BootsnAll Travel Network



Solitude In The Sierra Norte

In search of a little alone time yesterday, I drove 40 miles (but two hours) north of Oaxaca City up into lush, pine-clad crests descending deep into river canyons to the Sierra Juarez, the birth-land of Benito Juarez, Oaxaca’s beloved favorite son.

Born in 1806 in the municipio of San Pablo Guelatao in the village of Santo Tomas Ixtlan, his parents died tragically when Benito was three. His uncle took him in and his childhood was spent mostly herding his uncle’s flocks in the surrounding hills. But Benito left for Oaxaca city in 1818 to live with his sister in the genteel, well-to-do Maza family where his sister worked as a cook. He gained exposure to music, books, politics and people that was not possible for a poor boy in the country. He ended up studying law and eventually entered politics…rising from state to federal legislator, then Supreme Court judge, and finally was unanimously elected governor by Oaxaca’s legislature in 1849. He was elected Mexico’s president for three terms…interrupted first by civil war and then by the French Intervention. He toiled day and night to realize his dreams for Mexico but died “from exhaustion” in 1872.

I stopped in nearby Ixtlan de Juarez, quickly perused the small rotating Monday market but skipped the huge baroque church built with fortunes made with slave labor growing cochineal (used to make the magnificent red dye) where I would have seen this:
ixtlan-1.jpg

‘The prefix ix refers to ixtle, the Aztec word for the fibers of the maguey plant. The suffix tlan means land, or place of. So there are many Ixtlans in Mexico…this one named for President Benito Juarez.

Maguey is not grown much anymore but there is a lot of wood and the forests here remain rich habitats for many species of wild creatures…Mexican native cats…the jaguar and mountain lion, spider monkeys and tapirs. The area has been rated by the World Wildlife Fund as one of the world’s 17 outstanding biodiverse ecosystems and there is a special community-run ecotourism company here to accommodate visitors.

Trying to explore the narrow cobble streets up the hill from the market, I was forced to come back down…meeting a truck that had just turned the corner at the bottom of the hill…headed my way. I could not turn around so the truck started backing up…right into a cement electric pole…knocking down a wire to a nearby house. “Esculpeme,” I said to the grumpy driver as I squeezed past him…although it really wasn’t my fault that he didn’t look behind him as he backed up his truck.

Then I turned east on a road that led around hairpin curves to several small villages and went about 20 miles before turning back. In one small village nestled in a steep-walled canyon I saw a little house for rent. Hmmmm. Just now, looking on a map, I realize I could have kept going and ended up in Benito Juarez…the small village Ana, Steve and I visited a few weeks ago by first going east to Tulacalula! This circle would make a nice overnight trip sometime. Now, I think I am ready for the 7 hour trip up into the western Mixteca…to visit my dear Catalina’s family near Juxlajuaca.

I am enjoying my cozy little apartment today. I am editing pictures and video from the wedding party…this afternoon it’s on to the third dvd of the HBO series “Rome.” I’ve been here over 9 months…hard to believe. I am very comfortable here.



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