>From TagNet:
Mexico information
By: Brian Masney (Morgantown, West Virginia)
There were 5 of us from West Virginia in that part of Mexico over New
Years. We did Cueva del Nacimiento del R?o Huichihuay?n, Hoya de Las
GuaGuas, Cueva Linda, Sotano de Las Golondrinas and Cueva El Abra. We
hired local porters/guides at the middle three caves. We did not have
any problems on our trip and we found all of the people to be very nice.
Here is some information that may help you:
* Border crossing: I assume that you are going to cross the border at
Brownsville, TX. We followed the main 4 lane through Brownsville (72)
to the Mexican border. We got to the border at 5:50am and the sign on
the US side says that the bridge opens at 6:00. We waited 10 minutes
and crossed into Mexico. We got to the other side and it was a ghost
town (except for quite a few federal officials with large rifles).
Everything was closed. The car insurance place (high recommended) and
customs did not open until 7:00 and 8:00am. The peso exchange place
had a glowing neon "OPEN" sign but it was really closed. The door
wasn't closed all the way but you could see where someone locked the
deadbolt. (It wasn't connected to the other door.) There was a metal
cage on the inside but it really didn't do any good since there was an
old lock on it that was shot off by someone. Overall, it was a great
"Welcome to Mexico" experience. After talked to one of the guards, he
told us how to go back to the US and we ended up crossing into Mexico
on the "Gateway International Bridge". This bridge is open 24 hours
and everything on both sides are open 24 hours. (You'll see a sign for
it off of 72. If you are heading south, turn right at the bottom of
the off ramp and you'll be there in 2-3 miles.) We was able to take
care of everything at this crossing with no problems. We even
exchanged our pesos at the border. Be sure to not cross one of the
express bridges.
* I would not recommend crossing the border in the middle of the night.
Driving down there is a completely different experience. We found the
roads to be in good condition all the way to Aquismon. You will be on
MEX 101 for roughly 200-250 miles and it is basically a 3 lane road
and most people are in a real hurry. Be sure to watch out for cars
coming at you in your own lane. We frequently saw cars 4 wide on this
road. Here is a picture of 3 wide heading northbound:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/masneyb/2174961331/in/set-72157603653421072/
If you drive at night, watch out for drivers with their lights off and
livestock on the roads. We saw a lot of livestock tied up along the road and
sometimes they get loose.
* We went through 3 military checkpoints on our way down. (Only 1 on the way
back home.) Two of the checkpoints (on the way down) were mobile and setup by
the federal government. They had a humvee with a fully loaded 50 cal at both of
them and the second checkpoint had a large tank as well. We did not have any
problems at the checkpoints. They saw the gringo decal that you are given at
the border and they waved us through.
* We were not asked at any point for a bribe from anyone. I've read that the
federal government is cracking down on corrupt officials. I read one
recommendation to make a photocopy of your passport, visa, drivers license and
all other documentation at the border. If you are pulled over, give them the
copy instead of the original. (That way they can't hold your originals
hostage.) If the official keeps asking for a bribe, supposedly ask to go to the
station and he'll most likely stop and let you go. I don't know how this will
work out in practice though. Luckily, we didn't run into this situation.
* There is a very nice hotel about 45-60 minutes from Aquismon in Ciudad Valles
called the Hotel Valles. We ate there on our last day. That was the only place
we found that had everything written in Spanish and English. It is even safe to
drink the water there since they filter it.
* Most of the roads to the caves will be small dirt roads. They got 30 inches
of rain in 30 days a few months ago so some of the roads are not in their best
condition. If you are going to Tamapatz (for Sotano de Las Cepillo and others),
then I would recommend going there via the Golondrinas road, not via the road
from El Limoncito (GuaGuas) to Tamapatz since that road is supposedly in really
bad shape. From Aquismon, plan for it to take about an hour to get to
Golondrinas.
You can camp at Golondrinas and they even rent out a large hut overlooking the
pit.
* If you park somewhere and there are vendors, then buy something (like a coke
and some snacks). We didn't have any problems with people vandalizing our
vehicle. We did not pay anyone to watch our two trucks. We did have kids write
in the dust, especially at Golondrinas.
* You need to pay the committees at GuaGuas and Golondrinas. GuaGuas was
no big deal since it is one low flat fee. Golondrinas was a little different.
We paid (I believe) 20 pesos (per person) at the main road.
Once you get to the top, that fee is only for going down the pit. You have to
pay a different committee if your group wants to ascend out of the pit. (They
didn't find it funny when we asked what if we only want to go down.) You have
to pay the second committee an additional 40 pesos (per person) for each person
that will be bouncing the pit. That is supposedly for the first 4 hours. There
is an additional charge if you go over 4 hours. We told them that we would not
pay anymore and
they finally backed down after much negiotation.
The second issue that we had at Golondrinas was the rig point. We were the only
rappellers there. Some locals had a business setup where they would belay
tourists that wanted to look down the pit. They were setup on the high and low
side. We only had a 1200' rope, so we had to rig to the low side. We wanted to
rig on the far left (looking at the pit) since it provided an easy way to get
on and off rope. (We didn't need a pigtail, even when ascending tandem out of
the pit. We had one just in case though.) They wanted us to rig at a higher rig
point but we had no idea if our rope was long enough. We initially started
rigging there but
something changed and we were able to get the rig spot that we wanted.
* We didn't see too many dangerous critters there. We ran into a nest of fire
ants. The spiders are absolutely huge in that area. Luckily, we didn't run
into any snakes.
* If you decide to visit GuaGuas, then you should be aware that it has
Africanized honey bees (aka killer bees). You'll want to get a late start that
day. They go to sleep late in the afternoon. This year, they are supposedly
nested on the high side. The locals told us that there were no nests on the low
side this year.
GuaGuas has a huge nest of Macaws in it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaw
Golondrinas has a large colony of carnivorous green conures that eat the swifts
that fly into the pit at night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift
Here is a video I found online of the swifts flying into Golondrinas at night.
The second half of the video shows the conures.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5phdNRGbj14
* None of us got sick there. We ate the food and even visited a street taco
stand two nights in a row. It is safe to eat the fruit, but only if you peel it
yourself. The carbonated drinks are safe to drink but don't use ice. Most of
the cheese is goat's cheese. The chicken and beef had a weird taste. It
reminded me of the wild game taste. I really like Mexican food in the US but I
wasn't a fan of it there. Next time, I'm taking more food with me.
* None of us really spoke Spanish but we got around just fine. I found it best
when asking the price of something, to just ask them to write it down.
Here are some pictures from the trip if you are interested:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/masneyb/collections/72157603656358888/
Brian
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