A 5600 Kms TOUR IN MEXICO

 

(By Oliver Gluch, August/September 2009

 

Part 7 : In the Sierra Madre del Sur to Santiago Jamiltepec.

 

Next morning we continued our way south along highway 135 into the Sierra Madre del Sur. The way was, as very often in Mexico, never ending winding serpentines up and down. We finally came close to Santa Catarina Juquila, a village in the mountains. The village is a very religious place, as in the 17th century a statue of the Virgin Maria survived a church fire without any damage. Now for the Oaxacan people it is a holy place and thousands of people visit the village and the Virgin Maria statue every year.

Main church and sugarcane seller.

Photo : O. Gluch

 

Fruit sales at market place.

Photo : O. Gluch

The Mexican way of sharpening knives.

Photo : O. Gluch

 

 

At the junction, where the roads splits towards Puerto Escondido and Santa Catarina Juquila, another military stop checked all passing vehicles. As Oaxaca is not always a safe place to travel, military checkpoints are still widespread all over the State, mainly on main highways and borders to neighboring States, to look for illegal weapons and drugs of local militant groups. Just before the village, we found a nice place of P. moranensis. The plants were growing on a north facing wall. Plants were growing in a pine tree forest as well as along the road on vertical limestone cliffs. Most of the rosettes had a very nice red colouration. Flowers showed a dark violet to purple colour.

The habitat of Pinguicula moranensis from Juquila.

 

Photo : O. Gluch

 

Red rosettes of Pinguicula moranensis from Juquila.

 

Photo : O. Gluch

A flower of Pinguicula moranensis from Juquila.

 

Photo : O. Gluch 

Another flower of Pinguicula moranensis from Juquila.

 

Photo : O. Gluch

Another flower of Pinguicula moranensis from Juquila.

 

Photo : O. Gluch

 

Close-up of a red rosette of Pinguicula moranensis from Juquila.

 

Photo : O. Gluch

 

After we passed the village of Juquila, we took a small dirt road towards San Marcos Zacatepec. According to Greenwood's information, the plants of P. greenwoodii were found close to the village of Zacatepec. But which of the numerous villages named Zacatepec occuring in Oaxaca State was the right one? Greenwood described the location as " ca. 1500 m altitude, 30 km away from the sea and on vertical wet cliffs growing". Fernando visited some years ago a site named Santa Maria Zacatepec, but that place was much further away from the coast and the habitat was also very different. Hans was sure of having found the correct Zacatepec. As Greenwood was mainly an orchid collector, there should be orchids in the area as well, and in the forest along the road you could see a lot of orchids growing in trees. We went to that site already in 2005, couldn't find any plants at that time.

Now with Google Earth, you can explore much better with 3D satellite pictures, showing you trails with are not mentioned on any official map.

Hans prepared himself with very detailed maps. So we continued the sand road we already took 4 years ago. The dark sky unfortunately indicated us that our time for exploring the area would be very limited, and we already heard the first thunder in the area. After having checked 2 creeks running down the valley, the rain started. Well, it began to pour and within a very short time the sand road turned into a muddy place, where controlling the car got more and more difficult. Water was running already from the hillside onto the road and landslides were only a question of time. What a chance, after some kilometers, we were seeing a lot of caterpillars enlarging the road and soon after the road became asphalted. So even with the heavy rain we could get down to the coast without mayor problems (I couldn't imagine how our trip down would have ended, if the road was only sand and stones as in 2005). In the end bad luck again, we could not find P. greenwoodii. But the habitat in principle looks extremely favourable for the species, so perhaps next time.

We continued the road along the coast until Santiago Jamiltepec, where we stayed the night.

Hopefully next day we would me more lucky when heading north again towards the site of P. conzattii.

More about in the next postcard.
 

Oliver Gluch