This morning we dropped from 7700' to 4000' in 25 slow, sinuous miles. The road was in good shape (Hwy 70) but narrow, 2 lane and no shoulder. At 4000' we were in a green, level valley and we pulled over at a wide spot and had cereal. From there we dropped another 700' to Rio Verde, a pretty little city. It was finally warmer now, there was less cactus and more flowers blooming. Soon we were driving through mile after mile of orange orchards. Put away the hand lotion and the chapstick, the humidity was higher too!
The Huasteca Potosina is famous for a lot of eco-adventure type activities like river rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking. I wished I were younger or in better shape when I saw the flyer about rappelling down a waterfall! It wasn't a niagra but a veil of water that fell a long ways and the pictures showed the rappellers inside the spray. How cool! There is a lot to do and see for the more sedentary as well, lots of birds, beautiful rivers and waterfalls everywhere, hot springs and huge pools or sink holes with dive shops alongside.
We arrived at Bañito Balneario around 6pm. We were the only ones there and we picked a spot that was sort of level. We had heard that the restaurant was good so we went down and had a great dinner. Really tender arrachera and good drinks, the famous french fries seemed kind of greasy to me but the excellent steak made up for them.
The next morning I took a pic of 2 of the 3 pools here, they are all fed by natural springs and the water is constantly flowing through them. It was cool and humid and we didn't feel like swimming. I think that one of the pools is fed by hot springs but I don't think it was really hot, no steam. There was a huge flock of some kind of Amazon parrot in the trees, we lost a lot of time looking at them and trying to identify them.
We got on the road for Las Pozas and the nearby mountain town of Xilitla around noon. We had no idea how the road would be but in our usual intrepid fashion we just went. The road got a lot narrower after the turnoff to Xilitla from highway 85, and it began to climb. We had been very close to sea level but went up to around 1600'. It was misty in places and the jungle flowed over the road with flowering trees filled with orchids and bromeliads.
We passed the turnoff to Las Pozas to go on and see Xilitla. Well, after crossing a long bridge we climbed into the town and quickly realized we'd be lucky to get the rig turned around. We pulled over in front of a paint store which was also the entrance to another road, we were blocking a lot there. We got the jeep unhooked and Mimi was able to turn Tortuga around after some guys helpfully moved a couple of trucks.
Back down we went and turned up the road to Las Pozas. We only got a couple blocks before the road got so bad and so narrow that we backed up to another wide spot and got as far off the road as possible. I went up in the jeep and quickly realized that the road was a spring buster, it was more like driving up a creek bed, single track with huge rocks and holes just as big.
I went on up though and was blown away but what I could see from the jeep. I talked to some of the guys working there and they showed me where we could park free. There was one small converted bus from Quebec already there but we would have fit. I went back and talked to Mimi. She was afraid our 5 yo leaf springs would not like it and I thought that it would be possible but not really worth it for only one night. We knew we had to keep going to get to Cancun in time to pick our friend Country up on the 19th.
So, I went and talked to the people in the nearest house about us staying where we were for the night. Oh no! there is an animal truck due any minute and you are blocking the chute. We went back down to the road to talk to a mechanic that had a little room next to his house, he wasn't home. Across the street at a cement place, nope, our trucks stay here at night. OK, back up the road to find the animal truck with huge pig inside had managed to slide past Tortuga and get to the chute. They were nice and said if we pulled up a few feet we could leave the rig there for an hour or two so we could go up and tour Las Pozas.
The Huasteca Potosina is famous for a lot of eco-adventure type activities like river rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking. I wished I were younger or in better shape when I saw the flyer about rappelling down a waterfall! It wasn't a niagra but a veil of water that fell a long ways and the pictures showed the rappellers inside the spray. How cool! There is a lot to do and see for the more sedentary as well, lots of birds, beautiful rivers and waterfalls everywhere, hot springs and huge pools or sink holes with dive shops alongside.We arrived at Bañito Balneario around 6pm. We were the only ones there and we picked a spot that was sort of level. We had heard that the restaurant was good so we went down and had a great dinner. Really tender arrachera and good drinks, the famous french fries seemed kind of greasy to me but the excellent steak made up for them.
The next morning I took a pic of 2 of the 3 pools here, they are all fed by natural springs and the water is constantly flowing through them. It was cool and humid and we didn't feel like swimming. I think that one of the pools is fed by hot springs but I don't think it was really hot, no steam. There was a huge flock of some kind of Amazon parrot in the trees, we lost a lot of time looking at them and trying to identify them.We got on the road for Las Pozas and the nearby mountain town of Xilitla around noon. We had no idea how the road would be but in our usual intrepid fashion we just went. The road got a lot narrower after the turnoff to Xilitla from highway 85, and it began to climb. We had been very close to sea level but went up to around 1600'. It was misty in places and the jungle flowed over the road with flowering trees filled with orchids and bromeliads.
We passed the turnoff to Las Pozas to go on and see Xilitla. Well, after crossing a long bridge we climbed into the town and quickly realized we'd be lucky to get the rig turned around. We pulled over in front of a paint store which was also the entrance to another road, we were blocking a lot there. We got the jeep unhooked and Mimi was able to turn Tortuga around after some guys helpfully moved a couple of trucks.
Back down we went and turned up the road to Las Pozas. We only got a couple blocks before the road got so bad and so narrow that we backed up to another wide spot and got as far off the road as possible. I went up in the jeep and quickly realized that the road was a spring buster, it was more like driving up a creek bed, single track with huge rocks and holes just as big.I went on up though and was blown away but what I could see from the jeep. I talked to some of the guys working there and they showed me where we could park free. There was one small converted bus from Quebec already there but we would have fit. I went back and talked to Mimi. She was afraid our 5 yo leaf springs would not like it and I thought that it would be possible but not really worth it for only one night. We knew we had to keep going to get to Cancun in time to pick our friend Country up on the 19th.
So, I went and talked to the people in the nearest house about us staying where we were for the night. Oh no! there is an animal truck due any minute and you are blocking the chute. We went back down to the road to talk to a mechanic that had a little room next to his house, he wasn't home. Across the street at a cement place, nope, our trucks stay here at night. OK, back up the road to find the animal truck with huge pig inside had managed to slide past Tortuga and get to the chute. They were nice and said if we pulled up a few feet we could leave the rig there for an hour or two so we could go up and tour Las Pozas.
posted by Jonna at 1:00 PM
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