Just realized it's the 20th of November and I haven't written since the 3rd. Where does the time go????
Here in Mexico it seems to be taken up by trips to town to get paint, hit the hardware store, the cellphone place and finish the many other errands that need to be completed.
One of those errands was to go to the local boat and fishing store to buy fishnet to keep the Vampire bats from sucking the blood from the horses. AND this happened on Halloween!!! Kinda weird!!!!
Shoshanna went out to feed the horses that morning and discovered what she thought were scratches on Rumi's girth line. Little trail of blood seeping out but nothing to serious. Then one of the workers showed up and said oh no! not scratches but bat bites. Turned out he had 3 bites on him, poor baby!!! Vampire Bats love horses blood and their teeth are so sharp the horse doesn't even feel the bite. The bat then hangs out for about a half hour and fills itself up!! Yuck!! Amazing the things you learn when you move to a different country! We spent the day hanging fishnet all around their stalls, this seems to have done the trick and the horses haven't been bitten since. Yeah!
Meanwhile, we are still buffing and fluffing the place and hope to be in full swing by the end of this week. The website is being constructed and should be up and running soon. We hope!!
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Adventures in Mexico Part 2.2
I arrived in Oaxaca city, with Shoshana, on the afternoon of the 6th. I was completely worn out! But as they say , no rest for the weary. Spent the next 2 days helping Shoshana and her hubby, Alejandro pack up their belongings. Then back on the road again.
A 1991 Chevy van pulling a 4 horse trailer, a Jeep Cherokee pulling a smaller trailer, Shoshana's car with 2 large dogs and my yellow Bug made up the very slow caravan heading to the coast. Up and over the mountains we went, at a speed of about 35 miles an hour! Took us 14 hours to go about 300 miles, with stops for pee breaks (human and canine), breakfast and dinner, no fast food here. Thought we would never get here!!
THEN we got here!!! Let just say the place wasn't in quite the shape we were expecting.
The big plan is to turn this rancho, on the Copalita River, into a guesthouse/retreat and wellness center. When we signed the 2 year lease a whole lot of promises were made. But things down here in the tropics don't move very quickly and the promises were not lived up to. The whole place needs tons of work before we open, painting, carpentry, cement work, new screens, yard work,eletrics and plumbing, you name it we are doing it!!!
Hopefully, we will be able to open in the next few weeks.
The place is gorgeous! 2 1/2 hectares filled with all types of fruit trees, colorful birds everywhere, a big corral for the horses (more on them and the vampire bats later) ,a large palapa roofed area for the wellness center, the river, 100 yards away and the Pacific Ocean a 30 min walk.
Can't wait to see you all here!!!!!!!!!!!
A 1991 Chevy van pulling a 4 horse trailer, a Jeep Cherokee pulling a smaller trailer, Shoshana's car with 2 large dogs and my yellow Bug made up the very slow caravan heading to the coast. Up and over the mountains we went, at a speed of about 35 miles an hour! Took us 14 hours to go about 300 miles, with stops for pee breaks (human and canine), breakfast and dinner, no fast food here. Thought we would never get here!!
THEN we got here!!! Let just say the place wasn't in quite the shape we were expecting.
The big plan is to turn this rancho, on the Copalita River, into a guesthouse/retreat and wellness center. When we signed the 2 year lease a whole lot of promises were made. But things down here in the tropics don't move very quickly and the promises were not lived up to. The whole place needs tons of work before we open, painting, carpentry, cement work, new screens, yard work,eletrics and plumbing, you name it we are doing it!!!
Hopefully, we will be able to open in the next few weeks.
The place is gorgeous! 2 1/2 hectares filled with all types of fruit trees, colorful birds everywhere, a big corral for the horses (more on them and the vampire bats later) ,a large palapa roofed area for the wellness center, the river, 100 yards away and the Pacific Ocean a 30 min walk.
Can't wait to see you all here!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Adventures in Mexico Part 2.1
On October 1 of this year I started the 2nd part of my Mexican Adventure. I'm heading to Huatulco to set up a wellness center and small guest house with 2 friends. I packed all I could fit in my VW Beetle, left my parent's house at 7 in the am and drove to Knoxville TN on the 1st day. Lafayette, LA on the 2nd and McAllan, TX on the 3rd. On the 4th I crossed over.
