Looking Back on 2023 - Charco Del Ingenio

Charco Del Ingenio is a botanical garden and nature reserve on the ridge of the SMA valley.  It's a wonderful place for a long walk.  

Google says Charco Del Ingenio means "Puddle of Wit".  It's a fun translation. But I'm not sure that's quite the intent.  I think "pool, or place, of ingenuity" is more appropriate, since Charco del Ingenio offers pleasant walking paths, an amazing view of the SMA valley, clever , and protects cacti and other succulents that are rare or at risk of extinction.  And yes, there is a water body.  The "Presa Las Colonias".  A dammed water reserve for the city that fills in the rainy season, and is sometimes at risk of being too dry in the dry season. 

We walked the whole thing!  About 2-3 hours worth.  With stops to enjoy the views, plants and sculptures.  At the end, we were hot and thirsty.  But it was worth it!

Photos

1) Toby and me :)

2) A great view of San Miguel de Allende 

3) The Four Winds Plaza is a ceremonial space for indigenous communities of SMA.  The central circle represents the sun.  The outer circles indicate the four cardinal points and their classic colours - land, water, flora and fauna.  Who knew?!

4) Toby taking a chance!

5) Toby and Barbara 

6-7) Plants and Toby

Looking Back SMA - Horse Back in the Campo

Horse back riding is a classic fun activity to do on a trip.  A nice way to see a different part of the landscape.  So off we went into the campo!  To ride into the sunset!

It started off a little poorly.  Our taxi driver couldn't find The Ranch, yes the actual name of the ranch.  We should have paid more attention to the directions we received with the reservation. Lesson learned.

But once there, it was delightful!  Katja, our guide and owner of The Ranch, was very nice.  The horses were beautiful and gentle.  We were the only clients on the ride.  It all felt very special.  

We rode past farm fields, across a little river, through a very small community, and pretty much literally into the sunset!  There was only one kinda scary part. The dogs in the little community. Some were quite barky, likely just protecting their homes. It felt like they could spook the horses.  But our  guide was confident, handled the dogs, and the ride continued safely.  

Back at The Ranch, we got to feed carrot to our horses.  Sweet! 

We took a bus back to town.  Which was a also an adventure.  The only yucky part.  I borrowed shoes from Barbara for the ride.  They were a little small for my feet.  I had a blister to deal with for a few days after. 

Photos - no comments required!

Celebrating 10 Years at Blue Angel

I've been feeling quite nostalgic, on and off, lately. For some of my earlier days here in Cozumel.  This includes the week my young friend Christelle joined me on the island.

We met at the Agriculture Museum where we both worked.  I was older than her mom. She was younger than my step kids.  But we became good friends. 

It was so fun to have her here.  We rented a car, and explored the wild side of the island. Listened to live music in the evenings. And enjoyed a fun colourful drinking evening at Blue Angel!

Life let us drift apart the last few years.  But she reached out to me a few weeks ago. To remind me it was 10 years ago that we had such a fun week together! I was so glad to hear from her.  I'm looking forward to catching up with her when I get home :)

Pictures

1 ) From 2014!  I'm so glad we had those pretty drinks!  I forgot all about the puzzle we borrowed from the Blue Angel library

2) Also from 2014.  When we went to Punta Sur in that awful grey rental car on that super bumpy road.  Do you remember how you jumped out of the car when they tried to overcharge for gas?! 

3) Thank you Toby for encouraging me to have lunch at Blue Angel.  My pina colada didn't come in a fancy glass like I hoped.  But it was a delightful afternoon.  

4) I got my wish yesterday!!!!  I saw a spotted eagle ray while I was swimming!  I love how it was wild.  Free to go anywhere.  But there it was, close enough for me to see well!  Co existing peacefully.  I love how their head is shaped, a little like a dolphin.  

 

5&6)  The Blue Angel is such a pretty place.  It now even has a fire pit!!

Looking back on 2023 - Where's Pipila??

Overlooking Guanajuato and behind and above our hotel, was a very large statue of Pipila.  It was a very useful landmark for orienting ourselves.  

Toby always seemed to know where Pipila was.  But me??  Not so much.  So it became a bit of a game.  he'd ask me..."Where's Pipila?"  I'd look around. Take a guess.  Mostly wrong.

So who was Pipila??  He was a poor crippled man who became a hero during the battle for independence from the Spanish.  Early in the Independence Movement, the Spanish barricaded themselves into a large stone building where they hoped to stay until reinforcements arrived. 

On September 28, 1810, Pipila strapped a large stone on his back to protect himself from the Spanish arrows, grabbed a bucket of tar and a flaming torch, and ran to the only vulnerable part of the building, the large wooden door.  When he arrived at the door, he covered it in tar and set it on fire.  The smoke allowed other Independence fighters to rush the building and demolish the door.  

Our heroe's real name was Juan Amaro.  Pipila was a nickname he was given because he walked "like a turkey" - a Pipila.  The statue, which was built in 1953, is 20 meters tall and depicts Pipila as a very big strong man.

