Category: Local Trips

Two or three weeks ago Ada and Andrew communicated with me about coming to Comitán for some biking adventures. They are riders from San Francisco and had seen some of my routes in ridewithgps. They were impressed with the variety of terrain and were taken with the idea of exploring here. They asked if there might be any bike rentals. I responded suggesting they stay with us and use my bikes.

Andrew was not a problem. He’s the same size as me and I have two touring bikes. Ada is a bit smaller and I was worried. So I contacted a friend with a big bike shop here. Although they don’t rent he offered his own personal bike as a borrow! I in return offered to trade for the duration of their stay with my pretty good mountain bike. So the pact was made. However I did some adjustment on mine to shorten the reach and with a bit more fine tuning mine worked perfectly for her.

Many potential ride plans were made. Meanwhile our birthday plans were falling through since most of the attendees were out of town. So we decided to combine. Making my milestone birthday present an epic ride with them. For which I am very grateful. In return for my guiding services they had to put up with my old guy pace.

So we decided to start in Tziscao which is the principal town serving the various villages and locations in the state and federal park known as Los Lagos de Montebello and simply wind our way back to Comitán though rural roads and villages. This region bordering on Guatemala has it’s own microclimate that supports the growing of high altitude coffee. And part of our route would pass the farmer from whom we buy our coffee for the roasting business.

We left the night before. Planning a stay in Tziscao and a moderately early morning departure. María was kind enough to take us in the pickup and returned home about 5am to attend to daily life and construction management in Comitán.

Finding a breakfast place open about 7am we stoked up for the trip and did a brief side visit into Guatemala. Though none of the local vendors were open yet it was pleasant having the place to ourselves. Here there is a lake known as Lago Internacional since the Guatemalan/Mexican border passes through the middle. In his excitement Andrew rode off to one side of the lake to a small but friendly military encampment and Ada the other. I in between. Fortunately it’s a small lake enough lake that with gestures we could meet again. Cell phone service being dominated by the Guatemalan carrier. One picture shows Andrews dashing up the hill to get to the well photographed monument division between the two countries where Ada had been waiting.

After proceeding onward our first stop was at the iconic picture pulloff where all tour buses bring their clients for a view of the lake Tziscao that fronts the Guatemalan mountains. Then we did our deviation from the normal highway route. Going first to Cinco Lagos and then climbing up through the coffee villages (see the climb profile on the linked map at the 10K point). We dropped back down and met up with the park road on the other side

Proceeding along the park road we arrived at the final parking lot. There a small nearby village has some food stands and various local women take turns offering a repast to visitors. There we also encountered a local sport biker. I make the distinction because plenty of people use bikes as everyday transportation and for carrying of supplies. We exchanged pleasantries. He took pictures of our clearly not local bikes and we proceeded to a cenote area for a swim outside the park boundaries.

We eventually made our way to the small village of Ojo de Agua where we buy our coffee from a local grower. We’ve actually had a working relationship with Gilbert and his family for 10 years. Unfortunately his entire coffee crop was destroyed completely after “La Roya” fungal disease hit a few years back. But he replanted (twice) and last year he had his first harvest of a resistant strain known as Geisha. Sold for about $20 US a pound in the US. We bought his entire production last year and will do so again this year.

After cruising his property and picking a few oranges and bananas (while munching the pulp off ripening coffee berries) we were refueled so we could proceed through the lovely open pine forests of this mountainous region. Finally we arrived to the edge of the agricultural plains and the village of El Triunfo bordering the two distinct ecosystems. We stopped for lunch.

The final 30K or so of the trip was dominated by agricultural service roads, crops, and plodding cattle. Finally arriving in Comitán just as a rain shower broke. The weather putting a final point to what had been a lovely full day of riding.

María met us with dinner and a birthday cake and we celebrated with our home grown IPA.

The pictures in this post are a mix from all three of us. The best ones being theirs.

November 6, 2020

Rainbows

Yesterday Kailin gave me a call. She wanted to give me birthday greetings. But she also told me about her painting of rainbows. And I wanted to tell her I couldn’t send her messages over her school email. Even though she had sent me one.

Today I had to make a trip to San Cristobal. About an hour and a half ride. And coincidentally it was one of the best days for rainbows I’ve ever seen here.

