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Day 11 by Jean Akens
with photos from Carmen Hill, Charlie Freeman, Ellie Lincoln and Bob Stuckey
To get a head start with their slower vehicles, Frenchie and Curley left camp while the rest were packing up. A few minutes later, Frenchie radioed back that they had come upon a flock of parrots. Everyone else hurried with preparations for departure, in order not to miss this sight.
Dozens of large green parrots (of the species called "thick-billed"), with bright red heads and a yellow stripe on the underside of their wings, were feeding on pine-nuts in the trees beside the road. Hanging every-which-way on the branches - upside down, sideways, as well as right-side up - the chattering, colorful flock moved from tree to tree, stripping the nuts from the small round cones of the tall pines. It was an exciting start to the day, although it was difficult to photograph the birds. Frenchie related that Ann had jumped out to take pictures, running and shooting as she ran. The birds must have been flying low, he decided, because when the film was developed, most of her photos were of the ground!
The RR tracks were left behind as we began to travel more westerly, over increasingly rough, unmarked roads. One wrong turn was made that necessitated backtracking for 2.2 miles out of the 12 +/- that had taken us two hours to cover. Although it was slow going, it continued to be very scenic, as we again traveled up/down, over mountain crests and in and out of canyons.
We dropped down into one
steep, narrow canyon, and a small - but active - mining community appeared. Then,
following the route of an abandoned narrow gauge RR bed in the afternoon, we went through
a half dozen rock tunnels, and along the edge of sheer cliffs, before making a gradual
descent into a deep, broad valley and the town of Chinipas.
Surrounded by high Sierra Madre peaks, this remarkable old Spanish town beside the Rio de Chinipas owes much of its existence to early-day mining (hence the dismantled RR bed), but is also a prime ranching area. The setting is one of incredible beauty, untouched by tourists, due to its remoteness and the roughness of approach roads. My notes refer to Chinipas as "a hidden paradise in the Sierra Madres."
After a visit to a cantina,
gasoline for those in need was purchased from a villager named Raphael, who pumped the gas
from 50-gallon drums. A school teacher in the region, Raphael was happy to see visitors
from the outside world. Following the guidance of his young friend and former student,
Alonso, the river was forded and the group taken to a nearby camp site, near Alonso's
family's ranch. We settled in for an interesting night - but not before a bath in the
wide, shallow, rocky river.
Raphael came to visit twice in the evening. The first time he provided valuable information about the route we needed to follow the next day. (Carmen wrote the instructions on her arm until she could transfer them to paper). The second time he returned with food to share. Although Raphael spoke no English, with Carmen's assistance - and without it after she went to bed - the conversation was lively and the cultural exchange rewarding. The Fukarwes even found themselves doing the "Chinipas Stomp" (a wild local dance?), before this delightful day came to an end.
SOMEWHERE IN MEXICO
Fourteen Daily Episodes
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| Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day
6 | Day 7
Day 8 | Day 9 | Day
10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14
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