Wednesday 16th November

 

Our biggest driving day, intending to travel to north of Ciudad Victoria to stay at my favoured hotel from last year – Hotel Hacienda Santa Engracia – where we would be meeting my Texan friend and plant patrician Richard Travis next day.  Interesting drive in light drizzle through lowland tropics – bananas, papayas etc.  Passed through huge colonies of Sabal mexicana in fields and ditches on the way – spanning many scores of kilometres.

 

Just into Tamaulipas we stopped and walked up about 10,000 steps to a huge cave, passing a venerable old Beaucarnea recurvata on the way up.  

   

The cave was just awe inspiring – about 30m high and maybe 100m deep, illuminated by a sinkhole at the back end.  Had it been in the UK there would have been coach parks and queues, but we had it to ourselves.  Saw some interesting agaves clinging to the cliff face at the front, too – possibly Agave xylonacantha?

 

Arrived at Santa Engracia by mid afternoon and carried out some admin tasks.

 

Intro  8th/9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th    15th a  15th b   16th   17th   18th   19th   20th/21st   22nd/23rd