 March – around Coatzacoalcos

So what to do when the forecast is rain? We decided first to go to the bank, to enable Alain to do a bit of milking (of ATM machines) for himself. Wow, not only was it wet, but the wind was so strong that it nearly blew the doors off the car. A bit like Patagonia! Alain’s legs still look like a localised infestation of measels, but he is putting a brave face on things.

Alain suggested a drive to the west of town, to Las Barrillas, that at the peak of the tourist season must be heaving with visitors, but today, in the strong winds, we were the only visitors. I posed under a palm tree, hand covering my head, in case a coconut should come down. An optimistic skipper asked if we wanted to come out for a boat ride on the lagoon. We said no thanks, wondering when the men in white coats would come and take him away. Still, you have to admire his optimism!

I put my finger on the SatNav, on the hilly bit more to the west, across the lagoon. The name Pajapan lit up, so we decided to go and have a look. It seems that the people dig up the roads, leaving huge potholes to get the materials to build topez at much too frequent intervals. Fingers crossed that this does not catch on in England! I’m all in favour of Health & Safety, but imagine doctor’s surgeries full of people who have put their backs out. At Pajapan we followed the signs to the Playas (beaches) where we took a few pictures before being asked over to an empty restaurant for a cup of coffee (me) and a beer, surrounded by five of the owner’s turkeys and their chicks. Henceforth this place is known as Turkey Beach.

Alain had spotted a new building bearing the name Be Irish and suggested we’d have a beer, only a few hundred metres from the hotel. Two Margaritas please, we asked over the noise of the local sound system. Sorry, we don’t do cocktails. OK, two pints of Guinness please, and what ever Alain is having! Sorry, we don’t have Guinness – even though it was at the top of their beer menu. We ended up with two glasses of Blauwe Chimay, one of the best Belgian Trapisten beers! It’s what I called ‘Diesel’ at one of my first ELKs, years ago. Very nice.

A bit worrying – we only saw three cacti today, quite damaged Opuntia, too ugly to point a camera at. We leave tomorrow morning for the State of Tabasco.

Thursday 2 March – Tuxtepec to Coatzacoalcos

We covered about the same distance as yesterday, yet arrived at our hotel, the very nice Fiesta Inn, right on the Malecon at around 13:00 hrs. Why? we had left the mountains and were now on a dead straight Cuota (toll road) averaging 110 kph. The terrain was similar to Holland or Norfolk, driving through hundreds of flat scenery, planted with sugarcane, rather than sugar beet. The only time we came to a halt was the ‘milking stations’, the toll boots where the authorities took some more money of us, but well worth it as an alternative to the Libre (free road) this time.

We’re here for two nights. The weather is has changed. It is still very hot, hotter than in Tehuacan and very humid. But there is a firm wind blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean, as we made a trip to some of the views: a model of a pre-Columbian monument and the piers to the harbour. All the palm trees had been bent by the wind, which suggests that it was quite a regular feature. Sand from the beach stuck to the sweat on our skins and Alain, in shorts, appears to have been given a good going over by midgets or similar during breakfast in Tuxtepec, while I have one bite on my left hand. Alain now smells of lemon like a living Deed commercial and has gone to long trousers, but the damage is done.

It seems that every time we stay in a somewhat more expensive hotel, they have a wifi connection that takes over my laptop. I have battled for two days to regain access and suddenly, this morning, working sequentially through the various wifi options, things suddenly came back, hence today’s double treat of blog backlogs. Now, if I can only remember what I did for the next time it happens!

A day of not seeing a single cactus! Well, that was expected from our research when we failed to find many field records for the state of Veracruz, and then to the north and farther inland, back in hilly terrain.

Wednesday 1 March – Tehuacan to Tuxtepec

Great day – six stops. If you search for Tuxtepec, you’ll find a few places with that or similar names. ‘Our’ one goes by the full name of San Juan Bautista de Tuxtepec in the state of Oaxaca (just) It was meant to be a reasonably short journey and we recognised places where we had been during the first part of Mexico 2017. Chris and Jonathan will remember stops such as the ‘walk through sugar cane fields’ stop and the ‘just in Oaxaca Stop’ where the lady serving at the snacks counter confirmed that we had found Ferocactus robustus in Oaxaca – just!

We only had one formal stop planned, for a plant of Fouquieria purpusii that we should pass close to, about 15 – 20 km, on our way to Tuxtepec. But first we made an ad-hoc stop (S3619) as we saw some Pachycereus weberi. There were many more Opuntia sp. Now covered in yellow flowers and some, that looked to me as the same taxon, with red flowers. There were a few trees around and in their shade were Ferocactus recurves, many more in flower now than when we visited the nearby ‘sugar cane stop’ weeks earlier (dates and stop numbers to be confirmed once I’m back home.)

