Wednesday, February 14, 2018

12 hour Sunday Feb 11 Drive - Atlacholoaya, Morelos, near Cuernavaca to Punta de Mita Bahia de Banderas, Nayarit --Adventures from Don Goyo's Casa




Sunday drive -----on the Autopistas in Mexico "The Mexican limited access highway network is the largest in the Americas outside the USA. The construction is generally financed by toll (quota) revenue (thus user fees) rather than fuel taxes, thus the toll (quota) rates are usually rather high, about MXN $$1–$2 per kilometer ($1.6–$3.2/mi), roughly 15–30 US cents per mile (9.3–18.6 ¢/km) for private cars and motorcycles. Toll plazas along the mainline charge tolls (quotos) anywhere from MXN $20 to $300, or USD $1 to $15." from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mexican_autopistas

Then Monday awakening to the surf and a venture with Don Goyo to the Altavista petroglyphs and grotto for a cool water experience!

 Had a nurturing breakfast at the Oasis
--> Quinta el Zopilote, in  Atlacholoaya,  --> Quinta el Zopilote, at 8 AM prior to getting on the road around 9 AM for a 12 hour drive, mostly on Autopistas, across the high plains of Mexico ----------Here is a typical view from the car seat on a VW Jetta, that served as my pony!  Gracias to Alfredo of Avis in Puerto Vallarta for helping to choose this pony for our adventure!  
 Green fields and mountains along the Autopista




 Morning views, first light during my meditation time and then at breakfast with one of the local workers clearing out the pool, with the Bahia de Banderas behind ----

I had arrived after dark to the home of Don Goyo, Craig and Viviana---and in the morning of Monday, noticed some of the touches of the home that honors the Turtle, Tortuga ----

 
Turtle honored in this mosiac of local stone  ----- 
 
Some of the plants in the garden that Viviana, Don Goyo's Mexicano esposa --has planted and maintained in around their casa of 17 years plus !

Great beach and environment to start digesting my trip on my 12 day in the country  - Love the sound of the surf and the whales out in the bay! 

 
Beach in front of the Casa de Don Goyo and Viviani ----
 View of the Casa from the beach, protected by manzanita and palm trees

Don Goyo, Craig Minea Citizen of Mexico and Carleton Classmate of 1969 gassing up his white pony at the local Pemex with an Oxxo behind (a Mexicano 7-11 type store)---He gracefully drove to give myself a rest after my long drive on Sunday from Xochitepec Morelos, to La Cruz, Nayarit ---
My total mileage for 13 days, was 2139 km or 1329 miles!

The Altavista Petroglyphs site was our vision of a quiet respectful  and prayful  visit

Altavista petroglyph complex

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altavista_petroglyph_complex

 
After we parked on this road above the valley to find the petroglyphs, we came across a pick by the field of trees  --- rather dry this time of year--

 
Dry fields along the road during our walk  ---- 


 
A prickly fruit in the field  --not sure what this tropical fruit is?   

Here is the sign by at the entry to the path up the valley to the grotto  - we paid 50 pesos to an elder, usually 20 pesos to honoring the caretakers and the land

One that looks like an arrow?


A cross and a multiple infinity sign -------

A cross with wide bases on the same rock as above --

 
The "corn man"as we noticed many offerings here  ----
The cool water grotto where we each took a dip  ---the was a group of 7 young American adults with kids, from Portland Oregon when we arrived who were very respectful and then Jorge from Tepic driving a CDMX tour vehicle had his dog and about 4 rather loud American Tourists from NY and CASome water still flowing now during the dry season in the grotto ----
 Jorge from Nayarit Uncovered Tours with 4 rather loud American Touristas ---(his black dog out of view)
Some cairns, stacked rocks above the grotto with Jorge's tour group below

 
Don Goyo, AKA Craig M and Tom W, two 1969 Carleton Grads at the grotto , photo by one of Jorge's tourist people 
























