Tuesday 22^nd November

Still heading south, we stopped off briefly to look at a ‘typical’ Yucca filifera.  

Had a minor off-road adventure along yet another precipitous track that led to a dry river bed and, apparently, no further.  We turned around and headed for a place we had rushed through earlier in the first week – Parque Nacionale Mineral del Chico.  And what a good job we did – just as the light was failing Nick persuaded me to have one last go at climbing up to the flowering Furcraea we had seen earlier, sussing out the right route this time.   We got there, all 2950m of it, and I have to say it is one of the most awesome sights I have encountered – 4m of shaggy trunk topped by 6m of cascading flower spike.  Bulbils scattered around the base confirmed the species as Furcraea parmentieri.  Managed a picture or two just as the dying rays of the sun lit the hilltop.  

We also saw, clinging to the rock face on the very same cliff, plants of Agave filifera – a really compact form with tightly incurving rosettes.  Absolutely beautiful.

Spent the night in an eco-tourista hotel in the mountains – it was COLD outside.

Wednesday 23^rd November

Our last day in Mexico started with a thick ground frost.  We had a good leisurely breakfast in the extremely cold hotel dining room, then continued slowly to knock off the final few miles down towards Mexico City.  Just on the Mexico state boundary we stopped off in some woods where we saw a dahlia or two (no, really…) plus a colony of Nolina parviflora, growing at a higher altitude than previously seen – around 2950m.  These looked slightly different to the others, but unfortunately I had run out of space on my memory card and couldn’t take any pics.  

Then the last leg into the city where we returned the hire car and hung around for our flights home.

Reflections.

First of all, a big thank you to Nick who did ALL the driving and frequently led me out of my comfort zone to do and see things I would never have otherwise attempted.  These were the most special moments of all.  

I saw a smellier, dirtier side of Mexico than on the first trip, or maybe it was just that the rose tinted glasses fell off a little earlier.  But the landscapes, people (well, not the policemen), food and, above all, plants make every effort worthwhile.

Hasta la proxima…

Click here to read an account of last year's Mexican Adventure

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