A woodsy walk in Coatepec, Veracruz

[bixaorellana]

In March I moved to the town of Coatepec, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. Apologies for my tardiness in reporting on that and on the town, but the move after so many years in one place kind of took the stuffing out of me. At any rate, this is a lovely place and I'll get around to expounding on it. In the meantime, have a look, if you wish, at the walk the dogs & I took yesterday.

Veracruz has a humid, tropical climate, but Coatepec is in the foothills of the state's main mountain range, so is somewhat cooler.
Anáhuac is the avenue that runs on the east side of & over the northern edge of Coatepec's major landmark: the cerro de las culebras/the hill of snakes.
I live near the western terminus of that avenue, which ends at a small subdivision.

On the map, the turquoise X marks the approximate location of my house. From there go left to the messy turquoise blob that marks the site of the small subdivision (first photo after map), which is where we'll turn right (second photo) & follow the turquoise arrow into our woodsy walk.
Apologies for the picture quality, but it was rather overcast yesterday.

And we're off ~


Quite soon we're past the few houses at the beginning of this road. Note the high banks on the left side ~


The road is just awful -- nothing but ruts and rubble. At least some of the rubble is pretty ~


On the right, the vista opens out into what is called a hollow or holler where I come from -- a small valley ~




Usually when we walk here we see neither man nor beast down there, but here are three contented grazers up near the road ~

[fumobici]

Looks a lot mellower than Oaxaca. Hope you stick there, moving is hell.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks, Fumobici! And that's an insightful remark, as indeed the whole pace and feel of the place is nice and mellow.

[bixaorellana]

Just past the valley view, we come to this road. The wide place at the bottom of the incline should lead into the valley. I'd love to explore, but I think it's private property.
The dogs had the same idea, but are being called back so we can continue on road we were on.

The sign beckons to the trout farm restaurant. Judging by the traffic bumping up and down this dreadful road on Sundays,
it does a brisk business. Darla's been dying to go down the restaurant drive, so maybe one day we'll do that ~


This kind of vista is music to my eyes ~


Zooming in on the orange flowers you can see in the far right of the picture above ~


I call this the Gaudi house. It's not that surprising here, as there is a pronounced old- & also neo-hippie vibe in this area ~


There are dwellings, farms, & ranches all along this road.
This picture is blurry because right when I was taking it, three dogs rushed us to protect their property ~


The dogs were having a great time. Note the small hills rising on either side of the road ~


This municipality has four small rivers: the Pixquiac, the Pintores, the Sordo and the Hueyapan;
all flow into the Pescados (La Antigua) River. (Wikipedia)
There are creeks and rivers throughout town, but I don't know if this is part of a river or not ~


Another hill ~

[bjd]

So you not only changed house, you changed town! What a surprise. It certainly looks green and rural. Are you glad you moved?

[bixaorellana]

We'll start back now, with a closer look at what grows along the way.

There is a great deal of this low-growing little plant. I don't know what it is ~


There are so many ferns, some of them quite large ~




Asclepias curassavica, a tropical milkweed which I thought was ideal for the monarch butterfly caterpillars.
But I just fact checked myself & found that might not be true ~


Some kind of Euphorbia, I think ~


You can admire the vegetation or you can eat the vegetation ~


I saw some nice stands of this ginger ~




Elderberry seemed to like keeping company with the gingers ~


Almost out of the woods ~

[bixaorellana]

Sorry, Bjd ~ I didn't see your comment until I finished that post.

Yes, changed town, changed state, everything! I am quite content and feel I made a good decision. This town is close to the state capital of Xalapa, where my sister & I visited some years ago, including the nearby towns of Xico and Coatepec. We were both taken by the low key charm of the town and with the friendliness of the people.

I had to meet visitors in January & as soon as they left, I came to Coatepec for a two week fact-finding mission. I found a house to rent & returned to Oaxaca in time to meet another visitor. I had twenty days to pack up everything in the house where I'd lived for nine years, find a mover, find transportation for myself, my pets, & my plants. And I did it! I have to say, though, when it was all over and I was moved in here, it hit me that I'd never been so tired in my life.

[kerouac2]

It all looks very nice with lots of wild corners to explore. Hopefully there will be some useful paths here and there and not just rutted roads. The vegetation is definitely much more lush than Oaxaca.

Calling a place the "hill of snakes" is probably not an exaggeration, and I'm sure we'll get a reptile report from you one of these days!

[mickthecactus]

Is that low growing plant Selaginella?

[htmb]

Congratulations on your successful relocation, Bixa. I’m sure it was an exhausting process!

[whatagain]

Congrats !
Yet you just did some works at your former house.
In any case I hope not all the roads are like those you showed.

[casimira]

Jul 13, 2023 17:43:48 GMT mickthecactus said:

Is that low growing plant Selaginella?

You are correct Mick. It's a fern ally and makes a lovely groundcover. It does very well here and I've used it quite a bit particularly around the pond. Given the humid tropical climate described there I can see why it grows so well.

[bixaorellana]

Thank you, Htmb. I'm glad I did it in a hurry, as if I'd had more time I probably would have thrown in the towel!

True about the work I did in the other house, Whatagain, but I had time to enjoy that. And the roads here are pretty good. I don't know why that one is barely a road, as it is shown on the map with a name & everything.

Jul 13, 2023 11:21:28 GMT kerouac2 said:

lots of wild corners to explore. Hopefully there will be some useful paths here and there and not just rutted roads. The vegetation is definitely much more lush than Oaxaca.

