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| View from walk with David Haun and his twin brother, Doug, on February 12th |
Georgia & I went into Morelia on the 11th of February. We did a bit of shopping (more VT
cheddar for me), ate a tasty Italian dinner at a restaurant owned by
delightful friends of Georgia (who have 5 lovely daughters - triplets
and twins!), and enjoyed a concert by the university's chamber
orchestra with soprano, baritone and bass singing operatic pieces by
Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini and Mascagni. A delightful trip.
The next day I headed out into the farmlands near Tocuaro, hoping to find a bridge to
get me over a waterway and out to the former island of Jaracuaro.
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| Heading toward Tocuaro |
I came
upon a guy guarding his cattle who said the bridge was no longer there
(taken down, I believe, to protect cattle thieves from coming in that
way). I didn't feel like swimming, so I turned back.
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| Looking across the farmers' fields |
Below is the morning view from the kitchen window of my casita. It was rather chilly out (about
39) on the morning of the 12th, so I decided that I'd eat my breakfast by the fireplace instead of out on
the terrace.
On the 13th I took another hike with the Friends of Cerro Blanco.
It's a shame we can't find any scenic places to walk:
Later that day I spotted this colorful kestrel not far from my casita:
On the 14th I finally got to hike at Lake Zirahuen - with my friends Henriette and Basil. We drove about half an hour from Patzcuaro to the shore of the beautiful blue lake and met our guide, Ruben.
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| Basil, Ruben and Henriette at the start of our hike |
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| Pipevine swallowtail by the lake shore |
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| Boat on the lake shore |
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| The crystal clear water of Lake Zirahuen |
We saw lots of one of my favorite flowers - Cobaea Scandens. Unfortunately the Cup and Saucer vines were quite invasive here - climbing and seeming to smother huge trees. The flowers were still beautiful, though:
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| Cobaea Scandens |
That's
not a bird up there in the photo above - there's a zip-line across the bay, which we didn't use. We had hiked
half-way around the lake (about 7 miles in 3 hours) to here, ate a tasty
lunch at a restaurant on a hill above the lake, then caught a boat ride back
to Zirahuen.
The next day I was at my computer when I heard a noise which I thought came from the
terrace. I investigated and saw nothing. Then when I went into the
kitchen I spotted this guy in a bowl on the table below the window: a
curve-billed thrasher. (Thanks for the identification, Georgia.)
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| The stunned thrasher - in a bowl on my kitchen table |
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| Perking up out on the terrace |
He was just stunned from flying in through the door and into my kitchen window. A little while after I placed the bowl outside he perked up and flew off.
The sad part was he had pooped on my tomatoes!
Instead of just taking the combi into Patzcuaro that afternoon to go to the market, I
decided to only ride as far as San Pedro and then walk on a grassy lane to
town.
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| View of the village of Tzentzenguaro from the grassy lane |
I came upon a couple of these butterflies -
White-rayed Patches - and managed to get a couple pics of one of them:
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| White-rayed Patch - wings spread |
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| White-rayed Patch - wings folded |
And I saw this wonderful sign of spring:
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| Fruit tree blossoms (not sure what kind) |
I did my shopping at the open-air market in Patzcuaro. Previously I posted pics of fruit and vegetable stands at the market. Here's one of a stand selling beans and grains:
The market is always a feast of colors.
Pope Francis came to this Mexican state of Michoacan, where I spend my winters, in mid-February. Unfortunately the United States press announced his visit with headlines like "Pope to visit state ravaged by drug violence" and referred to Michoacan as "the country's gang-infested heartland". Please be advised, friends, that there indeed has been drug-related crime and violence
in parts of Michoacan - but the painting of the whole state as extremely
dangerous is totally unfair. It's like saying that because there's a
lot of crime in the Bronx you should stay away from New York State. I
feel perfectly safe walking the woodland trails, country lanes and city
st
reets around here, even at night.
When friends of mine were frightened away from visiting Patzcuaro
because of a journalist's dire warnings, I asked a local on-line forum
if anyone had experienced (or knew of anyone who had experienced)
drug-related crime or violence. Here's a typical response: "Regarding
danger, there is only one we know of. I and many of our friends have
tripped. The sidewalks can be uneven, It is a very old city, and often
there is only one step you will not see. So watch your footing.......and
enjoy."