Was a little nervous about the crossing , not sure why, I've crossed a lot of international borders in my time. Maybe it was all the guys with guns!! It was no big deal, got the paperwork straight on me and the car and I was on my way.
Then came 2 days of driving by myself on Mexican roads, very interesting to say the least. I'm very glad I had driven in Mexico before, they don't have the best of road signs and road just seem to end with no apparent explanation. Had to back track a few times to find my way, as you can imagine there was a lot of swearing going on. The 1st night I completely missed the town I was supposed to stop at and ended up looking for a place to stay, in the dark, at a small beach town on the gulf coast. Found a cute little Mom and Pop place, they where very nice and made me feel right at home. I was the only person staying there and it didn't look like anyone else had stayed there in a while. Of course, as I turned off the light I had those crazy thoughts of, what if something happens to me, no one knows where I am, what am I doing!!!! Obviously, I'm just fine.
The next day I headed southwest to a town called Tuxtepec, where my friend Corliss lives with her family. Everyone was very suprised I found my way without multiple phone calls, but as my phone battery was dead and I didn't have any signal when it was alive, calls were not an option.
My friend and business partner, Shoshana met me at Corliss's and we left the next day for Oaxaca city. That was a 5 1/2 hour drive up and over the Sierra Madres. Driving from sea level to 10,000 ft and then back down to 5,200 can really give you a headache!
That's all for this post, will add more later. We just got internet set up at the house so I'll be blogging more soon
Was a little nervous about the crossing , not sure why, I've crossed a lot of international borders in my time. Maybe it was all the guys with guns!! It was no big deal, got the paperwork straight on me and the car and I was on my way.
Then came 2 days of driving by myself on Mexican roads, very interesting to say the least. I'm very glad I had driven in Mexico before, they don't have the best of road signs and road just seem to end with no apparent explanation. Had to back track a few times to find my way, as you can imagine there was a lot of swearing going on. The 1st night I completely missed the town I was supposed to stop at and ended up looking for a place to stay, in the dark, at a small beach town on the gulf coast. Found a cute little Mom and Pop place, they where very nice and made me feel right at home. I was the only person staying there and it didn't look like anyone else had stayed there in a while. Of course, as I turned off the light I had those crazy thoughts of, what if something happens to me, no one knows where I am, what am I doing!!!! Obviously, I'm just fine.
The next day I headed southwest to a town called Tuxtepec, where my friend Corliss lives with her family. Everyone was very suprised I found my way without multiple phone calls, but as my phone battery was dead and I didn't have any signal when it was alive, calls were not an option.
My friend and business partner, Shoshana met me at Corliss's and we left the next day for Oaxaca city. That was a 5 1/2 hour drive up and over the Sierra Madres. Driving from sea level to 10,000 ft and then back down to 5,200 can really give you a headache!
That's all for this post, will add more later. We just got internet set up at the house so I'll be blogging more soon
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
I'm back
Knew it had been awhile since I posted but didn't realize it was 2 months! Oops
A lot has happen in the past 2 months, I guess one of the big things is that I'm no longer living and working at Casa Sagrada.
The plan had been to stay until at least the middle of Feb and then extend my stay if all was well. I really enjoyed my time there, up until the end. Things started to get a little weird the last few weeks I was there. I told Mary Jane I wouldn't talk about it on my blog, so I won't go into much detail. Let just say that I felt I was in the middle of a situation that I didn't need to be in. It was not of my making and I didn't feel at all comfortable. How's that for skirting the issue!
I left Casa Sagrada on Feb 19th and moved in with my friends Shoshana and Alejandro. They are great people who put me up for 2 weeks, even thought their house is small and we had to juggle the cat and dogs. Shoshana has 2 Wiemerimers, who would have gladly eaten Mehnu for a snack! Unfortunately, I had to have Mehnu put to sleep while I was there. He had a tumor in his head that was growing every day and making it difficult for him to breathe. I might blog about that some other time.
While I was staying with Shoshana and Alejandro, I took some Spanish lessons. I'm still not very good but can, at least, understand the gist of a conversation
On March 5th, Shoshanna and I drove to the Yucatan from Oaxaca. We took 3 days and it was a very interesting drive. The 1st day was spent driving over and across the Sierra Norte mountains. Fabulous scenery! I'll talk all about it on the next blog and post some pictures.