S3620 was near coordinates provided by Eunice Thompson, who would have been on this, pt2, of the Mexico adventure, but who had other commitments that prevented her from joining us. We were looking for Fouquieria purpusii that probably grows at the Reserva de la Biosfera Tehuacan – Cuicatlan. Close to the coordinates given there was a large gate with a large lock and no one around. Following the wall with the gate, we turned onto a track that led to a warren or tracks and decided to make a stop (S3621) as we were seeing nice large clumps of Mammillaria. They appeared to me to be similar to each other, yet with sufficient differences to expect to see different names on labels in European nurseries. Yet all these plants were growing together in a relatively small spot – diversity within a concept of a single species? And F. recurves was also still around, including some very nice specimen, again usually growing in partly shaded locations.

We nearly got caught on a sandy climb as our little Chevvy was just not up to this off-roading. Alain found a way round the problem and soon we continued towards Eunice’s coordinates, now only 1.4 km away. SatNav showed that we were near a railway line although there were absolutely no signs of one until we found dismantled rails along the track and driving over the sleepers. We even passed through a short tunnel, not afraid to meet a train coming the other way as there were no tracks.

The nearest we got to the coordinates was some 30 meters, with a high rock face between us an the alleged plants – it seemed that they would be on that rock, but invisible to us. We took pictures of the spot, found some more F. Recurves and went back to the main road.

There we went through a village and out the other side, climbing into the hills. Twisting winding roads, at times with topez as we passed a house or school, large pot holes if there was no sign of people. S3622 was a scenic stop – it looked as though we were driving through the Swiss Alps in summer!

S3623 was to take images of trees bedecked with bromeliads. Great scenery, but a very slow road. Would we make it to Tuxtepec before dark?

S3624 were pictures taken as we got lost in the village of San Jeronimo Tecoatl – a case again of two SatNavs with different opinions of arriving at the same place along different routes.

It had just turned dark when we arrived at Hotel Tuxtepec – not the best we’ve enjoyed but more than adequate and with a restaurant that offered chicken or chicken. We had chicken.

Tuesday 28 February – Mexico City back to Tehuacan

The score is now Police 1 – Cactus Trippers 2, as we sighed a huge sigh of relief as we hit the toll road out of Mexico City back to Tehuacan.

We had a bit of a problem with the hotel shuttle service to the Europcar depot. On 2nd February this went perfect, but this time, the same minibus but a different driver took us to the airport’s Terminal 1. ‘No’, we explained, ‘we need to go to the Europcar depot, just a mile or so farther on.’ ‘No’, said the driver, ‘I just run a free shuttle between the hotel and terminals 1 & 2’. ‘How much extra to take us to the Europcar depot?’ ‘Is not possible!’ ‘OK, take us back to the Hotel!’

Back at the Hotel we unloaded all our gear and two senior managers intervened, but the job’s worth driver stuck to his gun – I wonder if he still has a job by now. Fortunately there was a taxi driver on hand to take us for the equivalent of GBP 4. Alain & I had not done a ‘flight pack’ so I had lots of bits and pieces which once again had to be loaded up, this time to the taxi.

We arrived at Europcar without incident, unloaded all our bits & pieces into the reception area, where I was asked for the car rental voucher. I explained that as we had made the booking on the road, I had no print out, but could show the receptionist the emails etc on my laptop. Great, yes please? So where was my laptop? In my rucksack. Which was where? On the way back to the hotel still in the back of the taxi! At least, we hoped so. The receptionist at Europcar called the hotel who confirmed that the taxi had just returned and, yes, the bag was still on the backseat and the driver was on his way to deliver it back to me. Phew!

First essential to check out: could we fit behind the steering wheel of the smaller Chevrolet Aveo? Yes, just!  Next, was there a socket to plug in the SatNav? Yes. Did it work? No!!! Ten minutes of mechanics in oily clothes climbing over the car had changed the fuse that had blown. The socket was operational again! Phew!!

The sigh of relief as we hit the MEX150D tollroad past the danger zone for crooked police officers (assumed).

About halfway ‘home’ to Tehuaca, Alain noticed that the engine malfunction light was on. We pulled into the next Pemex Station where three ladies in oily overalls disappeared under the bonnet of the car and checked oil levels etc. All given the OK. So we drove on – light still on.

Now at our Hotel, Alain checked the support page for the Chevrolet Aveo and learned that this is an issue reported by many owners. One explanation seems to be that the breather tube on the fuel tank is not functioning properly so that a vacume builds up. A malfunction light that stays on all the time seems not to be a disaster, but with one that flashes it is best to give the car a rest and call for help. Ours is on all the time, even after we left the car to stand at the hotel and opened the fuel filler cap.

We’ll have a margarita to discuss what to do. Probably nothing, until we reach Villahermosa, the capital of the State of Tabasco, where there is a Europcar service agent.