Well, part of exploring is going where everything is not groomed and easy to maneuver. The vegetation around here is borderline jungle.

re: snakes ~ I haven't seen any real live snakes. This hill of the snakes is one of several throughout the country, and is not the hill of snakes where the goddess Huītzilōpōchtli was impregnated by a ball of feathers.

I did go see a pre-columbian snake sculpture in the nearby town of San Marcos de Leon. That is somewhat pertinent to this report because I left out my bad pictures of the very large boulders to be seen around here. But here is the one I saw in San Marcos, which is easily five feet high or more:
                     

Jul 13, 2023 17:43:48 GMT mickthecactus said:

Is that low growing plant Selaginella?

Jul 14, 2023 14:25:27 GMT casimira said:

It's a fern ally and makes a lovely groundcover. It does very well here

Thanks so much for the ID, you two! I'm glad to know it does well in a New Orleans garden, as I want to plant some but didn't like to pull any if it would only die. I did pull up one small stalk of that ginger, though, which seems happy to be in my yard.

[lugg]

Yeah !! I had been hoping that you would post more of your wonderful Mexican threads and certainly I have really enjoyed this report and hoping for more now you have recovered from the stress / hard work etc that comes with a move . Your photos, as ever, are wonderful- it looks much more rural than your previous home ..*(my kind of place ) but of course I may be wrong. Anyway I hope you and your dogs are settled and happy and loving your new home

[bixaorellana]

Awww, thanks so much, Lugg. Luckily Mark & NYCGirl did lots of impressively beautiful & informative heavy lifting when it came to threads on Mexico.

It is indeed much more rural here. Coatepec is either a very small city or a largish town, depending on how you want to look at it. In either event, there is much undeveloped land around and all through it. Look at the long, straight street running south just east of my house, for instance. That is mixed residential & light commercial. By that I mean small stores, bakeries, butchers, welders, carpenters, etc. The two large grayish-green areas on the east side of that street (& north of oxxo) are pastures! And the parallel street to the west is long and semi-deserted, with huge lots behind fences or walls. The loveliest thing is how >>quiet<< it is here. I wake up to bird song and hardly hear anything more obtrusive than that all day long. All I can hear right now (8:14 pm) are crickets.

[lugg]

It sounds lovely Bixa - hoping for more

[cheerypeabrain]

Post #5 4th pic own looks like a lantana flower...but it is of course tropical milkweed

What a lush and beautiful place Bixa, I hope that you and the doggies will be very happy there dear girl x

[bixaorellana]

Thank you, Lugg! I'm trying to pull together the scattered pictures I've taken -- most of which are crappy phone pics -- in order to make some kind of cohesive thread.

Thank you, Cheery ~ I believe we are!

[lugg]

Jul 17, 2023 18:02:09 GMT bixaorellana said:

Thank you, Cheery ~ I believe we are!

Good news indeed x

[mich64]

Wow Bixa! That is quite a move. The vegetation does look lush and a wonderful area for your puppies to roam!

Do you have friends in this area? Will your connections to the airport for travels abroad or back to the USA be simpler from your new home?

Perhaps you feel like you are on holiday as you seek out the restaurants and shopping, a whole new adventure!

[bixaorellana]

Sorry for the late reply, Mich ~

Yes, a big move, but I really like it here. The only downside of the lush vegetation is that it has the biting bugs to match.

As for friends, I wound up making contact online with local facebook groups while contemplating the move. Then a woman invited me to a weekly lunch group, which meant I got to meet several people quickly. A couple of them are now my neighbors and quite good friends.

The airport connection is way worse than in Oaxaca where I was only @20 minutes from the airport during light traffic times. Now, the closest airport is @2 hours away. So far I have not researched the best ways to fly to the US from here.

It doesn't feel like a holiday, but is sort of a low-key adventure. I lived in Oaxaca for so long that I could do everything on autopilot. Here, some of the vocabulary is even different! I can walk to the center of town from my house -- exactly one mile -- so learn things that way. And if I don't want to walk somewhere, the taxis here are less than half of what they are in Oaxaca. That's a plus.

[mich64]

A little northern tip for the biting bugs, try using baby wipes (with aloe if you can find), they help to take away the sting and itch.

Cheers to your new adventure!

[htmb]

And stay away from ticks!

[bixaorellana]

What a great tip, Mich! Thank you & I'll pass it on to my fellow sufferers, too.

Will do my best, Htmb!

[onlyMark]

Bixa, don't forget this stuff I recommended. It's worth it when going for a long dog walk in the woods but too much trouble to just nip down the road to the shop.

www.mercadolibre.com.mx/repelente-mosquitos-nopikex/p/MLM21678064


The 5th review. It's also very cheap per application in comparison to the spay/cream stuff.

fivepointfive.org/natural-mosquito-repellent-does-it-work-we-test-7-kinds-of-repellent/

[bixaorellana]

Mark! If you recommended it before, I either didn't see it or spaced it out. Or maybe I was still in Oaxaca, where my insect repellent needs were not so dire. Thank you! I'll pass this information on to everyone I know here & lay in a giant supply for myself.

[onlyMark]

I originally bought it many years ago in Colombia. Apparently what their military use. I keep a few bars of it now. A bit messy as it's like putting soap on so not worth it to nip to the shops but effective and long lasting.

[nycgirl]

I just now noticed this thread. What an exciting move! Coatepec looks very peaceful and beautiful. Very adventurous of you to try out a new place that's very different from Oaxaca. Good for you!