On the 16th I happened to be sitting out on the terrace at dusk and noticed a lot of
egrets flying in one direction. Turns out many of them spend the night
in trees a bit west of here, behind the German restaurant. There are many more hidden by the tree
branches. Funny I never noticed this before.
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| One morning I counted about 150 egrets leaving their roosts here! |
Did my long loop through Mal Pais on the 17th and checked out a side trail that
looped back on itself. Seeing all the orchid plants in the trees,
I fantasized about getting down here in the autumn sometime when they
would all be in bloom. Maybe I'll find a real deal on airfare for an
extra trip...
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| Fields and Mountains |
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| White skull and vermilion flycatcher |
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| Agave leaf: a study in green and red |
My friend and landlady Georgia took some candid shots of me while I was sitting out on the terrace:
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| Howie reading |
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| Howie pondering |
I may have been checking out my neighbors across the road:
On the 19th I took a combi to Erongaricuaro, walked up to the railroad tracks and
followed them to a hill above the village of Puacuaro. Then I walked down a dirt road to
the village and did a bit of exploring.
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| View while walking the tracks |
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| View of the lake as I headed down to Puacuaro |
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| Young cowboys heading up the hill from Puacuaro |
As usual, I enjoyed seeing the many flowers along the trail:
I followed a street by the village down to the water and took in the views of the lake:
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| View to the east |
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| Puacuaro dock and view to the southwest |
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| View of the island of Pacanda - where I was heading the next day. |
And I got to see some beautiful birds down by the lake shore:
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| Egret in a treetop |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| Tri-colored Heron |
I did a bit of exploring in the village of Puacuaro:
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| Puacuaro Church |
As I was sitting in the church, a handsome young man approached me and apologized for disturbing me, but seeing me with my camera - in a village that probably doesn't get many visitors - he wanted to know if I was taking pictures for the state agency in charge of "historical patrimony". The church needs some repairs, and they are waiting for government permission to proceed. I was sorry to disappoint him!
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| Balcony around the corner from the church |
The next morning the hiking group had a a record turn-out - 44 people - for our boat trip on Lake Patzcuaro to explore the island of Pacanda.
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| White pelicans by a red buoy. |
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| A full boat headed out to the island |
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| On the island, heading up to explore the village of Pacanda |
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| The village church - from the B&B that used to be a monastery. |
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| The interior of the church must have been recently restored. A real beauty for this tiny village! |
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| Simple graves in the village cemetery |
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| An abandoned building in the middle of the village |
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| Heading back to Patzcuaro |
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| The island of Janitzio |
On the 21st I took a nice
little hike into Mal Pais with my friend Frances. We explored an area of
mini-caves among the volcanic rocks - with cool air emanating from their
entrances - and climbed a hill for lovely panoramic views.
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| Frances in Mal Pais |
And the next day I accomplished a long-time goal: I finally was able to hike through Mal Pais to the twin volcanoes.
Last year I had followed a trail in Mal Pais until it petered out and then I had
bushwhacked until I came to a well-worn trail that took me down to the
village of Tocuaro. This day I hiked through Tocuaro to the spot where I
had joined that trail last year - and kept on going. After a while I climbed a hill
and saw that I wasn't very far from the really symmetrical volcano, so I
decided to just go for it. At junctions I headed where my intuition
directed me - and I ended up right at the foot of the volcano! Next
year: to the crater!
Hera are some flowers I enjoyed on the hike:
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| Blue flowers |
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| Bromeliad in a tree |
And here's the view of the volcano from the hill. My goal was in sight!
On the 23rd, I
took a hike with friends Maria and Kurt to the ruins of the old train station
in Eronga - and then we ate a delicious lunch at Campestre Aleman.
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| Maria and Kurt at the train station ruins |
And the next day - my last full day in Mexico - I hiked out to the petroglyphs with my friends
Henriette, Basil, Terri and Charlie - seen here posing with a burro:
All in all, it was another wonderful 3-month stay in Arocutin, where I hope to return in December.
For a final pic from this trip, here's one actually taken on the 22nd when I took another magical moonlight walk into Mal Pais with Frances. The full moon shining through the branches of the Mal Pais forest:
