Mexico trip November 2007 travelogue

[Paul in Essex]

Thanks for the comments and, Vic and Chris in particular, for the IDs. I will edit the text to add them and try to learn a bit about the plants.

Trevor - those pics are about it. I focus on agavaceae so my gaze in more on the horizon than the ground ahead. But if I find myself surrounded by cacti, as in the Agave macroacantha habitat, I tend to just point the camera at those plants that are visible. I am certain that folks on here could easily hunt down another few dozen species at each stop.

Geoff - I think I will add some maps! I intended to but, in the rush to get it finished it went out of my mind. I mention a lot of place names, but unless you know where to look it is difficult to follow the route for sure.

[Patrick]

Great pics Paul, looks like a really interesting trip. Do you speak spanish or do you get by without?

[B.A.]

Outstanding Paul

[Paul in Essex]

Thanks again.

Patrick - yes, I speak a little Spanish. Aside from Cancun most of the places I have visited in Mexico, this time and previously, are not on the tourist trail and it is extremely rare to find anyone who speaks English.

I've been taking evening classes for three years now and am slowly picking it up. I know enough to make myself understood in most situations - booking hotels, eating in restaurants (knowing the menu is certainly handy - better than lucky dip!) and hold limited conversations. For example, when we ran out of petrol I was able to get us out of that easily enough.

If I didn't learn another word I'd get by, but I think the more you can speak the better the safety net. Bad things can happen wherever you are, but a bad thing happening where you can't make yourself understood must be terrible.

Conversely I know a guy who has been to Mexico twice with a companion and neither spoke a word of Spanish. I think this is not a good idea.

[Paul in Essex]

Geoff - maps will actually be a while longer than I thought, so here are the places we went in more detail.

Day 1: Cancun to valladolid.
Day 2: Valladolid - Merida - Campeche - Chamopton - Escarcega - Palenque
Day 3: Palenque - Ocosingo - San Cristobal de las Casas
Day 4: San Cristobal de las Casas - Tuxtla Gutierrez - Arriaga - Tapanatepec
Day 5: Tapanatepec - Juchitan - Ixtlan (and round in circles) - Jalapa del Marques (Agave guiengola site) - Tehuantepec - Bahias de Huatulco
Day 6: Bahias de Huatulco - Pochutla - San Jose del Pacifico (on the way towards Miahuatlan)
Day 7: San Jose del Pacifico - Miahuatlan - Oaxaca
Day 8: Oaxaca - Ixtlan - Esperanza - Oaxaca
Day 9: Oaxaca - Nochixtlan - Tamazulapan - Huajuapan de Leon
Day 10: Huajuapan de Leon - Tehuacan (incredible)
Day 11: Tehuacan - Teotitlan - Huautla (spit) - Tuxtepec
Day 12: Tuxtepec - Esperanza - Tuxtepec - Acayucan
Day 13: Acayucan - Villahermosa - Ciudad del Carmen - Champoton
Day 14: Champoton - Valladolid
Day 15: Valladolid - Cancun

Edit - quickly did a Googlemap of it - didn't take long.

Googlemap of itinerary

Edit - in fact I have now added the cactus Ids to the text and embedded the Googlemap into the last page. Thanks all.

[phil]

Thanks for the link Paul. Looks like a fantastic trip.

[Paul in Essex]

Vic - I forgot to answer one of your queries re Agave kerchovei on 4th -I agree totally that Agave lophantha looks similar (same group, Marginatae) but it comes from a good deal further north.

That is one of the troubles with agaves - they are often so variable in appearance. In particular the whole of the Marginatae are extremely variable and, without any other clues - just looking at a plant in isolation (like one in a pot!) - I reckon it is often impossible to tell one species from another.

When you are seeing the plants in habitat you have more to go on - like in this case where lophantha (in some forms) looks like kerchovei (in some forms) but the fact that you are standing in a particular location in Oaxaca means it can only be kerchovei. Elsewhere in Oaxaca there is a spot where kerchovei melts into titanota and in another place into peacockii - very confusing!!

Where it can get totally impossible is where two species share the habitat such as with funkiana and lophantha. I have been to a place where both have been recorded on the exact same rock face on the exact same stretch of road. I guess you need to see both in flower at the same time, which I haven't.

Incidentally, I sent the link, to a Dutch friend who came up with these Ids for the cacti - some are a little different - any observations, pleased? I have no idea and Googling for pictures barely helps.

nov 29, at the guiengola site grows Pilosocereus collinsii.
dec 03, Mammillaria nejapensis.
dec 04, up to downwards, Mammillaria haageana,
Echinocactus platyacanthus is correct
Ferocactus haematacanthus,
Ferocactus robustus,
Neobuxbaumia macrocephala.

dec 05, Pilosocereus purpusii (not sure)
Coryphantha calipensis,
Pachycereus weberii
the same,
Mammillaria sphacelata,
Mammillaria nejapensis
Ferocactus recurvus, both.

[Marlon Machado]

Hi Paul,

the columnar cactus at the guiengola site is most definitively Cephalocereus apicicephalium and not Pilosocereus collinsii, which is a species that looks very different.

I do not know much about Mammillaria, but the plant from Dec 03 cannot be nejapensis because this species has long bristles in the areoles between the tubercles, which are lacking in the plant of the picture.

Cheers,

[Vic]

Thanks for the kerchovei info Paul. I've got a photo somewhere of a clump of plants which look very familiar. I'll find it and would appreciate your view to what species it actually is.

I'd doubt it being Ferocactus haematacanthus Paul as they very rarely form clumps, they tend to have bigger bodies and the give away is they have blood red spines (haematacanthus).

Whos's your Dutch friend - Wim by any chance??

[Vic]

Found the pic Paul, it was taken in the state of Puebla in the Tehuacan Valley. Do you think it's kerchovei or maybe even ghiesbreghtii?

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