We went to Ixtlan de Juarez, with high hopes of doing some hiking, seeing lots of birds and maybe a few animals. Supposedly they have armadillos, as well as pumas, deer and various marten/weasel-ey critters. I also had high hopes of doing some astronomy from a dark place. Anyway, things didn't turn out quite as we had planned.
We left Oaxaca on a beautifully sunny New Year's day. The drive up into the mountains was quite pretty and most of the road had been freshly paved. They don't make roads that windy and steep in Canada any more, but the driving was fairly easy, in part because there was very little traffic. It clouded over as we got higher into the mountains, which didn't bode well for my astronomical aspirations.
We had booked four nights at the cabanas run by the community. The parking lot was full when we arrived and things were very busy. So busy, that we couldn't find anyone to tell us about the available activities, whether we could participate that day or how we could book for future days. I inquired of several people to find out who could give us information; each time I was directed to someone else, who couldn't be found. Eventually we gave up, went for a short walk and retired to our cabana.
Inside the cabana it was just a bit colder than outside. There was a big fireplace, so I went to inquire about firewood. I was told that someone would bring firewood that evening and a different person would be by later to light the fire.
There was a sign that said the comedor was open from 9am to 4:30pm that day, so we went to have an early supper. The food was OK, if a bit pricey for what you got. While we were out, someone had brought firewood to our room. About 6pm, it started to rain. By 7pm, we were cold enough that Michelle tried to start the fire herself. Shortly thereafter, the assigned fire starter came by to finish the job. Unfortunately, even though the fire and fireplace were both quite large, the fire didn't seem to throw heat more than a metre or so from the fireplace. The bed was quite a bit further from the fireplace than that. Still, dressed in long undies and fleece pants we were reasonably warm under the covers. However, Michelle had a bit of a cold, which progressed to a cough, and the cold damp air wasn't helping.
It rained all night, at times quite hard.
The next morning, our car was the only car in the parking lot. The holidays were over and everyone else had apparently gone back to work. It was still raining. The water in the shower was barely lukewarm. There were no staff around. Fortunately we had picked up some milk and cereal in town the day before, so we had something for breakfast. A family from Oaxaca arrived while we were eating and kindly offered us a hot fruit punch that was a lot like pluma mus without the cherries. They were very friendly and we had a nice visit. Partway through the visit, about 10am, a staff person arrived to tell us that the comedor wouldn't be opening that day, because there weren't enough guests. Note that the cabanas are about 6km from town and there is no cell phone reception so it's hard to call a cab; fortunately we had our car with us. The family from Oaxaca had come out to try the zip line, but with the rain and lack of staff, they gave up and went to visit relatives in a nearby village.
We went for another walk down to the river, where there still weren't any birds. Supposedly they often get trogons there, but we sure didn't see any. In the afternoon, we went into Ixtlan to get some lunch. While there, we stopped at the tourism office to see about arranging a guided hike for the next day. The two girls in the office seemed annoyed at the interruption. They spoke in very rapid spanish which we found difficult to understand. They didn't make much effort to rephrase things when we asked for clarification. First they told us that we had to make the arrangements at the camp. When we explained that there was no one at the camp for us to speak with, they told us we were mistaken. When we assured them that no one had been there when we left the camp, they told us that it was too cold and wet to do anything, anyway. This was said unapologetically; they really didn't seem to care whether we enjoyed our stay.
After lunch, we drove to Capulalpam, "un pueblo Magico" as it says in the guidebook and on all the signs. I don't know how magical the village really is, but their tourism office is certainly more organized and friendlier than the one in Ixtlan. A list of their activities was posted on the wall. When we inquired about a hike, the women at the desk told us it cost 80 pesos per person (about $7 CDN) and that the guide would be in the office the next morning at 10am. That suited us.
It rained all night again. The water in the shower was icy cold; there was no hot water at all. Despite the fire, it was just as cold in our cabana as outside. Michelle's cough seemed to be getting worse. We decided to go on our hike in Capulalpam, then head back to the city of Oaxaca, where the air would be warmer. The Ixtlan comedor did open that morning and they did serve us breakfast, but they didn't seem happy about it. They were preoccupied with setting up for a conference that happened later in the day.
We went on our hike. Our guide, Gilberto, was young and not that used to dealing with foreigners who spoke only a little spanish, but he warmed up as we went along and was really quite friendly. The hike went through town and out into the town's communal land. It was very misty and raining lightly when we started, which wasn't a big problem because we had hiking boots and rain gear. The communal land was all forested. I'm not sure whether it's technically a cloud forest, because they sometimes get sun, but we were certainly enveloped by cloud. The trees were a mix of pine and oak, with a few cypress and arbutus trees thrown in. Many of the trees supported bromeliads, some of which were flowering. There were many other small flowers as we walked along. We saw deer and dog tracks, but the only animal we encountered was a well camouflaged newt that Gilberto spotted. We heard some birds, but saw very few. Apparently they don't like the rain.
The clouds lifted and the rain stopped on our way back to town. We got a reasonably nice view of the valley below. Gilberto brought us to a restaurant which serves trout. Many of the communities in the area maintain trout ponds; in addition to serving them in restaurants, some tourists come to the area to fish. We were the only customers in the restaurant, so we wondered whether they had opened it just for us, however it seems we were just there early as on our way out we passed several vehicles headed for the restaurant. The restaurant had a nice view of the river which presumably supplied the trout pond and the original trout. There were also some birds in the trees by the river. Most moved too fast for us to get a good look, but a hepatic tanager posed nicely for us, as well as a very pretty bird with a distinctively patterned black and yellow head that we haven't identified but is probably some sort of warbler.
We went back to the cabanas and packed up our things. I stopped at the comedor to ask whether we could get a refund for two of the four nights, since we were leaving early. I was told that we had to stop by the office in town, which supposedly was open until 5pm. We got to the office about 3:40pm, but the door was locked, so we were out the 1100 pesos for the two nights. We shouldn't have paid in advance.
I don't think we'll be going back to Ixtlan.
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