Ruminations of an Expatriate

Archive for the ‘Veracruz’ Category

My Aborted Trip To Hautusco

Tuesday, May 8th, 2007

Sunday I had intended to drive to Hautusco, a town of about 30,000 a couple hours South of here. So off I went toward Coatepec, turning just before entering the city, following the sign to Cordova. However, I didn’t encounter additional signs directing me and eventually ended up in Las Trancas, at the opposite side of Xalapa from where I had left.

If I had looked at the Xalapa map I had with me, which I didn’t do until I had arrived home, I would have learned that the road to Jacomulco, with which I am familiar, leads to Hautusco. One of my frequent dumb ass moments.

Arriving back in Xalapa I drove through town and again headed for Coatepec. I had decided to drive to Teocelo and ask as to the route to Hautusco, which I thought I could reach from Teocelo.

Arriving in Teocelo I headed toward the bar at which I had stopped the other day to ask directions. The proprietor, Senor Crescencio (Chencho, as he said most folks call him) Martinez, was tending the bar and talking to his son Carlos.

I ordered a Negra Modelo and asked the gentlemen how I would go to Hautusco. Carlos asked his father for a sheet of paper and drew me a detailed map, not only showing the route to Hautusco but the routes to all of the area pueblos as well. He also told me that the name Teocelo derives from Teo Ocelotl of the indigenous Nahualtl language, which in Spanish is Dios Tigre and in English God Tiger.

Senor Crescencio informed me one of his other sons is selling a small rancho in Texin, not far from Teocelo along the road to Cosautlan, and gave me his son’s name and phone number. I plan to contact his son to arrange to look at the property.

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Posted in Travel, Teocelo, Xalapa, Veracruz | No Comments »

Teocelo

Saturday, May 5th, 2007

I had been to Teocelo only once before my visit to the Ranchito Coyolopan, and then only to the edge of town where I had turned off to the pueblito of Santa Rosa from where I walked to visit the Cascada Texolo.

When passing through on the way to visit the ranchito a couple of weeks ago I noticed what a tidy little town it is, and when we stopped in Centro during the return trip for a bite to eat I noticed how very attractive is the central park. During my visit last Sunday to the home of Lorena and her father Franco, before returning to the Ranchito Coyolopan, I had even a better look of the town and decided that I wanted to return for a longer visit.

So Wednesday I walked to the tourist information booth across from the Parque Juarez, here in Xalapa, and asked from where I would board a bus to Teocelo. The very pleasant woman staffing the booth was able to tell me that I must go to the Mercado Los Sauces, about ten blocks from Parque Juarez. So off I went.

I located a bus parked adjacent to the mercado which indicated Teocelo on its front window and asked the driver, who informed me from where I should catch it. So off I went down Calle Bolivia to the bus stop. The bus may also be boarded at the route’s origin at La Rotonda on Calle Revolucion , about 12 blocks North of my apartment.

The bus was a very comfortable Mercedes and the young driver sported a gelled hair do that put to shame the greaser “duck tails” popular in my adolescence. Unlike the local buses one does not pay the fare upon boarding. Rather, there is a fellow riding shotgun who approaches each passenger that boards, determines their destination, and collects the fare. The fare to Teocelo is $13. pesos.

The route passes through Coatepec and continues toward Xico. Just before reaching Xico the road diverges, winds its way up and over a mountain pass, drops down into the valley of the river into which the Cascada Texolo falls, and snakes its way up and over another pass before dropping down into Teocelo. The scenery along the route is spectacular, including sheer rock faces, of well over one hundred feet in height, on each side of the narrow river valley the route traverses.

I debarked in Teocelo just around the corner from the central park and spent the next couple hours walking the streets looking for signs announcing houses for rent or sale, though I encountered none. I stopped into the cable TV office and inquired if they offered internet service and as to the prices for TV services. The very nice woman staffing the office indicated that the company does not provide internet service and insisted that she write down for me the TV connection and monthly services charges.

A bit further along in my tour I stopped into a bar that was about only 8 feet wide, ordered a Bohemia, and began grilling the proprietor with questions about the town. When I asked if he knew of any houses for rent or property for sale he indicated that he was selling a home around the corner. He informed me that the house, constructed only about five years ago, has fourteen bedrooms and five bathrooms. I finished the beer and continued on my way.

I am impressed with how clean the town is and how friendly the folks are. Almost without exception those I passed greeted me with a “buenas tardes” or “adios”, as is a common greeting here. The buildings are colorful, most of the streets and sidewalks are of stone common to the area, and the central park is amongst the most beautiful I have encountered.

Returning toward the central park I inquired of a gentleman I encountered if he could recommend a restaurant he likes. He directed me to the Dona Ofe restaurant across the street from the North end of the park. The tidy restaurant has about eight tables in the front room of a colonial home, with the food preparation in the rear. The tables are surrounded by beautiful caned chairs with frames constructed of rough hewn tree trucks or limbs.

As is typical of coninas economicas here, Dona Ofe offered a choice of two meals, carne asado, a thinly sliced beef flank steak, or chuleta de cerdo, a pork chop. Each meal was of three courses, a delicious pasta soup, followed by a plate of rice with peas and corn, and finally the meat plate with a salad of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber. The meal included sweeten lemon water, corn tortillas, and tortilla chips with a fairly picante salsa. The meal was $30. pesos, which at today’s exchange rate is about $2.75 USA.

Following lunch I walked through the park to Don Franco’s bakery and home, located across the street from the end of the park opposite the restaurant, as I wanted to thank him and his daughter Lorena for their hospitality the previous Sunday and for their help with communicating with the owners of Ranchito Coyolopan.

