Veracruz Trip Report Thursday 2/6/2002 through Saturday 2/15/2002 I had mixed emotions about driving 800 miles through a remote section of Mexico along the Gulf with my new car loaded down with 3 kayaks, kayaking and camping gear, food and water for 10 days, and my friend Scott (neither of us speak Spanish). My most trusted companion was my Garmin GPSmap76 which laid out the route from Corpus Christi TX to Veracruz Mexico, identifying all the roads and towns for us to follow, and beeping reliably whenever we approached a turn or exit. We found spectacular kayaking with a wide diversity you could never find in the United States. We were able to romp in what at first seemed like intimidating Gulf surf, climb remote towering sand dunes, kayak along the joyful vibrant Veracruz waterfront and harbor, paddle beautiful quiet rivers with stately homes along the water, get lost in dense jungle mangroves loaded with birds, and even kayak in a lake in the crater of an extinct volcano with 7 islands, several of which had colonies of Thiland baboons bounding about in the trees. Every kayaking trip had a charming restaurant right on the water with out-of-this-world fresh fish and tasty Mexican dishes. And there were side trips to ancient anthropological sites dating back to 400 A.D. with large cities, pyramids, temples, sculpture, and artifacts reflecting the original very advanced cultures of that age. And everyone was very friendly. Rafael Mier-Maza was our tour guide and host, letting us camp on his property and use his cabin located in La Laguna, a small rural farming town about 20 miles south of Veracruz. It is on a Lagoon that is connected to the Gulf by the Boca Del Rio. The quiet and rural sounds of the farm animals in the morning and evening were totally relaxing. No rush down here! The 800 mile drive is a 18 or 19 hour drive. We did it in two days, staying over at two very interesting and comfortable hotels enroute. Scenery was always changing from desert, to scrub vegetation, to highlands yet to experience spring, to lush tropical green forests and jungles. The moderate weather was perfect for paddling and sleeping during the entire trip. It turned out to be a very memorable, comfortable, and inexpensive trip. We will put together a full trip report when everyone gets home and has a chance to collect their pictures and thoughts^E.but I though you would like to view our incomplete and still expanding photo collections at: Ken Johnson^Rs photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/johnsonkw1 (page 3) Juan Luis DelValle^Rs photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/juanluisdelvalle Scott Cartier^Rs photos: http://home.stx.rr.com/scartier/Quetico%20Park%202002/Veracruz/index.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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