Click on a photo to enlarge it.
After Kirsten had finished crying over a book she had just finished reading (!!!), she went to ask Peter and
Madeleine, our neighbours from Canada, where the Walmart was as they had told us that they had bought the new
road map of Mexico from there. She came back nearly 2 hours later!!
Then we went off into the town hoping to get a map, change some money and get copies of our Mexican tourist cards
and vehicle permit. We got back 2 hours later - no map, no money and no copies!! Not a very successful walk into
town!
The campground was full when we returned - a large caravan had turned up. Winnie and Peter and Madeleine's van got
swamped between large motor homes! We chatted to Peter and Madeleine and another couple there, Gay and Howard for
the rest of the night.
On Tuesday, Kirsten got up at 7-45 am and went out to say goodbye to Peter and Madeleine, who were driving across
the mountains to Guadalajara, and came back 5 minutes later with a road map of Mexico that they´d given us! They'd
bought the new 2005 version and gave us their 2000 version.
Kirsten came back to bed and we both must have slept through the large caravan leaving, because when we got up at
9-30am they had all left, and the campground was virtually empty. We got ready to leave ourselves and then went to
say goodbye to Gay and Howard and we ended up chatting for over an hour!
We left at 11-30am and drove south to Cuidad Valles, eating bread rolls whilst we drove, and stopping for a cuppa as
the roads were good and we were making good time. We found a petrol station (they're called Pemex in Mexico) and we
asked if we could park up for the night.
Unfortunately we parked at the wrong side of the Pemex, as we realised we were right next to a very busy cut through
which was also a popular meeting place for the locals. So we moved to the other side where it wasn't so noisy. It was
the first time we'd stopped overnight at a Pemex, even though lots of motor homes do it. And we managed to get a good
nights sleep!
On Wednesday, we tried to find some ruins about 20 miles east of Cuidad Valles. The usual amount of U turns were
involved, plus a dirt track that lead us nowhere! Finally, we had to give up and stopped for breakfast.
The second item on the days agenda were the waterfalls at Tamasopo. So we drove all the way back to Cd Valles and out
the other side, heading west over the hills. It was quite a long drive up into the mountains, getting stuck behind
lorries that were even slower than we were, including overloaded sugar cane lorries. The roads in Mexico are narrow
most of the time and there isn't much space between the traffic driving in opposite directions.
Once we'd got virtually to the top, we turned off towards Tamasopo and took the bumpy, and windy road downhill into
the village. We had trouble finding the waterfalls and were beginning to think we had wasted the whole day looking
for things we couldn't find!
Helen had seen a sign for camping so we turned around and then turned off along a very bumpy dirt track to try and
find the campsite. We stopped at a hotel entrance, and Helen got out to investigate - the road into the hotel was too
steep and bumpy for Winnie.
The hotel was deserted, but at least she managed to find a waterfall - but it was so small that it wasn't worth
driving all that way for. She walked back in the blistering heat and then we set off in Winnie again and drove
further along the dirt track.
Helen had to get out again and go looking as the track was a bit too bumpy for Winnie. She found a few more
waterfalls, but they wanted too much per night to stop there (no hook ups, just dry camping). Back to Winnie and we
decided to have lunch, even though it was nearly 3pm. We got out our table and chairs and sat in the shade provided
by Winnie.
Another car came along the track and the Mexican driver asked us where the waterfalls were!! We'd wanted to ask him
the same thing! But at least he was impressed with Winnie and wanted to know how much it cost etc, etc. Obviously our
broken Spanish isn't that bad as he seemed to understand what we were saying!
After lunch, we continued along the dirt track, following a sign for another campsite, knowing that it would be too
late to drive all the way back to Cd Valles and that we were just going to have to find a place for the night. The
track seemed to go on forever, so when we got to a place where we could turn around if we needed to, Helen kicked
Kirsten out and told her it was her turn to go out in the sun and investigate!
Kirsten came back with a smile on her face!! She'd found the campsite which was only 200 metres further up the track
and only charged $5 per night! But the real reason she was smiling, was because she'd found $5 on the way - well on
the way back! Either she'd walked straight past the money on the way there or it was her money that she'd dropped in
the first place!! (We checked our accounts on the computer a few days later and found that she had indeed found the
money!)
