Journey to Batopilas canyon

On Monday we decided to go from Quírava to Batopilas. We started to walk down to the Batopilas canyon hoping that we can catch the 10 o'clock bus. After 3 hours we have descended more than 1000 m and reached the bottom of the canyon and small bridge over the Batopilas river. Finally the small minivan bus passed by, but unfortunately it was full and did not stop. After short brake at the river we decided to continue walking to Batopilas. In one hour we reached small village La Bufa and bought some water and food and found out that Batopilas is still 27 km away. It was getting late and we were already quite tired and not too well equipped. Luckily  there was a pickup truck passing by and we managed to squeezed on the back. The dirt canyon road to Batopila was completed in 1977 and is very narrow and bumpy. It was the most crazy ride I have ever experienced, driving on the edge of deep canyons on the back of an old pickup with six Jehovah witnesses holding to the sides not to fly off. After an hour we have finally reached Batopilas.

The city lies at the bottom of the canyon (400 m) along the Batopila river and has tropical climate. Batopilas used to be a big silver mining town and it was the second town that has used electricity in the Mexico. There are more then 200 mines and the best times the city experienced at the end of 18th and at the beginning of the 19th century when more than 5000 people from all over the world lived there. The mines we closed in the eighties and now the town lives from drug traffic and growing marihuana and opium in the surrounding canyons. I was told that there are many mafia people who live here and that it is a very dangerous place. It was a bit strange to see nice new homes,  trucks, quad motorcycles and several homes with bullet holes in their facades but I did not feel any danger.
We met one german artist who has been living here for 13 years and he told us that since they build the new concrete road the local mafia kids drive very fast through the city in their new trucks.  There are several hotels to offer logging for visitors who come here to see this only hidden city. Not too many tourist dare to explore the deep surrounding canyons where many drog plants are grown. We stayed over night in the local Ceranam center, which was was empty. 

In the morning we took a walk along the river to the city center and visited the new museum that shows the mining history of the town. It was a day of cleaning the river and I saw many school kids picking up the trash. I crossed the famous swinging bridge and took more photos of the city.

There were not many people and I has happy to photograph few locals and one Tarahumara family at the square. I enjoyed the warm weather and took a bath the in the Batopilas river. On the way back home we drove in the medical pickup truck with 14 people and their luggage's. It was again very crazy and dusty drive but it took us only 4 hours to reach Guachochi. I was told that the local Tarahumara indians (foot runners) can go in one day from Batopilas to Quirara and back (90 km) climbing up the 1800 meters canyon. Visiting Batopilas was again a very interesting experience and I wished I could stay here longer and see the Lost cathedral that is not too far from Batopilas. 

Exploring the indian diet in Quírava

My another trip was to a small village called Quirara. I went there with my friend Jose who works at the Ceranam center in Guachochi. He used to work as a nutritionist at the Ceranam center in Quírara. Several years ago the federal government created 36 Ceranam  centers in Chiuhaua to help with the malnutrition problems of the Tarahumara kids. Due to a drouth Tarahumara indians are not able to grow enough food (corn and beens) for their families. Poor diet results in malnutrition of babies and small kids. Jose worked for several months in the Ceranam in Quírare, but since there were not enough Tarahumara woman who would like to stay there and get medical and nutrition help he was transfered to Guachochi. 

We took the morning buss from Guachochi to Creel and after an hour and half got of at Los Casitas junctions. There we caught a government pickup truck that was bringing books to school in Quírare. The 20 km ride on a dirt road was very fast and a bit scary. Quírare is a small village on the way to Batopilas. It has a primary and secondary school and about 200 inhabitants. We visited several homes and one family that has been living in the nearby cave for the the last 8 years. I was interested to find out what kind of food the local people eat and how do they get it.

The woman who lives in the cave with her husband and 2 children told us that they eat 2 kg of corn (mostly tortillas) and 1 kg of beens every day. Sometimes they have small amount of vegetables or nopal (cactus), egs and a goat meat. The have one cow and 100 goats but they do not not get any goat milk. They sell the goats for 500 pesos (30 Euro). They grow corn and beens but it is not enough so they have to buy more.

The local mayor told us that last 15 years it has not been raining very much and do to the drought he gets only half of the corn yeld he used to. He is able to grow about 500 kg of corn and has to buy another 500 kg of corn in order to support his family of 6 people. He grows peaches but most of them he has to sell to get some money.

During the winter the locals do not grow almost any vegetables. In Ceranam they have a big green house to grow some vegetables and to show how it works.