So this post is dedicated to Kailin.

October 23, 2020

Cows and Bikes

There has been a couple staying here the last couple of weeks. Anna and Samuel are from Slovakia and Switzerland. They’re been waiting for some parts before continuing the ride south into Guatemala. Meanwhile they’ve been helping out with odds and end.

I’ve been out a couple of times with Samuel on local rides. Yesterday a pretty big one. About 72 kilometers and 600 meters of climb. Though we didn’t take too many pictures there were a lot of cows along there.

To add a bit more I decided to add two other videos from earlier bike rides in the same region. They are at the bottom. When you click on the start arrow be patient. They take a minute to load.

Since my grandson Luke is interested in cows this post is dedicated to him.

September 27, 2020

Border Wandering

We went to the border of Guatemala to check the restrictions after the recent opening. Also had a package to mail to a friend near Quetzaltenango. It was much easier to just carry it across and send it with a domestic package service.

Nothing much has changed. It’s still open and I crossed 3 times with no issues. There is no need to go through immigration and customs for local pedestrian traffic.

But I did talk with immigration to find out what is required if you want a legal entry Visa further into the country. In addition to the Mexico exit stamp in your passport they now also want a recent (72 hours) proof of a negative Covid-19 test result.

I also checked with Mexico. They want the same from Guatemala. In addition at the border you have to pass through SAT and they give you a piece of paper with basic info that you have to present to immigration in Ciudad Cuahuatemoc. Which is 4 kilometers from the actual border. Like Guatemala they don’t pay any attention to local traffic.

After which we checked out some of the other uncontrolled crossings before finally going to hang out at Lagos de Colon.

August 4, 2020

3 Days

Ready for a breakout from the house we decided to do a long weekend excursion to a jungle area we know quite well. Our excuse was to drop some seeds and supplies off for a friend in a small community on the edge of the Montes Azules biosphere. Our other excuse was it’s the end of the pineapple season and we wanted some off the vine so to speak. Bananas are always in season…

Chris lives in Plan de Rio Azul which is near the bridge at Amatitlán that crosses into the biosphere at the headwaters of the Lancantun river. The river is fairly famous as an access for many jungle villages and an arrival point for Guatemalan refugees during the Guatemalan Civil war.

After dropping the stuff we did our first night at the end of the final drop of Las Nubes. A well known series of waterfalls ending in gorge between high cliffs. We stayed in a campground near the small village of Loma Bonita at the end of the crevasse where the river starts it’s weave through the lowlands.

After spending the night I started the day with a hike up to the lookout. It’s interesting seeing the jungle growing along the cliff edge during the climb. After my return we had a breakfast with some local fruit we picked up along the road. Then we packed up expecting to stay at Las Guacamayas.

But arriving there we were informed the village was closed to outsiders. But we know people and were allowed a couple of hours to make a lunch by the river and look around for Scarlett Macaws. Midday we didn’t have much hope but checked out the ones in the community cage where they care for damaged and orphaned birds. While there we spotted a troop of Howler monkeys. It’s not uncommon and, in fact, that was part of our motivation to go. But this group was uncommonly close and I got some great pictures.

After lunch and a swim in the river we simply went back to where we’d stayed the previous night and went home late the next day. Las Nubes, Tziscao, and Lagos de Montebello were all closed. We could have gone in anyway knowing side entrances and people but had lost motivation by then. Still we got a nice break and saw the usual stuff we went to see.

Day 2 Lookout hike and departure for Las Guacamayas

Return to the campground

*NOTE THERE ARE MANY PICTURES BROKEN INTO 4 BLOCKS OF PICTURES.

SCROLLING THROUGH THE PICTURES WILL ONLY SCROLL THOSE WITHIN A BLOCK.

YOU MUST SELECT A BLOCK INDIVIDUALLY TO SCROLL THROUGH IT’S PICTURES.

The videos at the bottom take a minute to load. Be patient. I’m not using Youtube in order to maintain site integrity and security.

Day 1 from Comitan to Plan del Rio Azul finishing at Cascadas del Paraiso Escondido near Loma Bonita

Las Guacamayas (Scarlet Macaw) and Saraguatos (Howler Monkeys) at the village Reforma Agraria