So we drove into the campground (dry camping) and had the place to ourselves. A lovely place, next to a fresh water
river that was so clean we went swimming in it. It was also well looked after, with a grass area, a bar and toilets.
There was even a shower but only cold water so we didn't bother as we could go swimming instead!
On Thursday, we put our solar shower out to warm up some water to do the washing up, and went for a walk along the
dirt track to take some photos of the waterfalls, even though they weren't that impressive. We had a nice relaxing
day. That evening, we got a visit from Bob and Suzanne who are from California but live in Tamasopo. They are well
known in the town as they do a lot of charity work and are called "The Gringos"!!
The owner of the campground where we were staying was worried that we would miss the waterfall and had asked them to
come and explain to us where it was!! So we hadn't found the proper waterfall yet!!
At 7-50am the next morning, we got a knock on our door - Bob had brought us some bread rolls from the bakery, because
Kirsten had asked them yesterday if there was a bakery in town. He had given her the directions yesterday, but
realised, too late, that he hadn't mentioned that they don't open until 3pm in the afternoons, and he was worried
that we were going to get up early and go all the way into town (3 miles) and not be happy bunnies!! So he'd brought
some up to us. It was really sweet of him but I don't think we gave him that impression at that time in the morning!!
That afternoon we went in search of the waterfall, along a path that winds its way along the river, up and down hill.
It only took 40 minutes and it was idyllic!! The water in several pools was all shades of blue, from turquoise to
royal, and was very clear. Waterfalls were everywhere. The pool was circular and surrounded by high cliffs. There was
one main waterfall gushing down into it at quite a rate of knots. It was not easy to swim there. But there were lots
of other, smaller waterfalls flowing into the same pool from the high cliffs.
There was also a cave that you could swim through to get to the other pools. The sun reflected off the water inside
making a kaleidoscope on the cave walls and there were a large family of swallows nesting in there. They made a lot
of noise - or maybe it was because they liked the echo so squawked all the time!! We stayed for quite a long time
before walking back to our campground where we extended for another night.
Puente Del Dios.
On Saturday, we were feeling a bit guilty about not being very responsive to Bob and his bread rolls, so we decided
we ought to go and say thank you and give him some money for the them. We packed a rucksack, got the bikes off Winnie
and sprayed them with WD40 to make them ride-able!
We set off along a very bumpy, uncomfortable ride back down to the main road and went into Tamasopo. We asked for
"The Gringos" and got directions to their house! We followed the first part of the directions and then asked again.
It is obvious that everyone knew who we were looking for!
We turned up and were warmly welcomed to join them on the patio along with their other guests - Jenny and Cam from
Canada. A popular spot!! We sat and chatted for nearly 4 hours. It was also getting quite cold and we were still in
our shorts. Shortly before 4pm, we rode back into town, raided the bakery, spent some time on the internet and then
rode back to the campground.
We got quite a shock - the campground was full! The Mexicans seem to make the most of their weekends and they sure
know how to party! It went on until 6am the next morning. The music was so loud that Winnie was vibrating!! At least
there were a couple of songs we recognised, but most of it was typical Mexican which sounds like music from the
seventies!
Finally, at 6am Sunday morning we managed to get some sleep! By 10am, all the party goers had already packed up and
left!! At 11-30am Bob came along to find out if anyone had turned up for the "pot luck" Sunday Brunch, where everyone
contributes a dish. Usually there is one every Sunday. But there was only us and another couple, Sarah and Stuart
from England, who´d arrived last night. So Bob invited us all round to their house for a meal that evening.
We chatted to Sarah and Stuart and then walked with them up to the waterfalls again for some more swimming. Then we
all piled into Sarah and Stuarts car - a converted hatch back (the back is a bed with storage space underneath) so
2 of us had to lie on the bed for the bumpy ride.
It was a really good evening. The food was superb, we had a lot of laughs and we even managed to get a wonderful hot
shower! Bob and Suzanne certainly know how to entertain and make everyone feel really welcome.