Tuesday, February 13, 2018

CDMX Stolen iphone to Quinta El Zopilote

My blogging stopped on Feb 7, when Juan and I took the Metro to the center of town, and my iphone with all my contacts, etc was stolen by a pick pocket as we rush to change trains  ----this was below the plaza of the old temple  ---we learned a lot about the differences of Apple MX and US and ATT MX and US, which don't seem to be connected too well ----I decided I needed a navigation device, and as my US Phone # will not be recognized in MX, I got a new "golden" Mexico I phone from Apple MX and then Juan took me to AT&T Masaryk in Polanco to see the options

 Juan talking with Daniel of AT&T MX who set me up with a MX SIM Card for the rest of my time, 6 days in Mexico  -----
 Here is the home of Juan and his mom, just a couple of blocks from Chapultepec Park, with my white Jetta Rental car and his red car as he backs out of his garage  ----I moved from my Airbnb about a 15 min walk after two nights when Maya's neighbors complained about my car --to a larger space Juan graciously offered me  ---and where I felt more safe ----
Juan closing up the garage as we prepared for the drive south to the gathering place of MKP NALB, to be of service --

Here at the gate into  Quinta El Zopilote, that I call a healing oasis, is a sign on the brick wall  ----that I drove through after the journey from CDMX up the mountains to the village of
--> Atlacholoaya, Morelos near the city of Cuernavaca Classical Nahuatl: Cuauhnāhuac [kʷawˈnaːwak] "near the woods" 
There is a constant supply of running water in channels, for watering the plants and here is one of the village women doing her laundry just outside the gate where I stayed for three nights while the MKP North American Leader Body met here --- 
 
Tree shaded parking area, where my Jetta is behind the tree with MKP men arriving on Thursday 
Another view of the parking plaza with Christina's car, the owner and visionary for the center to the left of my rental car. 
 
 Richard Torres, the coordinator of the weekend, was kind enough to give Juan and me lodging for the first night where I could set up my outdoor "office " here, enjoying the "new" MacBook Pro my son Jesse so kindly gifted me during the holidays ----not very stable internet connections AND could sit and write and load in photos from my Iphone Mexicano Aqui!
I was visited by this local mariposa, swallow tail butterfly who seems to enjoy the nector of the Bougainvillea vines  -- 
 Fountain and cobblestone plaza with men of the NALB  ---
 
Food was prepared by local woman from the village ----fresh fruit, veggies, with healthy Mexican menus ----  
Here is a typical spread of food ------
 And some of the local women who prepared our meals behind the kitchen in the morning

More views of the oasis area 

Tree and bamboo near the PIT building I slept in the last two nights

 Altar for the temescal
 Sedges and fountain in the temescal area
Top of the temescal and view toward toward the kitchen 
 Morning after our temiscal on Saturday night



Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Walking and connecting with Chapeltepec in CDMX - Montezuma cypress, sabino, ahuehuete tree relative

 Here is my Mexican guide Juan, who stopped at the grasshopper image at one of the Baths of Montezuma, where perhaps the ancients had baths much like the Romans of the other "old world"
Toltecs named the area "grasshopper hill", which would later become "Chapultepec" according to Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapultepec  -  Early in our walk, we took off our shoes to get grounded to the land, and Juan would tell stories of his uncle and "now you can bring others here in a good way"  I did bring tobacco and corn meal to leave offerings, as I did to both the big tree here and in the cave grotto, that is another portal ---
 
Juan talked of the balance of spirit energy here in the park, "Bosque de Chapultepec", or forest of Chapultepec, starting here with the masculine, the fountain to honor temperance has a male figure, and just behind is the "Sargent" tree remains - Wiki "One dead specimen is called the Ahuehuete of Moctezuma, commonly referred to as El Sargento (The Sargeant) or as the Centinela (Sentinel). The last two names were given by cadets of the Heroic Military Academy during the 19th century. The 500-year-old tree remains as a monument to the area's history, measuring fifteen meters high, forty in circumference. Another tree of the species, still living, is El Tlatoani, which is more than 700 years old and is the oldest tree in the park. In addition to these trees, there are sequoias, cedars, palms, poplars, pines, ginkgos, and more.[
 Here is the base of that big tree ----


