Wednesday,
April 5, 2006, 10:10 pm
Hello from Cuernavaca - An excursion to
Las Estacas, Checking Out Orchids and A Friendly Meeting at the
Cafecito
After a beautiful breakfast in the garden at Roxana’s place
with Helga, the young lab with shiniest black coat, dancing all
around me, I went to my private tutoring session at the Ideal
Language School where my teacher Estela and I talked at length
about various dental procedures, funny doctor stories, and stories
of unexplainable events and psychic happenings.
We also touched on the topic of personal security, and that a number
of years ago there were quite a few kidnappings and robberies of
buses. Additional security has brought the situation under control
and safety has improved considerably. I also asked Estela about
some practical safety advice for myself, traveling as a woman alone.
She gave me a few basic common-sense pieces of advice:
- don’t wear any ostentatious jewellery or extravagant clothing
- never walk by yourself at night
- never walk in deserted streets
- leave your jewellery, valuables and documents at home
- curry your bag in front of your body
- at night always take a radio taxi that is called from
the restaurant where you are staying. They are much more trustworthy
than street taxis.
Estela, my Spanish teacher and local expert
Around 11 am a local street merchant came by to sell typically
Mexican sweets and I ended up buying thin sheets of oblates (obleas),
stuck together with honey and decorated with pumpkin seeds. I also
bought a square of peanuts glued together with caramel – all
very yummy treats. I don't know how the locals can resist all these
tasty foods that are available everywhere....Then I headed off onto
the public bus again and into downtown Cuernavaca. I had to change
buses and exited one on the Zocalo and hopped on the second one
below the Palacio Cortes. The Cuernavaca public transit system is
a breeze for me at this point.
A demonstration was in full swing in front of the Palacio del Gobierno,
local inhabitants of nearby villages were demonstrating and when
I enquired, they told me it was about the fact that the government
is developing areas in their villages which they would rather see
designated as protected nature areas. The main issue, they explained,
is a shortage of water and this issue has apparently being going
on 70 years.
The bus took me to Martha Elena’s house who was already waiting
for me and had put together a wonderful picnic basket. Then the
two of us adventurous mujeres took off in her vehicle and
we went towards Las Estacas, a local riverside resort that
she had never been to.
I got a chance to see the southern parts of Cuernavaca, and the
traffic exiting the city was the usual chaotic mess, but somehow
it all works out. It would certainly take me a while to get used
to the driving conditions here. People squeeze in wherever they
can, particularly the drivers of the rutas, the small local
buses. The bus in front of us squeezed in and cut across 3 lanes
to make a left turn. This guy was certainly not taking any prisoners…
We drove out of town through a hilly but extremely dry area. All
the hills were brown, spring surprisingly is the equivalent of our
summer – everything is hot and dry with very little rain.
The rainy season actually begins in late May, early June, and summer
is cooler than spring. A strange concept to get your head around.
After about an hour of driving through Mexican country villages
with horses and donkeys grazing right next to the street and men
riding in the back of trucks, we arrived at Las Estacas.
We started our walk through the grounds, across a hanging bridge
over a river with extremely clear and blue water. Marta Elena was
explaining to me that the fish that we saw were extremely good for
chowder, but not useable for other dishes since they contain so
many bones.
Since it was about 1 pm by this time, we plunked ourselves down
beside the river and unpacked our beautiful picnic bag, she had
made three different types of sandwiches, brought a wonderful container
of refreshing juice and some brownies, and the girls started to
talk and compare notes about growing up in Mexico and Austria respectively.
It’s amazing how two people can come from such different backgrounds,
i.e. Marta Elena grew up in a very well to-do family while my family
background is much more humble, but somehow we had a great connection.
We took a stroll through the grounds and saw the various swimming
pools and playgrounds and also checked out an area containing 31
units with 3 bunk beds each which is used for children’s camps.
A fishing pond was right next door.
After our nature outing we stopped at another local attraction:
a well-known local market for orchids. Of course, Marta Elena is
an avid gardener and I, although equipped with a black thumb, like
to look at flowers, so off we went to look at several greenhouses
full of different varieties of orchids. Marta Elena, being the expert,
could tell me in Latin which varieties we were dealing with, I on
the other hand was fascinated with the alien expressions on these
horticultural beauties. Apparently these orchids are shipped all
over the world.
The day was immensely hot and I was melting in the sun, so I sat
down under a lovely palapa and I asked the lady working
at the greenhouses to bring us some popsicles, and three popsicles
later I finally felt that my thirst was quenched a little. As a
small gesture of appreciation for her time and the lovely lunch,
I got Martha Elena a special yellow variety of orchids for inviting
me on this special outing.
