Days 109 Through 111: Tuxtla Gutierrez To Sima De Las Cotorras And Back Again

I realized that I haven't posted many pictures of food, in part because much of the food of Mexico is so familiar to me that it hasn't occurred to me to take pictures, and in part because I'm usually so hungry that I eat it before the thought even crosses my mind.  So, here are a few pictures of food before I tell you how amazing the Sima de las Cotorras is and why you should go.

My last meal in Oaxaca... fried thingy stuffed with potato and chorizo and smothered in black bean sauce, guacamole, cojita cheese, and served with spicy pickled onions... see, I promise, I'm eating enough!

A specialty of the southeastern part of Mexixo, a nutritious and tasty beverage called pozol de cacao (not to be mistaken with the soup pozole), which hails from ancient mesoamerican times and is made from fermented cocoa and corn.  Here it is served in the traditional gourd... it is slightly, but not overly, sweet... make sure to keep it stirred as you drink it or the cocoa and corn bits gather at the bottom in an unappetizing pile of mush.

Mmm, rambutans.  I haven't had these delicious fruits since I went to Southeast Asia... and a steal at just over a dollar a kilo.

And now, for something completely different.  For all the times I have lived in or traveled through Mexico, Chiapas has eluded me until now.  Initially, I had a vague idea that I wanted to visit the ancient ruins of Palenque and the misty cool San Cristobal de las Casas.  It wasn't until Gonzalo said he wanted to make Tuxtla Gutierrez our base for exploring the Cañon de Sumidero that I finally cracked open my guidebook to see what else there was to see.  Hmmm... the Sima de las Cotorras?  What's that?  After some research, I decided we had to go.

Sima de las Cotorras translates roughly to the Chasm of the Parrots and may be one of the most overlooked gems in Mexico.  It is a sinkhole measuring 160 meters in diameter and 140 meters in depth, and from March to October, is home to over 800 wild parrots.  At dawn, the parrots rise out of the sinkhole like fighter pilots in a spiral formation and at dusk, they start filtering back in for the night.  The local community that cares for this natural wonder has worked hard to turn Sima de las Cotorras into sustainable ecotourism.  In addition to rustic cabins, designated campsites with showers and bathrooms, and a reasonably priced onsite restaurant, the local community offers guided hikes, rappelling, and climbing in the sinkhole.

12 km of well compacted dirt road with no traffic!

Pure riding bliss.

Once we arrived, we were directed to the camping spots (100 pesos per tent, but we were not charged the 20 peso per person entrance fee) and told that Francisco, the guy in charge of rappelling, was hanging out at the restaurant and that he would be expecting us.  We walked the path around the edge of the sinkhole until we got to the restaurant and chatted with Francisco about our options.  Yes, we *could* rappel that afternoon, but the sun would be on our backs the whole time and the rock would be really hot.  Why not do it first thing in the morning?  He gave us a few tips about the best place to watch the parrots in the morning, and then we spent the rest of the day relaxing, enjoying a lovely meal and a few beers at the restaurant, and hit the sack early so we could wake up before the sun.

Peering into the sinkhole from the edge.

If you look closely, there is a small group of green parrots flying around the sinkhole edge.

Sunset.

Hand-painted signs show this community's dedication to the environment.  "Show your culture, don't throw trash."  And their pride shows... these grounds are immaculate in stark contrast to the trash littered highways of Mexico.

Full service campground... we had opted for an ultralight setup, leaving behind our kitchen gear... the daytime caretaker chopped wood for us and the evening caretaker came by to chat and light our fire.

We woke up at 6:00 am and groggily made our way to the sinkhole in the dark.  A few folks on daytrips from Tuxtla Gutierrez arrived, some with a guide, and some on their own, but for the most part, the Sima de las Cotorras was fairly empty.  And then as the sky started to brighten with the first light of day, it began.

6:30 am.  A dozen parrots start to screech and come out of the sinkhole.  6:45 am.  The rest wake up and the voices of hundreds of parrots echo in the sinkhole.  Then in a giant whooosh, they all come spiraling out.  7:00 am.  A few late risers trickle out.

We headed to the restaurant for a light breakfast of coffee and sweet bread (which was a treat because the restaurant doesn't open until 7:30 am, but the nighttime caretaker offered to make us coffee), and some fruit we had brought on our bikes.  Francisco arrived right at 7:30 am as we had agreed, and after the obligatory signing of waivers, we geared up.

Geared up for my longest rappel ever (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Gonzalo heads down.

Getting ready to descend with our fearless leader Francisco (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Look,  no hands (photo credit: Gonzalo)!

Ancient cave paintings.

View out of the sinkhole from the bottom.

Inspecting the bottom of the sinkhole (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Heading into an awesome network of caves (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Francisco patiently waits for us to explore at the mouth of the cave.

Among the bats and spiders, there is also a LeeAnn lurking about (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Gonzalo inspects the stalactites of the adjacent cave section.

Stalactite condensation.  I'm going to pretend I didn't take 15 pictures waiting for this droplet to form.

The floor of the sinkhole looks prehistoric.

The centipedes also look prehistoric... this one was bigger than my hand.

Gonzalo works his way back up and out of the sinkhole.

A lovely woman named Sarahi who did the guided hiking tour into the sinkhole snapped this awesome picture of me while I was working my way out.  She did me the huge favor of emailing me the photo (photo credit: Sarahi).

Whee, I made it to the top!

Francisco poses for his glamour shot.

After a massive breakfast of fresh squeezed orange juice, fruit, and the best chilaquiles verdes I've ever had (with two sunnyside up eggs), it was time to pack up camp and head back to Tuxtla Gutierrez.

The road home.

Gaaaah, Chiapas is so green and awesome.

A few travel notes for cyclists:

• Taking your bikes during the Guelaguetza high season was a stressful process, but with some planning, I think it can be done better than we did it.  First, buy your tickets two days in advance to ensure a ticket.  Second, consider taking ADO instead of OCC (even though OCC runs the latest overnight bus)... the undercarriage of ADO looks to be more spacious than OCC and appears to have support beams you could lash the bikes to (upright) with compression straps.  Although the ticket counter people told us we didn't have to do anything special with the bikes, I had to take my front wheel off and Gonzalo ended up taking both wheels off to make them fit in the OCC undercarriage.  I also think it's worth asking again the day of travel at the ticket counter if you can get a special early boarding exception.  We asked all the security folks to no avail and it was only by sheer virtue of the fact we made sure to be first in the boarding line that we successfully got our bikes and gear on the bus. 

• The Hotel Casablanca was reasonably priced in Tuxtla Gutierrez at 248 pesos for 2 people, accommodated our bikes, let us stash a few panniers while we did our overnight trip to the Sima de las Cotorras, and is also recommended by Lonely Planet.  It is also just a hop and a skip away from several markets and the small but well put together Museo del Cafe. 

• Information on the Sima de las Cotorras can be found at www.simaecoturismo.com, or you can call any one of these numbers (spanish only):
  (045) 9681176365 or (045) 9612253401.  You can also search for them on Facebook... I actually found these numbers through a conversation string on their Facebook page.  It took us 5.5 hours to bike out via the road that passes through all the towns (not the one that looks like a highway) with an ultralightweight setup, which included a stop for lunch... this was around 40 km of mostly climbing, but nothing crazy.  The return trip only took 3.5 hours.  We visited during the week and only one cabin was booked and we were the only ones camping.  We only saw one other group do the guided hiking and we were the only ones to do the rappel.  If you arrive on the weekend, it may be good to book your rappelling in advance as there is only one guide who does the rappelling.  And final advice.  Take lots of bug spray.  The mosquitos are terrible!