Veracruz City to Catemaco

We slept in a bit, and then Richard went out for a walk around town, and to get some pesos. Our hotel, the Hotel Hawaii, is a block or two from the hotel we stayed in 2000, the Emporio. The Emporio is under renovation, and is closed until sometime in 2008.

We ate in the Gran Cafe de la Parroquia, on the Malecon. But our meal was poor; even the coffee was poor. We strolled down the Malecon, and watched young people dive for pesos that the tourists threw into the water. Marianne wanted to toss some US coins, but they only wanted Mexican money.

We took a taxi to the bus station, and a nice ADO bus to Catemaco. The drive was slow, but beautiful. With stops, it took 3.5 hours. Our taxi driver took us to the hotel, where we met Gene, our host. He is married to Gaby, a Mexican lady. Our casita is quite nice, adequately equipped, and overlooking pretty grounds. The world here is all in shades of green.



Gene told us where to shop, so we strolled downtown, and bought groceries at the Supermercado Rodeo. After stopping at a panaderia and fruteria, we bought a roasted chicken at Carniceria San Miguel, and then took a taxi back to our casita.

We sat outside, watched the egrets fly by, ate chicken, and drank wine and beer. The chicken was very good, they even threw in tortillas, rice, and salsa to make a complete meal. Gene mentioned that one of the RVers was from France. Richard chatted with him in French, and was pleasantly surprised that he could understand what he was saying. The French couple was in the midst of a two year trip from Halifax to Tierra del Fuego, a huge trip.

Off to Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico

We are leaving Tuesday, January 8 for Catemaco, in southern Veracruz State, Mexico, as you can see on the map. Click on the map if you want to be able to read the names of the towns. Catemaco is both the name of a town and the name of a lake. Catemaco is a three and a half hour bus ride south of the city of Veracruz. We will fly to Veracruz on Tuesday, and then arrive in Catemaco on Wednesday.

Catemaco is known as a kind of ecotourism spot, famous for beauty, birding, and for witches. We have not been to Catemaco before. We are renting a little house for three weeks in the town of Catemaco. We don't know what we are going to do exactly, although we will surely take a lancha tour on the lake, and visit the surrounding towns. There is a national Biosphere Preserve nearby, so we hope to visit it.

We hope to maintain our blog frequently during our trip.

Richard