Salmon

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10 am Saturday, we got the call.  “Señor Donnie, Tammy es listo!”  I was a bit stupefied that they knew her name was Tammy.  We were hedging our bets that all the repairs would be completed without having to extend our stay in Xalapa and we were correct, with 2 hours to spare before check-out time.  We squeezed into the back of a cab with our backpacks and pillows and headed directly to the dealership.  Several thousand pesos later and we were on the road to Orizaba with a freshly cleaned car that purred down the autopista.

The closer we got to Orizaba, the more we noticed columns of smoke dotting the mountains.  Sharon had read that the state of Veracruz is dealing with a lot of wildfires due to extremely dry conditions.  As we neared Orizaba, the smoke from the fires began to obstruct the mountain peaks from view.  Still, this part of the drive was nice on the free road as we meandered along the edge of Cordoba and Fortin de las Flores and directly to our B-n-B in Orizaba.

This is a lovely place with an equally lovely hostess named Teresa.  Affable, pretty, funny, knowledgeable.  “Gee, she’s charming” I thought, as she showed Sharon and I where everything was and what the general rules were.  There was no “Mi casa, su casa” sign to be found but that is certainly the attitude and feel of our home for the next few weeks.

We have been to Orizaba several times but only for two or three days at a time.  It is unlike any other Mexico town. The traffic is mild.  It’s kept meticulously clean and is absent of any graffiti.  It embraces you with a calm that let’s you know that you are safe here.  Also, in our previous visits, it was considerably cooler here.  The nearby, snow-capped Pico de Orizaba is the highest peak in all of Mexico.  Unfortunately, they too are under the effect of a high-pressure dome with unusually high temperatures and no rain.  In the mornings we’ve seen helicopters with huge sacks of water dangling beneath headed towards the mountain fires.

So… it’s kinda warm.  Not exactly what we were planning on.  These first few days we haven’t really “hit our stride”.  Instead, Sharon naps away the afternoons and I do this kind of stuff with an iced tequila nearby.  By mid-week things started looking up. We visited Laguna de Nogales and the near-by, heavily-under-construction Paseo de Los Ahuehuetes.

We drove back to the other edge of Orizaba to the Ojo de Agua.  This is a large park that surrounds a spring fed pool, (not unlike Landa Park in New Braunfels).  We found a spot and jumped right in, then shot back out like Salmon.  Penguins would complain that it was the coldest water that they had ever been in.  They would rather sit on an ice cube.  We shivered to a nearby palapa for beer and pulque.  Later, we did make another attempt to get wet but ended with the same results.  Oh well.  The pulque was exceptional.

Up the road a bit, we accidentally discovered the Tobogán de la Montaña. Sure, let’s go act our age and do mature things like riding a mountain side toboggan, like I do that all the time. 

We’ve also taken a couple of day trips.  One was north to Coscomatepec de Bravo, a pretty little town with plenty of nothing to do. This usually results in checking out the cathedral in the center of town and having a cold one in the plaza for people watching.  It was truly a dog day afternoon.  We also went in search of Grutas de Galicia, (caves that we never found) and Sótano de Popocatl a massive sink hole with a waterfall in the middle.  It’s really should be experienced by repelling down into the hole.  Since I have a propensity to break things, like my own bones, I was going to decline that part of the journey.  Tammy was up to the challenge and nimble enough to get us to the top of the mountain via questionable roads.  Our GPS however was having nothing to do with the adventure.  It was like a bad child that said they did their homework but will say anything just to go out and play.  I could relate since I was one of those kids.  The Sótano was never found, even with the questionable directions from a few locals.  Have no fear; we still had a great time not getting there.

South of Orizaba, we discovered Los Manantiales.  It’s a little hard to find, (if you’ve been reading this blog you know that has never stopped us), but it is quite a jewel.  It is a site where the headwaters come out of the base of a mountain, resulting in a pristine flow of yummy relaxation.  We borrowed a couple of plastic chairs from the picnic sites above, put a bag-o-beer in the cold water and had us a grand ol’ time for a few hours.

At night we’ve been discovering different restaurants in the somewhat cool of the evening.  The current Donnie y Sharon Silver Plate award goes to La Parrilla de Chile.  Antonio, the owner/chef can make magic even though the restaurant is barely larger than a couple of postage stamps. The empanada appetizers hooked us. We came back the next night for a perfect steak and grilled octopus. 

We don’t want to wear out our welcome but we are certain to return several times.  Get ready Tony.

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Donnie Meals

donnie@editpointstudios.com

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