Dune Buggies

Day 2 in Mexico had us Dune Buggying.  I was really looking forward to this little excursion but I have to admit I spent most of the time screaming as Andy drove off of the trail and over sand dunes that literally had us "catching air".  I had the worst headache by the time we were done and I'm pretty sure its from my brain rattling around in my skull - LOL!
We drove up into the mountains to see the local livestock:

  These cows didn't even move as we got close to them.  They have cacti stuck in their faces from grazing but it didn't seem to bother them at all.  They left alot of waste behind which the dune buggy managed to throw right up into my lap - YUK!  As we headed further up into the mountains we spotted this fairly large iguana:

Our guide said they eat them which I thought was completely exhausted but also said they use them for medicine for children - not sure how that works but very interesting.  The whole area is completely dry.  Nothing green anywhere except cacti.  Then as we walked for a bit we came across this:

A little stream with green plants along the edges.  It didn't seem to arise from anywhere but was trickling along and the water was crystal clear.  On that same walk we came to the "rock on the tree":

This giant boulder fell from the mountains many many years ago and this tree has managed to grow from underneath it which now appears to hold it in place.  On the side of the rock is some hyroglyphics (sp?).

From there we headed to a small mountain village - and when I say small, I mean small.  There was a church, a one room hospital, a one room school, 1 house and a small store.  The town is called Candelaria.

These children are so sweet and were so excited to be in our picture.  You can see the waving.  They are bused from surrounding areas and spend from Monday to Friday at the school (there is a room behind the school with primitive bunk beds).  Then, on the weekends they go home to work.

While were there we got to try some sugar cane - Andy really enjoyed it!

More children filling water barrels in the back of an old half ton.

The vultures were circling just waiting for us to keel over - it was kind of creepy.

This is their grave yard.  It is waaaaaay up in the mountains, this picture was taken with a high power zoom lens.

The local hospital that is open 1 day per week.  Despite the amazing poverty, there is still beautiful flowers growing naturally everywhere.

We saw this hide litterally tanning in the hot sun:

From Candelaria we headed out to the beach:

The views were absolutely breath taking.

The guide showed us this blow hole.  I had never seen one and had no idea what to expect but the guys sure laughed when they saw me jump when that ominous sound of the waves and water crashing came rushing out of it!

We really enjoyed this back tour of Mexico. 

I even tried my hand at driving the dune buggy for about 3 seconds until I hit a bump and the steering wheel jerked out of my hand hurting me and we were stuck in a sand dune - ugh - okay, back to the passenger's seat!

Tomorrow I'll be back with scuba diving pics :0). Pin It