A lot has happen in the past 2 months, I guess one of the big things is that I'm no longer living and working at Casa Sagrada.
The plan had been to stay until at least the middle of Feb and then extend my stay if all was well. I really enjoyed my time there, up until the end. Things started to get a little weird the last few weeks I was there. I told Mary Jane I wouldn't talk about it on my blog, so I won't go into much detail. Let just say that I felt I was in the middle of a situation that I didn't need to be in. It was not of my making and I didn't feel at all comfortable. How's that for skirting the issue!
I left Casa Sagrada on Feb 19th and moved in with my friends Shoshana and Alejandro. They are great people who put me up for 2 weeks, even thought their house is small and we had to juggle the cat and dogs. Shoshana has 2 Wiemerimers, who would have gladly eaten Mehnu for a snack! Unfortunately, I had to have Mehnu put to sleep while I was there. He had a tumor in his head that was growing every day and making it difficult for him to breathe. I might blog about that some other time.
While I was staying with Shoshana and Alejandro, I took some Spanish lessons. I'm still not very good but can, at least, understand the gist of a conversation
On March 5th, Shoshanna and I drove to the Yucatan from Oaxaca. We took 3 days and it was a very interesting drive. The 1st day was spent driving over and across the Sierra Norte mountains. Fabulous scenery! I'll talk all about it on the next blog and post some pictures.
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Oaxaca to Texas and back again
8 hours after I got back from Zipolite, I was on my way to San Antonio, Texas. Mary Jane purchased 3 Arabian horses and 6 Miniature horses in Texas and we drove her van and trailer to Texas to pick them up. What a trip!
The 1st day we drove for 14 hours, through 7 states of Mexico. Mexico is really a beautiful country, with lush mountains and flora that change every few miles. We drove through acres of barrel cacti, forests of Joshua trees, and high mountain plains, that are farmed with mules and oxen.
The next morning we were up bright and early and hit the road again. We entered into the US at Reynosa, a smaller border town, where we hoped for an easy crossing. There was a long line to get across but the border guard was very nice and didn't subject us to a vehicle search! We arrived at our destination after only 12 hours in the van.
The next day, Mary Jane and I were joined by Bobby Ortiz, a texan horse trainer and friend of MJ's. The three of us spent the next day shopping for horse and people stuff, some things are hard to find here in Mexico. We also picked up 2 Miniature horse cart and harnesses. It's true, I'm going from driving Draft horses to driving Mini's, more on that in a later blog!
That evening we met my big brother for dinner. Turns out he had business in San Antonio and arranged to be there at the same time as me. It was great to see him, as I haven't seen any of my family since I came to Mexico. Of all things, we ate at a British Pub on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. It was very good, who would have thought you could get decent "bangers and mash" in Texas.
On our last day in Texas, we packed up the van and figured out how we where going to load the horses in the trailer. Mark, my brother, came to help us, which was greatly appreciated.
At 4 AM the next morning it was time to get up and head back to Mexico. Fine with me, Texas is not my kind of place. (Sorry, Tracy) We put the 3 Arabs in the front of the trailer and 5 of the Mini's in the back. We put the 6th Mini in the van with us and away we went. Bobby came with us to help with the new horses and some of our problem children here in Oaxaca.
When we got to the border, we had to have a broker take the horses across. For some reason, you can't do it yourself or if you do it takes forever. We unhitched the trailer and hitched it to his truck, took the Mini out of the van and put her in with everyone else. It felt very strange just handing them over like that. MJ, Bobby and I drove the van over, with no problem, and sat on the Mexican side waiting for the horses. The horses showed up about a half hour later and we unhitched and rehitched right on the side of the road in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico! We decided to leave the 6th Mini in the trailer, she seem much happier with her friends.
The three of us took turns driving and sleeping. We stopped every 4 hour to check on the horses, give them water and more hay. Every 8 hours we fed them a very wet bran mash to keep them hydrated and regular. MJ has done this trip before and found the horses do better if you just keep driving. All the books tell you to take them out of the trailer every 8 hours, can't believe everything you read! We drove straight through to Oaxaca, 33 hours. The horses did great! I think I got 1 hour sleep in 40, but who's counting.