Pictures

1 & 2) Courtesy of Google...a picture of Pipila and the funicular that you can take to get up to visit Pipila. 
3) Our tickets for the funicular.  I really liked how they looked.  Kinda old fashioned and classy

4) There was a big platform around the statue of Pipila, with lots of people and vendors.  It was a fun place to hang out for a while.

5) Our picture from the funicular. It was a pretty fun ride!

Looking back on 2023 - Guanajuato

Last year, after leaving Cozumel, we went on an adventure!  It was so action packed that I didn't blog while it was happening.  I think it's time to begin.  Our first stop was Guanajuato. 

Guanajuato is the capital city of Guanajuato state.  It's a steep valley filled with colourful houses, a network of narrow streets and many pretty little plazas with fountains!  It was founded in 1554 when the area became one of the 3 greatest silver mining centres of the 16th century. 

Guanajuato's historic city centre and nearby colonial-era mines, including a shaft 600 meters deep called Boca del Infierno (Mouth of Hell) are collectively designated a Unesco World Heritage Site.

It was a last minute decision to visit Guanajuato.  So we had a somewhat limited choice for accommodation.  But our little hotel, about a million steps up the hillside, had a few charms. Including a pleasant terrace overlooking the valley, and its location very close to the prettiest park in the city.

Pictures

1) Toby boarding our little plane from Cancun to Leon.  From there we had to take a taxi for about 30 minutes to Guanajuato

2 & 4) The view of the valley / city from our hotel terrace, and the terrace itself.  It was so nice to have this outdoor space!

3) The view of the city from up on the ridge of the valley.  More about the bus tour that took us there later.

5)  This might, or might not have been part of the stairs up to our hotel.  We climbed so many little alleys like this, I forget.  But we certainly did lotsa climbing!!

Domesticity

I've often described my long trips to Cozumel not as a vacation, but as living gently.  In a very nice place. This includes domestic chores, kinda just like at home.

My favourite, in many ways, is laundry.  There are many laundromats around.  But they can get expensive. The last time I checked, it was about $7 for a large grocery bag full of clothes!  So I hand wash.  In our nice outdoor sink. With Zote, my favourite laundry soap bar.  With my head in the trees.  Watching birds!

Cooking has become a pretty nice thing to do here too. Since Toby took charge of the BBQ!  I do most of the veggie washing and cutting.  He grills.  Yummy! And healthier than most restaurants.  Where veggies are usually scarce.

A housekeeper named Anita comes every 2 weeks.  She's very sweet and thorough.  She changes our bed and towels, sweeps, mops, dusts and cleans the bathroom.  The place looks awesome when she's done!!!  But we do have to sweep and dust in between.  Poor us....

Pictures

1 &3) I love how colourful this laundry is, and doing laundry outside with my head in the trees.  Toby seems pretty good with it too :)

2) The humble beginning of my new knitting project.  A skirt for use when I'm back home!

4) I was lucky enough to be on the waterfront when some fishermen were coming back to shore.  Toby gave me his best fish face when preparing it.

5 & 7) Toby has made us some excellent food on the BBQ!

6) This pineapple had 2 tops!

 

Wildlife on the Wildside

It was such a treat to see wildlife on the wild side of the island!  It's so nice, that after many years of coming here, there are still new adventures!

On Monday, a cool ish windy day, we took our first ride on the East side of the island.  The "wild side".  We had a good plan, start at Mescalito's, at the most Northern end of the wild side.  Bike with the wind in our backs to Rastas, at the most southern end of the wild side. About 19 km.  Then turn back to our pickup spot, Playa San Martin, about midway.  About 10 km with the wind in our faces.  Which wasn't too bad after all.  And all around delightful!

Of course, we saw several birds and iguanas along the way.  Both are pleasantly plentiful. But then....!

At Chen Rio beach, Toby spotted crocodiles!! Off the side of the road, on the shore of a lagoon. Far enough from the bike path to be...So Cool!!  A little later on I saw something move in the bushes right next to the bike path.  We turned around to see.  A javelina!!  The poor thing got scared and ran away into the bush.  And later. Running very quickly across the bike path.  An armadillo??  Or a coati??  Either way,  a first for us and fun!! 

Pictures

1)  Picture thanks to google.  The javelina!  A type of wild pig that lives in groups. Aka skunk pig because of it uses a pungent scent to mark its territory and friends.  They're diurnal (active evenings and early mornings). And grow up to 4 feet long and 88 lbs.

2) Google says there are 2 types of crocs on the island, American crocs and Morelet's crocs (aka Mexican crocs).  Over the years, they've cross bred and are difficult to tell apart. They can reach up to 20 feet long and 2,000 lbs.  Both can swim about 20 miles per hour and run for a short time at 10 miles per hour. Apparently, there are about 500 crocs on the island.  They are protected and mostly are not a threat to humans.

3) Coati picture thanks to google.  The coati is a member of the raccoon family.  It's an omnivore like a raccoon. Unfortunately, it's now endangered here in Cozumel.

4 & 5) Toby enjoying the wild side