Monday 27 February – Tehuacan to Mexico City

Just a brief report, just for the record:

Woke up at 7

Breakfast at 8

Left Tehuaca at 9

Arrived at the Europcar drop off atMexico City Airport at 12:30 – just one stop by the police along the way, all very friendly and correct. Police 1 – Cactus Trippers 1.

Arrived at the hotel where Alain and I will spend tonight at 13:15 where Chris paid for two margaritas each. hic.

By 15:15 we suggested that Chris and Jonathan went to the airport, wished them a safe journey and saw them off safely on the shuttle to the Airport T1.

In just over two weeks we’ll be doing the same. Jonathan’s gadgetry reports that the weather in the UK is cold and wet for the next 48 hours, when they’ll complete their journeys back to their front doors. In the remaining time that we’re in Mexico, the weather has an opportunity to progress to Spring.

Both Alain & I in the front seat were quite stressed and therefore exhausted after the experience 4 weeks ago when we were robbed by the police, so we’re now taking a rest before going down for dinner later tonight.

 Picking up a Chevrolet tomorrow for our adventures in Veracruz and Tabasco, first driving back to Tehuacan, a much more restful town, to launch our plans for Mex pt 2 than Mexico City!

Sunday 26 February – around Tehuacan – admin day.

Even though the day is still young, I can safely predict that there is little else newsworthy going to happen. In most of our trips we build in ‘reserve’ days, just in case there is some unforeseen event, illness among the driver or car breakdown, that would put the ability of the party to reach the airport for flights home in time.

As we had not encountered any such emergencies, we had now a true spare day. We met half an hour later than usual for breakfast and emptied out the car, so that it could be taken to a car wash of which we had seen many – when we did not need them. Our car was looking pretty much like any cactus car after a four week trip through dry & dusty cactus country and so deserved a wash.

Because of the usual state of the car, which had recorded 32 km at pickup and had now reached 5,158 km, it was likely that the carwash people would demand a bit extra. But where do you find a car wash that is open on a Sunday morning. Alain asked at the hotel reception and was given vague directions. The first place optimistically estimated an hour to finish off the car he was doing and then do a 20 seater minibus. He helpfully directed us to another carwash farther on. Eventually we found one that was open and had no other car queueing, just the one that two guys were meticulously working on. Our interpretation of the signs on the wall suggested a cost of MX$ 800 for an external and internal clean. We were impressed with the thoroughness applied to the taxi in front of us, although perhaps not by the cleanliness of the cloths they used and the time it took. But the taxi looked like new when they finished.

There even was a waiting room with settees where we could wait in the shade – sadly no drink machines for coffee, colas or beer and margaritas. By now they had been joined by a third party, apparently the boss of the outfit. Finally the call came that they had finished. Alain came out with a MX$ 200 note and was looking through his pockets for the balance when the carwash foreman said that he had no change! Alain had found a MX$100 note and offered that. Again, the panic was ‘no change’. They speak a strange dialect in Tehuacan but finally it became clear that the 90 minute hard work by three adults cost us the princely sum of MX$ 60, less than GBP 3. All of a sudden, the panic about change became unimportant as we left it as a tip, and perhaps some clean cloths. Our car looked like brand new, despite the few scrapes with shrubs etc.

What to do next? Back at the hotel Jonathan and Chris were waiting for my 2TB plug in hard drive, and while this was transferring data between computers, we decided the cross the road to a Home Depot store to see if they could sell me a USB cable to replace the one that connects my Nikon D600 to my laptop. The old one would suddenly cut out. Home Depot had a range of cables but not the one I needed, so on we went towards Wallmart. Before getting there we passed a Mall dominated by Liverpool, a large department store. In one of the small shops there was a Radia Shack. Jonathan again made his predictions about being a Dutch uncle if they did not have the cable. He now just needs to acquire a Dutch passport to complete the formalities. But another small shop, the Steren Shop for electronic solutions, did!

As we walked on in the delight of the airconditioned mall, we passed a shop that sold ‘cowboy hats’. Yes, the PK hattery acquired another hat!

We found a shady terrace that belonged to a liquor store where we each had a cold beer, a Leffe for Alain and myself and Corona for Chris and Jonathan. Then a short stroll home to the hotel and we’re done.

Expect things tomorrow to be just as uneventful, a  265 km drive back to Europrental at the Airport, drop off the car and say our goodbyes. Chris and Jonathan will take the shuttle to the Airport for their flight home while Alain and I take another shuttle to take us to the hotel where we stayed for our first night in Mexico.

We met all our cactus objectives, except that we failed to see Ferocactus reppenhagenii and F. macrodiscus, but this was more than made up for by seeing Mammillaria bertholdii. It provides the perfect excuse to come back again to search for those that escaped.