Franco greeted me warmly, we talked for a few minutes, he encouraged me to visit any time and assured me that his home was also mine, and he directed me as to where to catch a bus home and which bus to take.

The bus in which I returned to Xalapa was a Blue Bird school type bus with high backed seats. It was an exciting trip home, as the driver maneuvered the bus along the winding mountain roads as if he were driving a sports car.

Teocelo is an enchantingly beautiful, very clean, quiet pueblo of friendly folks. I recommend to those visiting Xalapa a day trip by bus to Teocelo. I intend to return next week for further explorations to include a bus trip to the nearby pueblo of Cosautlan.

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Posted in Travel, Teocelo, Xalapa, Veracruz | 6 Comments »

Back to Ranchito Coyopolan

Thursday, May 3rd, 2007

A few days ago I reported that Lorena, of Teocelo, had called at the request of the owners of the Ranchito Coyolopan who were concerned that perhaps the architecto who had taken me to the ranchito the previous Sunday may have given me incorrect information. I told Lorena that I would visit the Ranchito again on the following Sunday; and, on the way, stop in Teocelo to introduce myself.

I had told my gringo neighbor, Steve, of the call from Lorena and of my planned trip to the ranchito, and he asked if he could come along for my follow up visit. Steve is even more of a hermit than am I, so the trip promised to be a grand adventure for him.

Sunday at noon we left for Teocelo. We had no problem finding Teocelo, home to about 15,000 folks; and after about fifteen minutes of driving around in circles in Teocelo we encontered Lorena’s father’s bakery, located in a bright blue building across the street from the pueblo’s central park.

Lorena; her father, Franco; and a variety of sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins, and neighbors greeted us warmly. We spent a very pleasant half hour talking to Lorena and her father, as her father busied himself tending to customers of the bakery and adjacent juice stand.

Lorena is the coordinator of the twelve English teachers at a private school located between Coatepec and Teocelo, so speaks English flawlessly. She studied English for five years and spent a couple of months in Portland, Oregon as part of a student exchange program. Both Lorena and her father, as is customary, assured us that “nos casa es sus casa” and encouraged us to visit again as we excused ourselves and departed for the ranchito.

We thanked Franco and Lorena for their hospitalities, hopped in the pickup, and headed out of Teocelo on Calle Cinco de Mayo. Just beyond town there is a hand-lettered sign announcing the primitive route to Coyopolan.

The road to Coyopolan is a ten kilometer, exceptionally rough track that offers some stunning vistas of what, as best I am able to determine, are referred to in the ecological vernacular as “Veracruz Montane Forests”. Often cloud obscured mountains and intervening valleys mantled in a dense forest canopy which provides rich habitat for wide varieties of butterflies, birds, ground dwelling shrubs and animals, as well epiphytes, such as orchids, ferns, mosses, and lichens.

The winding road, scoured by frequent rainfall induced runoff, rises and falls as it passes numerous ranchos, occasional isolated dwellings, and through a couple of pueblitos before descending into the picturesque pueblo of Coyopolan.

Driving through the pueblo I reached the field at the end of town which hosts the regular Sunday futbol (soccer) games, attended it seems by most everyone in town, before I realized I had passed the entrance to the Ranchito Coyolopan. I gingerly turned around, careful to avoid the spectators, and soon encountered the ranchito entrance.

Senor Luis and Senora Betty were expecting me, as Senor Franco had advised them of my intended visit, and welcomed me warmly, as they did Steve upon his introduction.

Betty rounded up and placed three chairs on the concrete slab abutting the small, ramshackle home. Luis, Steve, and I settled into the chairs while Betty and an older woman visitor went off to the adjacent kitchen building. Smoke soon emerged from the kitchen building and Betty soon emerged to offer us food, as is customary here as it is in Cuba. I politely declined as I wasn’t the least bit hungry. I did, however, accept Luis’ invitation to try some fruit “vino”, which seemed to me more like liquor than wine.

We spent a pleasant hour, or so, listening to Luis describe the ranchito, describing his and Betty’s lives before moving to the ranchito two years ago, and looking at his old silver coins and a five year old, insect infested cigar. Luis told me that his minimum price for the ranchito is $450,000. pesos, about $41,000. USA at today’s exchange rate.

Steve and I thanked Luis and Betty, said our farewells, and headed back to Teocelo, picking up a couple of folks walking along the Coyolopan road on our way. Then on through Coatepec and home to Xalapa.

Given the very rough ten kilometer road; the lack of internet service and the immense amount of work involved with owning 7.5 acres, I have decided against buying the property.

I am thinking that Teocelo is probably a better place for me to live. It is a colorful, quiet, very clean little town, of which I will later post a description and pictures.

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Posted in Travel, Coyopolan, Teocelo, Xalapa, Veracruz | 7 Comments »

Bananas

Tuesday, April 24th, 2007

As I indicated in my description of the trip to Coyopolan, during the return trip we stopped at Sr. Cordoba’s banana/coffee farm to harvest a few bunches of bananas.

The photo above is a shot of a portion of the farm from which the underbrush has been recently cleared and the coffee bushes trimmed.

I have seen many banana trees in my travels around here but had never seen what I assume is a banana tree flower from which a bunch of bananas will emerge.

Here’s a shot of the flower hanging from a bunch of bananas.

The bananas are harvested by cutting the top of the tree off with a machete. There were actually three different varieties harvested. Sr. Serena rattled off the top of his head the names of over ten different banana varieties.

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