Gone to the mountains

When people live somewhere for 13,000 years, and then conquerors and deadly germs invade the place, what results is a patchwork of communities that extends into the most remote corners of the region.  Such is the case in the state of Oaxaca.  Less than 10 percent of its 3.5 million inhabitants live in the capital city, Oaxaca de Juarez, and more than half live in rural areas.  Undaunted by the rugged terrain – there are three mountain ranges with several peaks above 11,000 feet – towns and communities are everywhere.

This hits you when looking at a map of the state, which is covered with the names of places.  Click on any section of this map, which divides the state into 16 sections, to see a blowup of the section and a list of the communities in it.  Check out how long each list is.  In fact, although Oaxaca is only about the size of Portugual, it has 570 distinct municipalities, and most of the municipalities have several communities.

Another way to visualize the number of rural communities that surround the city of Oaxaca is to watch the “colectivo” taxis that travel between these communities and the city every day.  The colectivos operate like buses, cramming in as many passengers as possible for the trip to or from Oaxaca’s main market, the Central de Abastos.  The colectivos all look the same, except for having the name of the communities where they originate written on the windshield.  I have stood at an intersection near the entrance to the Central market watching the colectivos zip past, each with five, six, even more passengers piled on top of each other.  There might be twenty colectivos waiting for the light to turn green, and then twenty more by the next light.  This stream of crowded colectivos, coming from different places and laden with goods and people, epitomizes the abundance of communities around us.

Colectivo taxis lined up at the Central de Abastos.

Colectivos on their way out of town.

We have visited several of the towns on the valley floor around Oaxaca, but last weekend we took our first trip into the mountains.  We went to the community of Benito Juarez, in the Sierra del Norte.  It is about an hour and a half from Oaxaca city.  Benito Juarez is one of seven communities that banded together to form the “Pueblos Mancomunados,” a reserve dedicated to ecotourism, small-scale logging, and hillside farming.  The towns, which are connected by a network of hiking, biking, and horseback riding trails, are about five to ten miles apart.  Each town has cabins for tourists.  The cabin where we stayed in Benito Juarez was very comfortable, with a big brick fireplace that would have kept us warm at night except we had to open the windows to let out the smoke.  Our entire trip was only about 24 hours, but during that time we took two hikes – one to a peak of about 9,500 feet – and went on the best trail ride I have ever been on.  The scenery was spectacular and the horses ran free as opposed to following each other in a tight line.

Cabins in Benito Juarez.  Helen is in the doorway.  Do you see me?  (Hands raised at top of photo.)

Inside of the cabin.  Photo by Helen.

One of the many views from Benito Juarez.  Mountains and farms.

Appreciating the view.

Helen and two friends she made on the trail ride.  Helen rode with the girl on the left.  The girl on the right ran with us the whole way to help control the horses.  (I have never seen somebody in such good shape:  two hours of running along steep trails in altitude.)   A third guide lead the way.

As an ecotourist, you have to swallow your pride and forget about trying to fit in.

Waiting for a ride back to Oaxaca in Cuajimoloyas, the town where our trail ride ended.

What was most remarkable about our short trip to Benito Juarez was how remote it felt, even though it was not very far from the city.  One could go and be back in half a day.  And to think, there are dozens and dozens of similar communities that are only a colectivo ride away.  Natalie and I plan to visit some while the kids are in school.  Sorry, kids!  --Harrison