The Road to Tamazunchale

December, 1996

These are a few pictures from a road trip I took with my dad from Matamoros to Tamazunchale and back via the scenic route. I have more, and hope to add them soon.

Paco at the Tropic of Cancer

The yellow globe in the picture marks the point where the Tropic of Cancer crosses the highway. There were also a couple of burros grazing on the highway right-of-way. This is a common practice in this part of Mexico.

The Hotel Taninul is a resort just outside Ciudad Valles.

The main attraction is a sulphur spring, which is considered to have medicinal properties. The spring's aroma is pretty overpowering at first, but to which we got acclimated quite quickly.

The hotel grounds were scenic and pleasant. Click here to see more pictures.

A great breakfast spot

This is a littl roadside community hangout where we stopped for breakfast. Inside it's two rooms -- a dining room (the circular area) with about four tables and a kitchen. It's in the tropics, so the walls aren't not weather tight, and it's got a dirt floor.

The food was excellent. We basically told the guy we wanted breakfast and he brought out a huge plate of tortillas, beans, ham, eggs and cheese. My only complaint was that it was highly seasoned, but if a gringo can't take the heat, he needs to stay north of the rio. :-)

It looks like a family business. Dad was waiting tables and Mom was in the kitchen. There was also a cute and shy little girl who looked to be about 3 years old hanging onto Mom's skirts. A great experience.

Rooftops of Tamazunchale

I took this picture just outside the back door of my hotel room. The city of Tamazunchale (tom-ah-soon-CHA-lee) is built on a fairly steep slope, so our room had a second-floor window on the street side and a third-floor entrance on the back side.

I took the picture largely because there were several satellite dishes in view, though the resolution of the scan doesn't show them.

I was also impressed by the water tanks on most of the rooftops. Structures are often built on rooftops to hide these, but a black one is visible just left of center.

Uptown Tamazunchale

Here's the view from the hotel window. This was taken early in the morning, so the shops at street level weren't open yet. I loved the way the town just extended up the hill. Also the way the rooftops were used as patios. (You can just see a row of potted plants on the roof of a building about halfway up the hill.)

Tropical Lowlands

A view westward toward the Sierra Madre Oriental (left), and a late afternoon river view near Tamazunchale (below).

Tropical Highlands

A dramatic view of cliffs and tropical forest along the road to Xilitla. (The wide-angle lens somewhat mutes the dramatic effect.)

El Jardín del loco Inglés

("The Mad Englishman's Garden") I don't have any pictures that do this place justice. It's a very bizarre abstract statuary built in the tropical forest near Xilitla (shee-LEET-lah), San Luís Potosí. It was built between 1949 and 1984 by Edward James, a wealthy patron of the arts and friend of Salvador Dali, and it's like nothing I've ever seen. As of this writing, there's a great description of the place at http://www.junglegossip.com/smithmag.html. There are also some good pictures there, but even the Smithsonian Magazine wasn't able to capture the feel of the place photographically. (Author's humble opinion, of course.)

A tiny bit of statuary is visible the photo here (I'm looking down from the top of a piece of sculpture). I also took the picture for the large orchid in the tree on the left.

Living Fence

This was my first exposure to this east-Mexican fencing technique, and I was intrigued enough to stop the car (umm, have the driver stop, that is) so I could take a picture. Staves are cut and driven into the ground at intervals, but they soon sprout roots in the tropical climate and soon a row of close-spaced trees form a self-sustaining fence line.

Above the Timberline

These photos were taken between Xilitla and Jalpan. Both were taken from inside the moving car, as there were few places to stop and park, and the parking places couldn't be seen in advance.