Weblog: Mexico Day 12: Oaxaca to Benito Juarez and Cuajimoloyas
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Cuajimoloyas (it took me a long time to be able to say it without my mouth stumbling all over itself) is one of the villages of the Pueblos Mancomunados, about two hours by bus outside from Oaxaca in the Sierra Norte mountains These villages have for over a century been cooperatively managing their collective lands and sharing the wealth generated amongst all the families. Some of the activities in these villages include forestry, mushroom growing, mining, and bottling their own brand of mineral water. This area has some of the oldest forest in the world, because these was never an ice age here. These forests have one of the highest biodiversity in the world as well. Of course, a fair bit of the forest has been cleared over the years, but these villages have one of the best blends of human activity and nature that I've seen. There is plenty of forest, as well as well kept fields, which appeared to be mostly growing corn or glazing cattle, and pretty villages. It's so encouraging to see that a group of people have largely been able to keep big business out of their area and manage it themselves, and do it in such an enlightened way.
In the past few years, the Pueblos Mancomunados have branched into ecotourism as well. Each of the villages now has a small place to stay and eat. The common trails have been developed and many of them signed, as well as camping areas built. The smaller trails are for hiking, while the larger ones allow mountain biking as well. Alltogether there are over 100km of trails. They have an ecotourism project called Expediciones Sierra Norte, which has an office in Oaxaca. Apparently, there is usually an English-speaking person in the office, but when I visited there was only Spanish spoken (I later found out out the reason: most of the people involved in the project were at a conference in Mexico). I did manage to find out when and where to catch the bus, and I bought an excellent map (with contours, grid, trail description, and everything!)
I caught the bus from the second class bus station in Oaxaca at 8 in the morning, although it actually left at 9 (the reason for this will become clear). Right away I noticed that most of the people on the bus were not speaking Spanish, since the villages are populated by Zapotecs. At first the bus followed the highway through the central valley, then turned and started winding its way up the hills. The vegetation turned from generally dry, desert-like flora to temperate forest. I was planning to get off the bus in Cuajimoloyas, which is one of the two villages on a "major" road (meaning it was paved in parts), and the one with the most regular bus service, but before we reached it the bus stopped and everyone was motioning that it was time for me to get off. I knew that there would be a dirt road branching to the village of Benito Juarez right around here (I had been following the map with my finger), and indeed looking out the window, there was a sign. This was perfect, because I actually preferred to go to Benito Juarez rather than Cuajimoloyas, but I wasn't sure I'd know where to get off.
It was a three kilometer walk to the village, and I had a man who was delivering chicken along with me for the walk. Between his not knowing a word of English and the very little Spanish I knew, we managed to amuse ourselves by teaching each other the names for animals, and managed to communicate some basic information about ourselves, our families, and where we came from. He was from Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas that Ed and I have passed through earlier, and agreed that the girls in Juchitan are pretty. As we entered the village, we took turns announcing the arrival of the chicken in each other's languages.
I really wish I knew Spanish at this point, just because everyone I met in this village was so friendly and seemed so eager to talk, but there was so little we could say to each other.
I had the "Tourist Yu'u" all to myself. I hope this was just because it was the low season, because it would be unfortunate if this project failed due to lack of interest. It was very well set up, with all the ameneties (unfortunately the hot water tank wasn't turned on). I had expected something more basic.
As soon as I was settled in, I was couldn't wait to go for a hike. It was wonderful to be back in nature, in a place that felt totally safe, where I could follow trails to my heart's content without fear of kidnapping and robbery. The Tourist Yu'u didn't even have locks!
I hiked through the trails to Cuajimoloyas, which took me about four hours. At first, I took a wrong turn and ended up at a viewpoint, but the whole place was fogged in. After turning back and getting directions, I continued on my way. There was so much variety along this trail. There were parts where the forest was almost indistinguishable from the forest in B.C., and then I'd emerge to something completely different. I walked through forests, cactii, corn, fields, past small shacks that looked to be shelters for the farmers. In Cuajimoloyas I had some dinner and bought some provisions at the small grocery stands along the street. At this point it was about an hour before sunset and I didn't want to risk taking the trail back to Benito Juarez in the dark, so I followed the roads instead, arriving about half an hour after sunset. I spent a bit of time reading, then fell fast asleep.
Posted on Wed, 16 Oct 2020
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