Into the New Year

The Colorin bushes are blooming in the New Year

I ended my last blog entry with a photo of a sunset over Lake Patzcuaro.  On the morning of December 28th, here's what the sunrise looked like:

A nice start to the day, for sure.  And it continued with a hike on one of the more obscure trails in Mal Pais.  Just before I branched off onto the side trail, this coyote crossed the trail up ahead and watched me as I snapped a photo:

The trail petered out before too long, and I decided to climb a small, rocky hill and enjoy the view before heading back.  To my delight, when I got to the rock where I was going to enjoy a snack, I spotted these beauties:

Orchids

More Orchids

And even more Orchids!  Late in the season, these were just opening

And a wild Dahlia.  I've seen several of these in Mal Pais - some on large plants with many other blossoms that had already faded.

On the 30th, Joe and Maurice, the organizers of the local expat hiking group, lead Basil, Henriette and me on a hike to try to get to a meadow on the saddle of a mountain near Cuanajo.

We circled around to look for a trail up to the saddle between this peak and the one behind it.

Basil and Henriette, with their dogs, on the back side of the mountain.

After cutting through a farmer's field (with his permission), we found a trail that took us where we wanted to go, up the back side of the mountain to the meadow.

View from the trail that gradually climbed up and up...

We made it to the sought-after meadow on the saddle!

The Meadow

We walked to the far end of the meadow, to a shelter used by farmers who come up to tend the fields and horses.

Resting at the shelter

And at the far end of the meadow we found a trail that took us down the other side of the mountain and to our cars.  Success!

The new year arrived and I decided to start off on the right foot right away - so I took a 12-mile hike up on the mountainside above Erongaricuaro, to the village of Zarzanora and back.

Christmas tree on the plaza in Eronga -covered in  reed mats made locally.

From Eronga I walked up past the old railroad station and continued up the mountainside on a dirt road through the forest - and it eventually became a grassy lane between fields that led to the paved road to Zarzamora.

Red-tailed hawk in a dead tree in a meadow

View from where the grassy lane met the paved road.

 It was a long walk on the relatively level paved road - which luckily had little traffic - to get to Zarzamora.

Young Joshua tree in a meadow along the road.

View over a wavy wall as I entered Zarzamora

 And an overlook in Zarzamora provided a great view down to Lake Patzcuaro:

Lake Patzcuaro

When I did this hike last year, I took a combi from Zarzamora to get back to Eronga.  This year, however, I walked (and walked) down a lovely old dirt road to complete the loop.  In places along the road, pine sap was being collected to sell to companies who use it to make turpentine, varnish, oil-paint thinner, furniture wax, lamp oil, soap, etc.  It seems the big gashes in the bark would expose the trees to disease and an early demise.

Pine pitch oozing into a plastic bottle.

Among the pine trees and oaks grew madrona trees with their variegated bark

and their lovely flowers, which bees seem to love:

 And of course there were more lovely flowers along the way:

Tropical milkweed, I believe.

And lovely Lupine.

 Nearing Eronga, I managed to get what I think is the most gorgeous butterfly pic I've ever taken.  The light was just right!

Mexican Silverspot

The hike took about 5 1/2 hours - and I was bushed!  So instead of cooking dinner, I walked over to the German restaurant, Campestre Aleman, and had a delicious dinner of roast rabbit.

And speaking of food, I'm delighted that this year I've been able to buy Cabot Extra-Sharp VERMONT Cheddar, aged over 2 years, at Don Chucho's little market in Patzcuaro:

Life is good!

 On January 3rd (and many other mornings) I awoke to a fog-covered landscape:

From my terrace.

Before too long the fog cleared and I decided I would finally get around to the other side of the lake, which I had never explored.  So I hopped on a combi for a very scenic ride around the lake - and managed to get a seat with a great view.

Lake Patzcuaro from the north shore

I stopped and walked through the traditional village of Santa Fe de La Laguna:

The village church, whose yard is mostly surrounded by an arcade

Yellow wall and red door on a side street.

After stopping in Tzintzunzsan for a coupe of tasty gorditas (stuffed tortillas), I ended up in Patzcuaro - for a coffee by the plaza, a glimpse of the Dance of the Little Old Men and some shopping.

Dance of Los Viejitos on the Plaza Grande in Patzcuaro.

Back home, I made use of a great product available here in the market (as well as in Ecuador) : a bag of hand-chopped veggies.  Combined with sautéed onions and garlic and a base of refried beans mixed into water in which brown rice has been cooked, it makes for a delicious soup which is a complete meal (especially with some sharp Vermont cheddar cheese grated on top). I sat down to a bowl - accompanied by a glass of wine - out on the terrace. As I say so often here, life is good!

On a combi ride home from Patzcuaro one day I noticed a scene that I liked and wanted to photograph, so the morning of the 6th I walked back to the spot.  These are the corn stacks, with the volcano in the background, that I had spotted. This is one of the volcanoes that covered Mal Pais with lava around 1460.

And on the way back home I took advantage of another photo op:

The next day I decided to climb El Estribo, an extinct volcano, on the outskirts of Patzcuaro, whose summit is about 720 feet above the town.  When I did this hike with my friend Paul Cameron last year, it had been very foggy, so I was looking forward to clearer views. It's a pleasant walk up a grand, tree-lined cobbled road to the mirador (viewpoint).

The elegant tree-lined road up to the mirador (viewpoint).

 I rested  and snacked at the mirador while enjoying the view out over Lake Patzcuaro:

Then I climbed the 415 steps up to the rim of the crater:

Looking back down some of  the stairs.

I walked around the rim of the crater, which now holds farmers' fields:

Looking down into the crater.

And from the crater rim there's a great view out over the town of Patzcuaro:

And zooming in a bit with my camera, I could see buildings around the Plaza Chica:

The former church in the center is now a library, with an amazing mural on the inside back wall. To the left of it, with the twin towers, is the Teatro Emperador Caltzontzin (where I'm going to a movie tonight). And on the right is the Santuario de Guadalupe.

On the 9th I did another nice hike with the Friends of Cerro Blanco.

Heading up the hill above Joe's house (after I had walked from town and up a big hill to get to Joe's).

View to the north from the top of the hill

The mountain in the background is the one I climbed on the exploratory hike on Dec. 30th.

The next day, after a lazy morning, I checked out the birds at the Jaracuaro bridge in the afternoon. Lots of herons, egrets and pelicans as usual - and these guys (among others I couldn't get good pics of):

Black-Necked Stilt

Cinnamon Teals (Male and females)

Turkey Vulture

On the 11th, I took a not-very-direct hike to Eronga, taking dirt roads and then a paved road up to the railroad tracks, on which I curved for miles up above the town and then descended for lunch.

Corn Stacks not far from my casita.

Los Cuates (The "twin" volcanoes) above colorful fields.

View from the paved road.  I'd be very happy to be driving a car and come upon this view!

From farther up the road

Looking down on Eronga from the railroad tracks.

And, as usual, lovely flowers bloomed along the way:

Castor Bean flower stalk.

Yellow flowers.

Not flowers, but lovely seed clusters of wild clematis.

Purple Flowers

And this little guy continues to attack its reflection in my bedroom window, probably thinking it's another male invading its territory:

Rufous-Capped Brushfinch.

When I arrived in December, mangos, which I love to eat, were scarce and relatively expensive (for here) at about $1.25 a pound. Suddenly yesterday there were lots of them at the market, and I bought these tasty smaller yellow ones for $.51 a ib. I am happy!

Well, this cool, rainy day has given me the opportunity to get an update posted.  Now I'm off to the movies ($ 1.12 Senior Rate) with a friend.