In Quirara I have seen a lot of plastic Eco tiolets. They have been provided by the government but not all of them have been used property - separating the urine and feces and some parts of the plastic were used to improve local homes. It was nice to see how the locals live and how do they get their food.

America 2009 - 2010

Since September 2009 Im traveling in Mexico. Im planing to travel for 6 months and explore life of people in Mexico, USA, Guatemala and Cuba.
This time I will be traveling only by public transport and try to stay at local people homes using the contacts from Couchsurfing.org.
More Information about my Ecojourney in America can be found at my website: www.ecojourneys.info
You can see my videos at: www.youtube.com/ecojourneys
My photos at www.flickr.com/photos/standa
Or follow my journey at my Facebook or Twitter

Mazunte

I'm enjoing a nice beach and weather at Mexican pacific

Water in San Cristobal de las Casas

Coming to San Cristobal de las Casas i felt like in paradise. The city lies in 2000 m and has very nice climate all year around. It is surrounded by mountains and forests similar to those we have in Czech republic. The valley used to be a big lake and swamp. The spanish came here already in the early 16th century and started to build a city. The  city has small streets and old homes and nice architecture dominated by Santo Domingo church and the cathedral. A good weather and relatively inexpensive housing and food makes the city a favourite tourist destination for a short visit or as a base for exploring Chiapas. I felt very good here and I decided to stay longer to experience and understand more how sustainable the life is. 

It did not take me too long to find out that the city that  also has a big problems with water. In the last 20 years 50% of surrounding forests have been cut down for building more homes and selling the wood. This means that here is now much less water than before. I met one farmer who stared to plant trees in order to get more water to his land. Locals told me that in some parts of the city they have water shutting due to water scarcity. At the same time the water is still very cheap and many homes do not use water meters. Currently there is more than 200.000 people living in the city - valley and it is one of the fastest growing cities in Mexico. In 1975 there were only 25.000 inhabitants. Half of the city population are native indians who moved from the high lands of Chiapas. As most of the cities and villages in Mexico there is not any water treatment facility and all sewage is disposed directly to the two small rivers. I have visited the beautiful river spring which comes from the cave in the mountains and I have seen the polluted river (sewage) leaving the city. I have also seen the last remaining parts of the swamp (13 ha left) that still provides 60 % of city tap water. My friends showed me how this very unique ecosystem and source of water is being reclaimed in order to build more houses and there are plans to build a big petrol station next to the swamp. 

In the eighties the biggest mexican Coca Cola plant was build in the city and it is using the water from the richest aquifer under the national reserve to create the most popular mexican soft drink and sell bottled water. In 2004, the Coca Cola plant in San Cristóbal de las Casas used more than hundred million liters of water.

Mexicans are the biggest drinkers of Coca Cola in the world. It is hard to believe that the Coca Cola in stores is cheaper than bottled water. I see how popular this unhealthy drink is among the native indians. It has been more than 15 years when the tap water in the city became polluted and undrinkable. Since than the bottled water home delivery became a very good business for a dozen local companies. More than 200.000 litters of battled water from local springs is sold daily. This might be one of the reasons why the government officials are not taking any steps to protect the local water resources. It is sad to see that cities like San Cristobal de las Casas have the same problems as I have experienced in India - over population, water scarcity and pollution. It is difficult for me to see a good future of San Cristobal de las Casas unless more action is directed toward the protection of local environment.

The day of the death

Im Mexico and Central america the day of the death is a very important christian celebration. There are three days of celebration. People here believe that during these days the souls of the death people come back. They bring them food and their favorite things and eat the food on the graveyards with them. On Sunday I went to the Chamula village that is 10 km from San Cristobal. Here I visited a small cemetery. The graveyard very very simple - only a cross and pile of soil covered with flowers. It was interesting to see how the locals eat their food and drink a lot of very popular Coca Cola. The cemetery in San Cristobal de las Casas was very different. It looked like a small city. There were many big thumbs build as a small houses crowded next to each other. On Monday morning I went to see the Zinacantan cemetery in the mountains. The whole cemetery was covered by many flowers and people. The misty weather created a special atmosphere. There were no tourist. I was observing how they are siting on the graveyard and enjoying the feasts with their death relatives. Taking close photos was not very easy but I was quite lucky to get some good shots.

It was very nice sunny day so I was happy to take some photos of San Christobal and I enjoyed watching the sunset in front of the cathedral.