Events in Los Tuxtlas & Catemaco
Las Margaritas by boat
Las Margaritas by boat
Unfortunately only 12 of us left beautiful downtown Catemaco, Veracruz on our latest "expedition".
The planned boat excursion to Las Margaritas, its archaeological zones and the hunt for crocodiles was a
partial flop. Those who participated had a fantastic time but never got around to the planned objectives.
1. A "norte" perked up the waves on the laguna, and stirred up the silt, and visibility in the water was nil.
2. Bad planning - this time of year the water level was too high, and smothered the only worthwhile
artifacts.
3. The ranchers of Las Margaritas apparently needed their horses, so some of us had to walk.
4. Blaming the "norte" again, it was just too risky to expose photographic equipment. And too chilly too
expose our beloved bodies to crocodile launges.
Aside from that, it was a wonderful experience, including the delicious meal the ladies from Las Margaritas
prepared for us, the courtesy of the guides and boatmen who attended us, and the magnificent views of
the places we visited.
We left Catemaco amid a beautiful sunny day, and then some waves started kicking. Upon arriving at the
Tepeyaga peninsula our on boat guide informed us the most popular stone glyph was submerged and the
others were not really worthwhile to dunk into the churning waters to explore.
So we headed around the point, which also is alleged to have some stone carvings, and entered the Rio
Margaritas. At its entrance, our lancheros awaited us, transferred us to their row boats, and moved us to
the La Margaritas shore to meet our horses. After the customary piss stop, we began our stroll to the
ruins.
Unfortunately there were not enough horses for us all, but never mind, each horse was accompanied by
its owner on foot, ( I guess they thought we might steal them to export to Cuba . So, those on foot, arrived
at the ruins before us, after happily twisting their ankles and catching pinolillos.
The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, even the horses enjoyed the wonderful grass.
The "ruins" turned out to be a lot less but still sort of worth the venture. If it had not been for our pedestrian
companions we would have loved to proceed into the high lands beyond the "ruins".
So we returned to beautiful downtown Las Margaritas, found its eco lodge, parked our horses and
awaited our scrumptious dinner. We had forgotten the birthday cake for one of our companions and had to
send a "lancha" through the heavy swell to recover it.
We all salivad over the wonderful meal prepared by those proficient cooks of Las Margaritas, sang "Las
Mañanitas to our birthday companions and decided to call it quits.
The waves in the laguna were just too rough to do further exploration for crocodiles.
A small sliver of moon accommpainied us on the way home
The planned boat excursion to Las Margaritas, its archaeological zones and the hunt for crocodiles was a
partial flop. Those who participated had a fantastic time but never got around to the planned objectives.
1. A "norte" perked up the waves on the laguna, and stirred up the silt, and visibility in the water was nil.
2. Bad planning - this time of year the water level was too high, and smothered the only worthwhile
artifacts.
3. The ranchers of Las Margaritas apparently needed their horses, so some of us had to walk.
4. Blaming the "norte" again, it was just too risky to expose photographic equipment. And too chilly too
expose our beloved bodies to crocodile launges.
Aside from that, it was a wonderful experience, including the delicious meal the ladies from Las Margaritas
prepared for us, the courtesy of the guides and boatmen who attended us, and the magnificent views of
the places we visited.
We left Catemaco amid a beautiful sunny day, and then some waves started kicking. Upon arriving at the
Tepeyaga peninsula our on boat guide informed us the most popular stone glyph was submerged and the
others were not really worthwhile to dunk into the churning waters to explore.
So we headed around the point, which also is alleged to have some stone carvings, and entered the Rio
Margaritas. At its entrance, our lancheros awaited us, transferred us to their row boats, and moved us to
the La Margaritas shore to meet our horses. After the customary piss stop, we began our stroll to the
ruins.
Unfortunately there were not enough horses for us all, but never mind, each horse was accompanied by
its owner on foot, ( I guess they thought we might steal them to export to Cuba . So, those on foot, arrived
at the ruins before us, after happily twisting their ankles and catching pinolillos.
The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, even the horses enjoyed the wonderful grass.
The "ruins" turned out to be a lot less but still sort of worth the venture. If it had not been for our pedestrian
companions we would have loved to proceed into the high lands beyond the "ruins".
So we returned to beautiful downtown Las Margaritas, found its eco lodge, parked our horses and
awaited our scrumptious dinner. We had forgotten the birthday cake for one of our companions and had to
send a "lancha" through the heavy swell to recover it.
We all salivad over the wonderful meal prepared by those proficient cooks of Las Margaritas, sang "Las
Mañanitas to our birthday companions and decided to call it quits.
The waves in the laguna were just too rough to do further exploration for crocodiles.
A small sliver of moon accommpainied us on the way home
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