ary snyder

Two weeks after I went to San Ignacio bay, I ended up in Cuetzalan, high up in the mountains in Puebla. It was such a contrast! Here, everything was green, full of life, of water, vegetation… And that all these wonders and differences fit in the same planet never cease to amaze me.

.
[]
.
We were there for three days. It was always foggy, so much so that sometimes you couldn’t see two meters ahead of you. And with a light and endless rain.
.
.
.

Its original name was Quetzalan, place of the quetzal —a beautiful tropical bird with long emmerald green feathers on its tail—. But there are no more quetzals in the area. That’s such a pity.

Around 1939, the new Goverment Building was built copying, practically, the temple of Sain John’s in Rome… but topping it with a statue of Cuauhtémoc, our last Aztec emperor. You gotta love that! There you go, conquistadores!

: )
.
.
.
[]
.

.
[]
.
The main church is Saint Francis Parish. Right in front of it, the 30 m high pole —made of one tree trunk— from where the four flyers complete thirteen turns until they reach the floor, keeping alive an ancient prehispanic tradition.
.
.
.
[]
.
This rope was around the pole.
.
.
.
[]
.

.
[]
.
I loved the name of this little shop: The fifteen letters (characters). The shop girl didn’t know why that was its name but it might as well. Now I can use my imagination to come up with reasons why.
.
.
.
[]
.
Cuetzalan is surrounded by rivers, waterfalls and caves.
.
.
.
[]

La Gloria (The Glory) waterfall.

.
.

..
[]
.

.
[]
.
We were having breakfast in the hotel we stayed in and I looked outside the window. I loved the bright red when everything seemed so gray.
.
.
.
[]
.
Fog was incredible dense.
.
.

.
[]
.

.

.
[]
.

We visited a botanic garden called Xoxoctic, which means “green” in the nahuatl the indigenous people of Cuetzalan speak. They plant organic coffee and took us for a tour to see different species of plants and flowers —including several orchids.

The place was beautiful and you could tell the respect they felt for the environment.
.
.
.
[]
.

.

.
[]
.

.

.
[]
.
If there’s something I’m afraid of it’s spiders, and in Xoxoctic, and in Cuetzalan, in general, there were spiderwebs everywhere. However, a year ago I edited and completed an article on spiders for National Geographic Kids magazine, and ever since I find them more likeable. But I’m still scared out of my witts by them.
.
.
.
[]
.

.

.
[]
.
This orchid reminded me of Winnie the Pooh’s Tigger. It does look like him, doesn’t it?
.
.

.
[]
.

.

.

[]

.

.

.

[]

.

.

.

[]

.

.

.

[]

.

.

.

[]

.

.

.

[]

.

.

.

[]

.

.

.

[]
.

.

.

[]
.

.

.
[]
.

.
.
[]
.
Some walls in the cemmetery had this kind of saltpetre. It always formed amazing patterns and textures.
.
.
.
[]
.

.

.
[]
.

New post in english.
.
.

.
[]
.

.

.
[]
.

.

.
[]
.
The reflection of Cuetzalan on an SUV.
.
.
.
[]
.
Where does Nature find its inspiration for these colours, textures and shapes? What’s the evolutive reason for this plant to have so many different things that must have a very high cost, genetically speaking?
.
.

.
[]
.
Pasmas are tree-like ferns that haven’t changed almost at all in 300 million years. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d ran into a dinosaur walking around them and the araucarias, an also prehistoric tree of which there are loads in this area.
.
.