February 2020 – MacKenzies on the Road

February 28, 2020February 9, 2020

The Road to Ocosingo

We passed through Ocosingo on our way to explore the Tonina Ruins. After exploring the amazing site we were relaxing in camp and pulled out our virtually unused Lonely Planet Guidebook for Mexico for information on the history of Tonina.

This is what we found upon opening the book!

It seems that prior to entering Mexico we had specifically noted to avoid this area due to Zapatista rebels and their ongoing fighting with the military.

We had no problems traversing the road, with the exception of the 300 or so topes in the 60 miles through the mountains. A tope is a Mexican speed bump that you need to almost stop to climb over. They are everywhere in Mexico; going up hills and down, before and after every intersection (big and small), before, during and after every town and small village, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere just for the hell of it. Often there is a small tire & alignment shop nearby for those that don’t brake and slow down in time.

This particular section of road was the worst we had encountered. The whole 60 miles through the mountains went something like this…

Slowly bump over a tope, accelerate up to 20 to 25 MPH for a few glorious seconds, and then Melissa yells out “Tope!” down shift to third, second, first, brake hard, boom, the Wee Rover, crashes up and over, accelerate for a few hundred yards, “Tope!”, rise and repeat! 60 miles took us almost 5 hours of bone jarring topes to complete.

So, no trouble with the Zapatista Rebels, but those $*@&!%# topes!

Market day in Ocosingo…listen for the “tope” at the end!

February 27, 2020February 7, 2020

Tonina

Mayan Ruin – like all amazing places, words and pictures do not do it justice

Horses everywhere, most patiently waiting.

Cacoa beans found in the earliest artifacts…smart people!

So amazingly beautiful. It actually reminded us a bit of the green mountains at home…although there isn’t a ski area in sight

Quiet, peaceful camping spot…hard to find in Mexico where life is lived outloud.

Music by Gary Stadler, one of my favorite composers…it seemed appropriate to put some of my favorite music with one of my favorite spots.

February 26, 2020February 26, 2020

San Cristóbal Poop Fest 2020

When Darrin would travel overseas for work, he and his fellow coworkers liked to sample all the exotic foods. They had a running joke:

“You may die if you eat that…”. One person would say!

And another would answer, “No, you will just wish you had!”

Well, so far, we have avoided corrupt cops, roving armed bandits, a mugging from a group of school kids, and cartel shootouts. We think what finally did us in was a simple glass of street orange juice! The past few days were spent, with our new friend, Michelle (now to be known as Iron Belly because she didn’t get sick!) exploring the town, the markets, museums, and street foods.

Dried crickets, mangoes, rice milk, various tacos, and orange juice. The last 2 days had us trying to rest in the Wee Rover while enduring sweaty chills, freezing shakes, muscle aches, cramps, massive headaches, and the ever present woosh!

Our teeth actually ached!

We pounded electrolyte drinks, took copious amounts of Imodium, and squatted over our pequeño baño, the little blue bucket purchased just for this occasion.

So, the next time someone offers you a fresh glass of OJ…remember…You may die if you drink that…no, you will just wish you had!

Tidbit: Turns out our stomach aches and pains were caused by a good old fashion Danish hex. Our friend and fellow camper Katja wanted us to stay in San Cristóbal until they were ready to leave, she got her wish to the day. I am going to be much more careful around her in the future!

February 25, 2020January 28, 2020

San Cristóbal

The highlight of San Cristóbal was meeting and spending time with Michelle, an Irish woman bicycling around Mexico, and reuniting with another bicyclist, Rémi, who we first met in Baja.

We wandered through market after market, visited an amber and a cacao museum, ate everything we saw, including a dried cricket, and I bought a new skirt.

We loved the time spent with our new friends in a fascinating city.

For us, San Cristóbal wasn’t about what we saw, but what we experienced and the people we spent time with…a recurring theme in our travels.

February 24, 2020January 28, 2020

Good as New

Shoe shine? Who has their shoes shined anymore? As a child, I watched my grandfather and father shine their good shoes. The polish, the brush, the shine cloth…I’m sure those aren’t the proper terms. But, who shines their shoes now? Doesn’t everyone where Keen boots and sneakers?

When we were in San Migel de Allende, we saw our first shoe shiners (not sure that is the correct term) in the main square. There wasn’t one shoe shine station, there was one on every corner, of every square…and they were busy. So, to answer my own question…I guess the people of Mexico still shine their shoes.

Darrin is a bit particular about his shoes, not how they look, but how they fit, feel and function. A few months ago while visiting Salt Lake City, Utah, he found a new pair of leather boots and they have become his new favorite shoes. Traveling south from Utah, they have met their match with the rocks and dust and have changed color depending on where we were camping. By the time we reached San Migel, and our first shoe shine stations, the boots were quite “broken in” and several of the shoe shine gentlemen tried to coax Darrin into having his shoes done…he declined, much to their dismay.

Today, wandering around San Cristóbal, Michelle finally convinced Darrin to have his shoes shined…perhaps because she offerred to pay the 20 pesos ($1 USD)! Twenty minutes later, the boots look like new.

February 21, 2020January 27, 2020

Tuk Tuk vs. Beep Beep

So…you may remember the Wee Rover beeping her horn at the horses in Utah. Since then the Wee Rover decided to become a mute, perhaps from shame. To get her honking again, we had to rewire her horn a bit. We were short of time so the rewire was a cobbled together quick job. Because of this, the horn wires will sometimes come loose rendering the Wee Rover mute again and sometimes the wires short when turning a hard corner and the Wee Rover toots to her heart’s content! We kept thinking we would fix it better…some time.