Seriously folks, the horses were tired but fine when we got home. Humans, tired but also fine. We unloaded everyone and breathed a sigh of relief. Home again, home again, clippedy clop.
The 1st day we drove for 14 hours, through 7 states of Mexico. Mexico is really a beautiful country, with lush mountains and flora that change every few miles. We drove through acres of barrel cacti, forests of Joshua trees, and high mountain plains, that are farmed with mules and oxen.
The next morning we were up bright and early and hit the road again. We entered into the US at Reynosa, a smaller border town, where we hoped for an easy crossing. There was a long line to get across but the border guard was very nice and didn't subject us to a vehicle search! We arrived at our destination after only 12 hours in the van.
The next day, Mary Jane and I were joined by Bobby Ortiz, a texan horse trainer and friend of MJ's. The three of us spent the next day shopping for horse and people stuff, some things are hard to find here in Mexico. We also picked up 2 Miniature horse cart and harnesses. It's true, I'm going from driving Draft horses to driving Mini's, more on that in a later blog!
That evening we met my big brother for dinner. Turns out he had business in San Antonio and arranged to be there at the same time as me. It was great to see him, as I haven't seen any of my family since I came to Mexico. Of all things, we ate at a British Pub on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. It was very good, who would have thought you could get decent "bangers and mash" in Texas.
On our last day in Texas, we packed up the van and figured out how we where going to load the horses in the trailer. Mark, my brother, came to help us, which was greatly appreciated.
At 4 AM the next morning it was time to get up and head back to Mexico. Fine with me, Texas is not my kind of place. (Sorry, Tracy) We put the 3 Arabs in the front of the trailer and 5 of the Mini's in the back. We put the 6th Mini in the van with us and away we went. Bobby came with us to help with the new horses and some of our problem children here in Oaxaca.
When we got to the border, we had to have a broker take the horses across. For some reason, you can't do it yourself or if you do it takes forever. We unhitched the trailer and hitched it to his truck, took the Mini out of the van and put her in with everyone else. It felt very strange just handing them over like that. MJ, Bobby and I drove the van over, with no problem, and sat on the Mexican side waiting for the horses. The horses showed up about a half hour later and we unhitched and rehitched right on the side of the road in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico! We decided to leave the 6th Mini in the trailer, she seem much happier with her friends.
The three of us took turns driving and sleeping. We stopped every 4 hour to check on the horses, give them water and more hay. Every 8 hours we fed them a very wet bran mash to keep them hydrated and regular. MJ has done this trip before and found the horses do better if you just keep driving. All the books tell you to take them out of the trailer every 8 hours, can't believe everything you read! We drove straight through to Oaxaca, 33 hours. The horses did great! I think I got 1 hour sleep in 40, but who's counting.
Seriously folks, the horses were tired but fine when we got home. Humans, tired but also fine. We unloaded everyone and breathed a sigh of relief. Home again, home again, clippedy clop.
Saturday, 10 January 2009
Zipolite
Oh my! I think I have discovered heaven!
Zipolite is a small town on the pacific coast of Oaxaca, it sits nestled in a beautiful cove formed by rocky hills on all sides. I spent 4 days playing in the ocean, walking the beach, drinking beer, etc, etc with my friend, Mario. I really felt that I was in a Corona commercial! What a wonderful way to spend the New Year.
The sand is perfect and the ocean is just the right temperature. All along the beach are small guest houses with bars and restaurants. Accommodations range from camping to a fabulous yoga retreat perched in the hills. The yoga retreat looks like the elf homes from the Lord of the Rings!
It's rather remote so getting there is an adventure in itself. I flew over from Oaxaca in a 10 seater plane. It's a 35 minute flight with 5 minute of terror thrown in! The views are spectacular, so well worth the scare factor. You then have an hour drive from the airport, I took a taxi, but you can also travel by bus. The other travel option is to take the bus all the way from Oaxaca City. The 1st class bus takes 10 hours, the 2nd class bus 6 hours and you get to listen to Mexican Techno music at full volume for all 6 hours, or the "express" bus, which is a 12 passenger Toyota van. The "express" bus takes 6 1/2 hours, but is the most comfy way to go.
I really think I could spend a lot more time in Zipolite and am looking into options on how to do just that.
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