 Greenery from inside the cave, the feminine energy where Juan asked for prayers to bring the ancient healing teachings of the north to connect with the south,  healing for the people WAY beyond the current politicians greed for money  ----
One of the dry areas of the bosque, forest, and behind a fence looks like one of the old trails up to the top of the hill that is PC  pre columbian and pre cortez ---"Chapultepec Hill. It is a formation of volcanic rock and andesite, which is common in the Valley of Mexico and contains small caves and sand deposits.[11] "Chapultepec" in Nahuatl means "grasshopper hill" but it is not clear whether the "Chapul" (grasshopper) part refers to the shape of the hill, or the abundance of grasshoppers in the surrounding woods.[6] This hill was considered special during the pre-Hispanic period from the Toltecs in the 12th century to the Aztecs up to the time of the Conquest by the Spanish. Remains of a Toltec altar have been found at the top of the hill, a number of burials and its use was reserved only for Aztec emperors and other elite.[11][15]"



 A grasshopper sign on the circular trail we walked around the hill in the coolness of the morning


I was drawn to the two Montezuma cypress, locally called "ahuehuetes"upright drum in water"[5] or "old man of the water."[2]  drawn Very serene and relaxing here by the still waters, and watching 2 workers clear all the plastic waste from the water ---Amazing how many 2 leggeds just throw stuff on ina maka without thinking or praying  :-(

 The two Montzuma bald cypresses with their feet in the water that attracted me to this place! 
Juan, next to Another old bald cypress, very old on the trail around the Pec, Hill  "
The sabino became the national tree of Mexico in 1910.[9] The tree is sacred to the native peoples of Mexico, and is featured in the Zapotec creation myth.[10] To the Aztecs, the combined shade of an āhuēhuētl and a pōchōtl (Ceiba pentandra) metaphorically represented a ruler's authority.[11] According to legend, Hernán Cortés wept under an ahuehuete in Popotla[12] after suffering defeat during the Battle of La Noche Triste.[13]Montezuma cypresses have been used as ornamental trees since Pre-Columbian times. The Aztecs planted āhuēhuētl along processional paths in the gardens of Chapultepec because of its association with government.[14] Artificial islands called chinampas were formed in the shallow lakes of the Valley of Mexico by adding soil to rectangular areas enclosed by trees such as āhuēhuētl;[2] they also lined the region's canals prior to Spanish conquest.[9]


Living part of the old tree, and Juan gave me a small piece as a medicine to carry here. 


Old lava flows at the base of the hill, some signed pointed to some petroglyphs here, likely 1000's of years old before the European invasions  

 
Completing the circle, here is a young man, doing bici jumps by the temperance fountain-----in the bosque, forest here.  

 
After our walk and an adventure to find a coffee grinder and French coffee press pot to give to Juan for his home, he took me to a nearby more fancy restaurant, owned by friends of the family down the street, in the house he hopes to convert into some Airbnb space -----Here a taco lingua, and I found them very tasty --made of beef tongue, reminds me of the Weaver German family tradition of eating tongue as a kid, a vestige of my dad's Weaver/ Weber farming roots, to waste nothing of the cow! 

Waiter Preparing Pescado with Sal ---Fish in salt, and taking out the meat at the table side--first white table cloth dinner here in DCMX other than breakfast where the MKP Leader Group is staying here. 








 
Juan and I having a little coffee and me some vanilla ice cream to complete our comida  --finished around 5 PM when the mariahi musicians were warming up and Juan remarked, "the politicians come in later like at 6- 7 here"  Jokes about politicians and how they take money abound here as well, just like the US Bank Stadium to take a billion from the people just to make a concussion sport look good!  Sigh, funny animal the two leggeds