Well, we stopped in a small village in route to San Cristobal to grab a couple of things. The tuk tuks were everywhere zipping in and around the cars, trucks, buses, people, and dogs. They are really quite crazy, sometime we are going to have to catch a ride in one.

So, we were leaving the store when the fun started! We cranked the Wee Rover around to merge onto the street, realizing as we did that we were heading the wrong way on a one way street. Just by chance, there were about 8 tuk tuks coming our way. What does the Wee Rover decide to do…why she decides to blow her horn at the tuk tuks. Her small single Utah beep was way too subtle for live out loud tropical Mexico! She let off her air horn blast at the little tuk tuks coming our way.

Again, we hung our heads and slunk out of the village. The Wee Rover tee hee’ing as we went!

February 20, 2020January 26, 2020

My First Large Purchase!!

As a knitter and a “want to be weaver”, I have been dying (no pun intended) to visit a traditional weaving studio here in Mexico.

Today, we visited the home of Josefina Mendez Lopez in Teotitlan del Valle, southeast of Oaxaca. She and her family are indigenous Zapotecs and have been weaving for generations.

We arrived early so we were treated to a private demonstration of the entire weaving process by Josefina and her mother including shearing, carding, spinning, dying, and weaving.

Josefina’s mother demonstrated carding. I wonder how many pounds of wool she has carded over the years.

And traditional spinning.

Josefina marking the next part of the pattern from her hand drawn plastic sheet template.

And weaving a traditional Zapotec pattern on another loom.

We were fascinated with the natural dying process that used all local materials to make the colors of the rainbow. The most interesting was the use of the Cochineal bug found on the prickly pear to make red and when mixed with other ingredients orange, pink, etc.

The white is the Cochineal bugs on this piece of prickly pear.

The little white pile is the Cochineal bugs. The red is the powder used as dye when they are ground. The pink, purple and orange next to the grinder are achieved by adding things like lime or baking soda to the red.

All of the natural items used to create a rainbow of dyes.

At the end of the demonstration, we had the very hard choice of selecting one weaving to purchase. It was an incredibly hard decision…I would love to have purchased a few, but the Wee Rover, our pequeña casa, keeps us from over buying.

This is a small collection of the many to choose from. We chose a tree of life runner (see a small one in the upper left corner). It is beautiful. I can’t wait to hang it on my livingroom wall…no way is it going on the floor!

February 19, 2020January 25, 2020

The Widest of the Wide

Overlander Oasis is located in the small town of Santa Maria del Tule. Santa Maria being the patron saint and Tule being an indigenous word for the bulrushes that used to grow in the surrounding marshes.

Its claim to fame is the mighty Montezuma Cypress tree that dwarfs the village church. At over 2,000 years old, it is one of the biggest trees we have ever seen and is the widest tree in the world…and still growing!

Indigenous people consider the tree to be sacred and lore says that it was the walking stick of a god or king who stuck it into the ground to lean on.

An amazingly large tree, friendly people, a beautiful church with a lovely garden…what isn’t to like about Santa Maria del Tule.

February 18, 2020January 25, 2020

Mexico’s Blackhole

Overlander Oasis…once you enter you may never leave!!! Seriously! I am not kidding. The place is a force of nature with its own gravitational pull.

The name says it all, it is an amazing place for overlanders to stop, rest, recoupe, regroup and repair rigs after an extended time on the road.

Overlander Oasis is owned by overlanders Leanne and Calvin Mackenzie, expats from Canada, (no recent relation, but Darrin and Calvin were quite the pair of wrench monkeys…they have to be long lost cousins!) who have opened their yard, home and hearts for travelers. They have created a small haven for like minded people to congregate, share their stories and traveling suggestions, fix rigs rattled apart by topas and potholes, and recoupe after weeks, months or years on the road.

Calvin – self proclaimed wrench monkey, and teller of terrible jokes, can fix or build anything, or he knows someone down the road or across town that can.

Calvin is a one man fix it with a great sense of humor.
Here he is creating a custom frame for Paco’s spare tire.

Leanne – coordinator extraordinaire is fluent in Spanish and everything local, and can direct you to the best markets, sightseeing places, rides and everything else.

Unfortunately, Leanne left us mid week to visit family in Canada.
We all gathered to wish her a tearful goodbye.

During our very short one week stay, we were lucky enough to share our time with Leanne and Calvin, 2 couples from Germany, 1 couple, and their adorable child, from France, a painter from Pennsylvania, and a last minute visitor from Mexico City. We were an eclectic group who bonded over a shared love of Mexico, travel…and broken rigs:(

Paco and Kat were replacing dead batteries and fabricating a new mount for their spare tire, Otto and Elizabeth were fixing a door lock, building a new rear box to carry Elizabeth’s wheelchair and Calvin was creating a bunch of custom fabrications for their camper, Elena and Alex were fixing a tie rod from a collision with a rock, we were fixing the seals on our turbo, and Jeff, the only person who was not fixing something, was creating new works of art! I almost forgot Benjamin…who was teaching us the history of Mexico, his beloved country.

Calvin replacing a seal on Otto and Elisbeth’s rig.

Otto giving Darrin expert advise…in German! Otto also plays a mean harmonica.

Elisabeth and Matilda…we all became a small family for a short time.

A huge thank you to Leanne and Calvin for all that you do and did. You have truly created an Overlanders Oasis. We are already talking about passing your way again…some day.

February 17, 2020January 19, 2020

Valve Job

Since all of the rigs at Overlanders Oasis had their hoods up with odd jobs being done, we thought we would take the time to adjust the valves on the diesel.

With wrenches and feeler gauges in hand we dove into our first valve adjustment on the Wee Rover’s new diesel motor, although we probably can’t call the motor new anymore!

An hour, or so, later all of the valves had been adjusted, and rechecked. And most important, the motor started right up and purrs like a kitten.