Many thanks to cactus expert Alain who took us to all the locations where he had seen Feros before and for whom the pressure of being able to find these spots has now fallen away. Many thanks, Alain – well done! And also for taken on most of the driving when my back played up.

PK posing with his new hat – picture by JYC
The model is a dummy, honest!

Saturday 25 February – around Tehuacan

Today we had just one planned stop, S3613, a repeat of S3581 made on 15 February. On that occasion we saw our first Ferocactus haematacanthus, but rather to our disappointment, these plants were in bud, but not in flower. And so, towards the end of Chris’ and Jonathan’s trip, we revisited the site to see if the buds had opened yet.

In my collection in the UK, I find that Fero’s can tease you with buds for weeks and then suddenly put in a growing spurt to catch you unawares, when you’re away on another break or when the weather is too dark and overcast to take any good pictures. It was not much different here. Most of the buds had continue to develop but only two had opened to show the flowers properly. Mission successful! Alain and I will pass by  here again at the end of our trip extension to see the States of Veracruz and Tabasco and will take another look for more flowers and perhaps the first, unripe, fruits.

On 15 February, we had also marched up the hill at the otherside of the road to ‘the shrine’. First we had walked along a paved road that was no longer in use. This time we decided to take the car up this road, but ended up along the railway line, with a failed attempt to turn up a track towards the top of the hill that we had climbed last time.

Back on the main road I suggested a side road that would seem to lead back to the ridge, or to an extension of the ridge where we had found F. haematacanthus. We parked the car and started our climb, but soon realised that we were not seeing the Coryphantha sp. and number of Mammillaria sp. that we had seen on the first stop. There were many more Echinocactus platyacantha, but no Feros. Jonathan noted that the rocks we were walking on were shale like mudstone, a different type than where the Feros were growing at S3613.

Alain showed that he was the keenest Fero-fan in our quartet by walking at least twice as far, being rewarded by finding one large but dying plant of Ferocactus robustus.

We made an early return, back to base, for early Margaritas. Being cactus explorers can be a hard life, but not today!

Friday 24 February – Huajuapan to Tehuacan

Another day, another episode of the Ferocactus Fairy-tales.

After the now customary ‘pictures around the hotel stop’ (S3608) we headed to the first Ferocactus stop (S3609 = AB674) for Ferocactus latispinus. This was christened the ‘dead fox stop’ as a decaying animal added its own aroma to where we had parked the car. To Alain, this was a disappointment as we struggled to find the Feros that he remembers as being abundant here last time. Plenty of evidence of grazing by cows and goats, provided by their droppings plus a few dead Feros, kicked out and left head down-roots up to die. At the edge of the area Chris found a few plants alive and in tact.

Excited, we headed for the next stop along MEX125, (S3610 = AB675) which Alain reported as a site for F. macrodiscus. We soon stumbled across the first Fero, in good health, but identified as F. latispinus. As was the next one and the one after that ….. In fact, no F. macrodiscus were found here, not even after Alain was approached by Jehova witnesses waiting at the nearby bus stop! There were also some nice Mammillaria here. Should I hazard a guess? Mammillaria dixanthocentron? Mainly white spined plants with variable spine length. I’ll show the images at the Mammillaria Society AGM in a few months time for expert opinions.

These completed the planned Ferocactus stops for today, as we headed to our comfortable hotel in Tehuacan where we spend the next three nights. Excepts that Chris spotted a large clump of Ferocactus robustus along the side of the road. A quick U-turn and note books marked up for S3611. But what was this? In a relatively small area, we found not only F robustus, but also F. latispinus and F. recurvus / greenwoodii! Jonathan argued that we must have crossed the border into the State of Puebla, as robustus does not grow in the State of Oaxaca. Confused by such a diversity of Feros, we stopped at the next Pemex station for ice creams to cool down over excited brains. Which State are we in? Jonathan asked. No less an authority than the girl serving behind the refreshments counter can now be credited as the person confirming that we were still in Oaxaca State, so that the distribution of F. robustus can now be extended to that State. A cheer for the girl went up that had other members of staff run in to see what the excitement was about.

We soon crossed the official state line, marked with the usual arches, and stopped at a view point (S3612) to take pictures of the tall ceroids with cephalia along the side of the road. As we walked back to take the pictures we also spotted more Mammillaria – very photogenic on the road cutting. A police car passed by and slowed down. When we returned to our car, the police car was in front of us with four officers, armed to the teeth waiting. Good afternoon, everything OK? We explained that we were tourists from Europe, enjoying the amazing scenery. It was all smiles this time. Alain ase3d if he could take the officers picture to illustrate how to protect cacti with automatic weapons and hand guns. No, than you they said, and quickly got into their car. Of course, the whole scene was captured on the dashcam 🙂