With our aesthetic senses appropriately satisfied we made our way
back through the dry mountains south of Cuernavaca and rejoined
the hustle and bustle of the city. Marta Elena dropped me off right
in front of the cathedral and after a cordial hug we decided to
definitely link up again before my departure next week.
Alberto, my friend Vanessa’s cousin, and a local resident
of Cuernavaca had recommended me to visit his friend Jose Manuel
who owns a little café, appropriately named El Cafecito,
right across from the main entrance to the Cathedral. I plunked
myself down at one of the tables outside the café on the
sidewalk and watched some of the colourful street life pass by.
Several local women carrying what seemed like hundreds of different
necklaces approached me, displayed and promoted their attractive
jewellery items. I caved in and bought several very decorative necklaces
that were supposedly made of semi-precious stones like malachite,
tiger’s eye, coral, etc. although I have a feeling for about
$4 each they are probably made more of attractive plastic than real
stone, but you never know..... I found them quite enchanting.
After a while Jose Manuel came and joined me at my table. He mentioned
that me has a brother who is working in Toronto. This is not surprising,
many local Mexican people that I have met have a Canadian connection.
He even said that he has experienced temperatures of up to –
5 degrees in Arizona once, which was barely bearable for a Mexican
who is used to 25 degrees + all the time.
Jose Manuel graciously called me a taxi, a “Radio Taxi”,
which is highly recommended after dark which whisked me up into
my beautiful residence at RX Villa in the Rancho Cortez area. Time
for some laundry and for writing up some stories and resting up
my leg for another day of discoveries tomorrow…
Useful Books:
Related Articles:
Mexico 2006 - My cultural immersion
experiment
Hello from Mexico City - First impressions
Hello from Mexico City - A skyscraper,
a little horse and a government pawn shop
Hello from Mexico City - The Zócalo,
the Cathedral, a healing ritual and a university dedicated to a
16th century female poet
Hello from Mexico City - A relaxing
evening in Coyoacán
Hello from Mexico City - Exploring the
Paseo de la Reforma, de Bosque de Chapúltepec and a nice
evening in San Angel
Hello from Cuernavaca - Arrival and
first impressions
Hello from Cuernavaca - Getting to know
my B&B hostess Marta Elena: A true riches to rags story
Hello from Cuernavaca - My first day
learning Spanish and two local icons: the Robert Brady Museum and
the Jardín Borda
Hello from Cuernavaca - A lovely dinner
in a garden paradise
Hello from Cuernavaca - An excursion
to Las Estacas, checking out orchids and a meeting at El Cafecito
Hello from Cuernavaca - An excursion
to Lake Tequesquitengo and a visit to the doctor
Hello from Cuernavaca - A conversation
with Andy Grater, local B&B owner and President of the Newcomers
Club
Hello from Cuernavaca - A presentation
about ecology at the Newcomers Club Meeting
Hello from Cuernavaca - Opening of a
South African photo exhibition and a visit to the Palacio de Cortés
Hello from Taxco - The city that silver built
Hello from Taxco during Semana Santa - The
famous Palm Sunday Procession
Hello from Cuernavaca - A new language
school, visiting 'Casa Vamos' and an evening with a very sad ending
Hello from Cuernavaca - My most intense
day: more language studies, 3 interviews, a guided eco-hike and
dinner at the Marco Polo
Hello from Cuernavaca - A day outing
to the enchanting mythical village of Tepoztlan
Hello from Cuernavaca - My last day
of school and a visit to Cuernavaca's Spring Fair
Hello from Taxco - An eerie experience: Visiting
Taxco's famous Good Friday procession
Hello from Taxco and Cuernavaca - Interviewing
one of the penitentes and enjoying my last day in Mexico
Related Interviews:
Presenting:
Ruben Córtes from Morelos Trails - Local adventure sports
and cultural guided tour operator, expert on Morelos and Cuernavaca
Presenting: Pablo
Buitrón from Fundacion Comunidad, helping local
women empower themselves
Presenting: Jorge Torres from
the Cetlalic Alternative Language School - Learning Spanish with
cultural, social and political awareness
Presenting: Hermilo Brito
from the Ideal Language School - Making Spanish learning fun
Helpful links:
Mexico
Tourism Information
State
of Morelos Tourism Organization
Official
website of the City of Cuernavaca tourism
|