Turn back the clock one year, more or less (you know how Thanksgiving always falls on a different date), to 2006 and here is how I spent Thanksgiving. It was Day 2 of a 5 day horsepacking trip in the Copper Canyon region. Looking back, it didn't really feel like Thanksgiving to me since I had been living in Mexico since mid-May. I was so removed from American culture that to me it would have just seemed like any other day. But, we had four Americans that had traveled down from Durango and Santa Fe for the trip so with their help, I did get into the Thanksgiving mood.

We packed up camp and left the little town of Naranjo and journeyed towards a town called Urique where we were to meet the owner's wife to re-supply. At our first stop on the trail, someone broke out a bag of Turkey Jerky, probably Diego. I also think that we had dried cranberries. We jokingly exchanged "Happy Thanksgivings" and expected that to be the end of our Thanksgiving festivities.

Eating. From left to right clockwise - Maria Jose, Ryan (my goatee is most visible), Fred, Randy, Jim, Diego, Ana, Hugo.

Imagine our surprise when Diego's wife, Ana, showed up in Urique with a typical American-style Thanksgiving. I was pretty amazed because I know that nearly much everything had been purchased in El Paso, Texas, which was a mere 12+ hours drive from the Hotel. For whatever reason, Mexico does not do turkey. There is chicken a plenty but I can count on one hand the number of times I had seen turkey in Mexico. Gravy, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce. Diego and Ana did an excellent job. I think I knew that Ana and Diego were planning a little something but I didn't know it would be quite that extensive. I do remember being asked before we left what "ginger" translates to in Spanish (ginebre for all you biliingualoids). Ginger, as you know, is a key ingredient in punkin' pie.

All in all, good times and good food with great people!

Our group was composed of
Diego - owner of the Hotel Paraiso del Oso
Hugo - Mexican wrangler/son of Diego
me
Dave - friend of Diego from Santa Fe, New Mexico
Randy - horse trip operator from Durango, Colorado
Jim - retired lawyer from Durango, Colorado
Fred - retired optomologist from Durango, Colorado

Ana - Diego's wife and preparer of aforementioned feast
Maria Jose - my girlfriend at the time from Guadalajara, Mexico

If you are interested in the entire trip, click on the Mexico link at the top of this post and you should be able to find the article that was published in TrailRider magazine about the trip. 

The state of Chiapas is very interesting. Chiapas is pretty much the southernmost state and has borders with Guatemala and Belize. It is home to probably the most sizeable native population in Mexico, definitely in the 100s of thousands. I took the night bus from Pto. Escondido to Tuxtla Gutierrez, about 10-12 hours.

Tuxtla is the capital of the state of Chiapas and I went there exclusively to visit the zoo, which was founded by a pioneering Mexican biologist in the 1930s. Im generally not all that into zoos but this one is in a natural jungle setting and more than one person told me I should visit it. It only includes animals and birds from the state but fortunately they have some really cool animals in their state. Jaguars and other wildcats and crocodiles and toucans and parrots and other low-lying mammals that i dont remember their names. Very well done and one of the best tourist sites Ive seen in Mexico. I checked out the actual city too and it was a very busy place. The main mode of public transportation is by colectivo, little minivans that cruise all over. The scene is pretty amazing and it appears to be very efficient. They cant use big buses because the corners are too tight.

From Tuxtla I continued to San Cristobal de las Casas, which is the main tourist destination of the state. It is a very nice little city and very manageable to get around. (Yes, it was also the main location of the Zapatista uprising in 1994 with Subcomandante Marcos). I went to Canyon Sumidero which was a nice little boat trip. I also toured two little towns near to San Cristobal. One of them named San Juan Chamula has this really interesting church. Well its not the church as much as it is the people inside of it and what their rituals are. Basically they burn candles by the 1000s and sacrifice chickens in the church and also they drink Coke or other carbonated beverages in order to burp out the evil spirits. The hostel i stayed at in San Cristobal was really fun and I met some cook people there.

Chiapas is really interesting and very lush. Worth a visit for those that like to experience our neighbors to the south!!

Oaxaca

The first portion of my trip was spent in the beautiful city of Oaxaca. The weather was nice, the plaza was the place to be in the city. I took an excursion to Monte Alban, some ruins that are situated on the top of a mountain. Strategic but I think it would be a pain in the butt to walk up the mountain every time you wanted to go home.

The food in Oaxaca is really good, including their cheese. It tastes kinda like an upscale string cheese, a little more rubbery. I´m not sure that "upscalë" string cheese exists but whatever, I used it for effect. I had some mole sauce that Oaxaca is known for. Mole is basically a sauce or gravy that they put over meat dishes. I wasn´t too fond of the particular one i had but im sure there are better ones.

Puerto Escondido

Basically a "not really a beach guy" like me hit the Pacific surf for a couple of days. Escondido is south of Oaxaca about 7 hours on the bus. Let me tell you kids, if you are into surfing, Puerto Escondido allegedly has the best surfing in Mexico and I won´t argue. Those waves are ginourmous and even just swimming they knock you on your backside and the undertow is very strong. I wanted to go and learn to surf but I soon chickened out. Im not sure it was the best place to surf for the first time ever in your life. I do know that it was hot as can be in Puerto Escondido and despite a shower, i never fully dried off. I kept sweating until I got on the bus to Chiapas.

I am currently in Palenque in the state of Chiapas and headed towards Guatemala.!! Hope all is good Stateside.

Update from the Road...

Sorry to leave you all hanging about my whereabouts. Here is the short version of the story. I spent May 15 thru June 15 in New Mexico working for Habitat for Humanity where I was helping finish the construction of a couple of houses. My brother, Matt, came with me and helped out too. We spent a week back in the Copper Canyon area of Mexico where I worked last summer.

Now I am on my way thru southern Mexico and headed towards Honduras to see my friend Jacob Veverka, the same dude from my bike trip a couple of summers back. I started in Oaxaca and now am in Puerto Escondido. Tonight I will leave for Chiapas where I plan to check out some Mayan ruins. Then it is south to Guatamala and eventually to Honduras.

In other news, I am now the proud uncle of a young girl named Juliana Elizabeth Lutz. My sister Jill (hawkins) Lutz and her husband Roger welcomed the baby into this world last thursday. I am excited to be an uncle!! And I¨m currently working on my itenerary so I can go see her in the not too distant future.

More tales from the road, soon. I promise. Hope everyone is having a great summer!!

Since my readership is estimated to be a strong 5 people and because Trailrider is a hard to find magazine, here it is folks. The previously written about article in PDF format for your viewing pleasure. Don't tell anyone that you got it from here. We don't need any legal problems. And when I say "we" I'm speaking on behalf of my revolutionaries. Ok, I need to stop typing.

Warning, the file is rather large, as in like 2 of those megabyte thingys. I did the best I could but you may need to tilt your head a couple of degrees of the horizontal to simulate a straight page.

Trailrider Article

If you have no idea what I'm talking about....refer to this post.

The First Press Release