Wet but excited to be here
We stopped at Uxmal ruins today
7th century Mayan. Great!
Casa Anna b and b is delightful
And dry!
Going to find food and up early tomorrow for meetings
Today the Jaguars travel to Merida…WILD9 starts on Friday! Here ist he last update from Alan Watson and crew:
We had a wonderful cruise along the coast yesterday. Stopped to look for sea shells.
Into the most beautiful city we’ve seen so far. Campeche.
Seafood is great. We drank horchata last night. Rice drink with coconut and cinnamon. And ate pan de cazon a regional shark and tortilla and tomato suce meal.
We’re staying for a museum this morning and then on to Merida in the afternoon.
November 3: Rain, rain, rain. The jaguars are totally wet
On a trip to Lacanja the curves were slick but the people were out
It was All Souls Day, Day of the Dead
We have many tales from our travels to tout
We found out that hogs fly and monkeys hide well
but the thing we enjoyed the most
were the tallest of trees, the unknown beasts
and the smiles of our Sapatista hosts.
Bill explains to local host that we came on motos
We are eating our way across Mexico. We usually head out early, about first light and then stop mid-morning for a bite and a chat with whoever seems friendly.
A late lunch on the road and then dinner after we put away the motos for the night.
Lots of places to stop to eat. Every place seems to offer something different, and always someone comes up to us and asks where we are going, where we are from, some ask how big the motorcycles are, what brandnames, why we are doing this. Hardly any other motorcycle travelers, we’ve seen two groups of two so far in a out 1800 miles. So when people realize we are passing through, they focus for a long time on whoever is up front, then they realize there are more and quickly try take in the whole group. Children wave, everyone stares, many smile.
It rained all day but the air was warm and their steel was hot So they pushed on past Veracruz
To between the waters where the wind was high Alvarado was the place they spread the news
One jaguar was white as a sheet and his head hung down But he stayed in the saddle as they sped from town to town
His spirits rose as the sun emerged he even began to eat as they drifted to the south
They were wet to the bone but they couldn’t resist Chiapas, Chiapas was the place they mouthed Alan Watson
Update from 10.29.09:
We didn’t plan to be in Monterrey tonight but we had map trouble and many helpful people tried to help us find our way. Tomorrow is a new day and we kind of hope to be close to Tampico on the Gulf coast.
We had several good chats with friendly people. One family wanted to have the WILD9 web site. A friendly man named Sylvester asked us to say hello to Presidente Calderon.
Wonderful people, really wonderful tamales, and the mountains to the south are spectacular. We had no idea they would be so great. We learned today about the bears in these mountains and local efforts to protect them.
Mexico! We’re loving it.
Updated maps to come……
All the Federales say they could have had us any day.
They only let us slip away, out of kindness I suppose.
Words from Poncho and Lefty sang by Willie Nelson rattle around in my head constantly. No Federale problem on this trip. Smiling women and men at the border basically waved us through after helping us with the map. They didn’t ask for passports or anything to get into Mexico. May be harder coming back across.
On to Veracruz today and decide whether to swing up to Campeche or down to Chiapas for the next couple of days.
We found a hotel last night with internet access (it’s also the bus station, so very noisy) but no cell service. Connections are slow, weak.
Give a toast!! We made it to the Gulf Coast. We’ve traveled about 1300 miles out of Albuquerque already. Good miles. Every one of them.
They came from the Tatshenshini, the Mighty Yukon, Up Elk Creek and Leeds.
Those Jaguars headed to Merida with the news Mounted on four iron steeds.
They had an early morning crossing at Del Rio And scorched in the noonday sun As they traced mechanical problems To make that Kawasaki run
The No-tell Motel in Monterrey
Was the only place the Jaguars had to stay But tamales by the dozen Were only a few steps away.
The folks back home heard they hit Tampico And they all gave a toast But those Jaguars quickly turned south As their minds raced along the coast.
Update from the riders, October 28th, “We are in Del Rio, TX, tonight, studying maps. We will cross into Mexico tomorrow.”
When the Jaguars are not saving wild-lands worldwide, they’re on their bikes! Here’s a shot of the Jaguars from Wednesday, on the road!
The Ride of the Jaguars departed Albuquerque on Tuesday, Oct 27th, and spent the night in Roswell, New Mexico. We hear they checked out the latest alien sightings prior to hitting the road early this morning! Safe travels!
Four wilderness lovers and conservation professionals from England, Canada and the U.S. departed Albuquerque, New Mexico this afternoon, October 27, 2009, on a motorcycle odyssey to Merida, Mexico to attend WILD9, the 9th World Wilderness Congress, which runs from Nov. 6 – 13, 2009. (more…)
Here is a brief intro to the “Ride of the Jaguars” from Alan Watson….more to come….
Jim Tegler of Whitehorse, Yukon (a wilderness advocate and volunteer at WILD9) is flying in to Missoula tonight. He and I are loading up 4 motos tomorrow and heading to Albuquerque with my flatbed farm truck over the week-end and Monday.
Bill Overbaugh of BLM-Alaska is flying into Albuquerque as is Steve Carver of the University of Leeds, UK. A threatened species, the Jaguars have depleted in numbers from an original 9 to just these four. Wilderness Warriors, eager to learn about Mexico and the people there to put WILD9 into context.
Our route is roughly to cross the border at Del Rio, Texas on Wednesday and try to make Monclova. Then roughly to Tampico, Vercruz, Campeche and dip down into Chiapas to the Blue Mountains (Monte Azules Biosphere Reserve) before sprinting up to Merida. We hope to stop early each day to experience whatever communities we are in, and allow some time to enjoy the beaches.
We’ll settle more about our trip when we get together in Albuquerque, but we’re leaving plans a little open until we see road conditions, how available hotels and fuel are. We’ve checked it out a little, but we’re leaving lots to happen as it happens. Asi es la vida, “that’s life.” It’ll unfold to us as we live it.
