Sabius is an organization founded by students of the Tec de Monterrey university for the purpose of helping senior citizens share their knowledge and experience with the younger generation. Along with courses in auto mechanics, cooking and English conversation, Sabius recently added hikes and excursions to their curriculum.
I I have been leading these events, the most recent of which was a visit to a few of the sites along the highway from Tala to San Marcos, a 50-kilometer stretch from which you can reach many of Jalisco’s most interesting cultural and natural attractions.
A brief list of these sites would include the following: The Fairy Footstools, Ghostly River and Museum of Tala; the Guachimontones Pyramids and Museum; Haciendas La Labor and El Carmen; El Pedernal Obsidian Deposit; Uma Agua Blanca Bird Sanctuary and Pyramid; Piedras Bola giant stone balls; Santa Rosalía Pyramids; Las Cuevas Obsidian Workshop Center (2,000 years in continuous operation); El Amparo Mine ruins; Oconahua Palace of Ocomo; San Marcos train station (concentration camp for Yaqui Indians); San Marcos pottery and Agua Blanca River Park. Many of these sites are described in past issues of this newspaper or at RanchoPint.com.
I calculate it would take a person some 43 hours to visit all of these spots, so our trip last Saturday was only aimed at a few of them.
Twenty-three people of all ages showed up for the tour. The first stop was the Teuchitlán Pemex station from which we walked 250 meters to the banks of the Teuchitlán River. Here the localmunicipio has built an andador or walkway for hikers and bikers which extends north and south for three kilometers. We walked north along the well-kept path to a spot where warm spring water bubbles up from one side of the river bed. Here we hoped to catch a glimpse of the Butterfly Splitfin, a little fish once designated “extinct in its natural habitat,” which is this river and La Vega Dam. Sad to say, we didn’t spot a single member of the species Ameca splendens, but fortunately the University of Michoacán has launched a long-term program to reintroduce this and other “extinct” species of fish into these very waters. For more information, see my previous column (March 4, 2016).
Two members of the group told me they knew one of the archaeologists working on the ruins at Oconahua, so that is where we headed for our second stop. Thirty-eight kilometers northwest of Teuchitlán, we drove up to the door of Michelle Hernández Furlong, who took us straight to a charming old building which now serves as a laboratory and storage facility for the team of archaeologists studying and restoring what was once a magnificent palace or tecpan, for centuries the home of the ruler of all western Mexico.
Here we could see boxes and boxes of objects discovered in the area and a display of shards and tools found while excavating the tecpan, indicating that it was in use during the El Grillo phase (400 to 900 A.D.). We then followed the archaeologist out to the ruins of the tecpan, a set of buildings occupying a space 125 by 125 meters, a spot upon which the people of Oconahua never built, recognizing that it was “sacred ground.”
First described and mapped by archaeologist Phil Weigand, the site is now being studied and partially restored by a team of archaeologists led by Sean Montgomery Smith Márquez.
Oconahua’s Palacio de Ocomo was a huge compound designed exactly like Moctezuma’s palace, where Hernán Cortés and the conquistadores were welcomed when they arrived at what is now Mexico City.
What was life like inside? According to Dr. Frances Berdan, professor of anthropology at California State University, palaces like that in Oconahua were big buildings with high walls, an enormous courtyard, innumerable rooms, patios and many baths, with walls of stuccoed adobe or beautiful stones and everything sumptuously painted. Based on the
comments of Hernán Cortés, we know that a tecpan was home for the local ruler and his wives and likewise served as a government meeting center, with maze-like corridors, meeting rooms for historians, philosophers and poets, a treasury, rooms filled with weapons and quarters for royal wives, children, servants, cooks and visitors. Cortés says the palace was bustling with crowds of people: 600 nobles every day in addition to hundreds of guards, laborers, artisans, entertainers, judges, plaintiffs, warriors and zookeepers. Says Dr. Berdan, “The palace was meant to impress and intimidate royal visitors, whether friendly allies or fierce enemies. It surely did.”
According to expat Michelle Kelley, who lives in Oconahua, it’s possible for a group to get a tour of these ruins – in English – any day of the week. But it’s helpful to let them know in advance that you’re coming. This you could do by calling Kelley at 386-103-2387 or emailing her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The final goal of the Sabius excursion was the Agua Brava Park, located 4.5 kilometers northwest of the town of San Marcos.
Alas, after driving eight kilometers along a progressively worse dirt road, we found the “Park” deserted and its restrooms locked. Ouch! The reason, it seems, is that the level of the river mysteriously dropped some time ago, eliminating swimming and diving at Agua Blanca and leaving only wading.
That may mean one less attraction along the Tala-San Marcos highway, but still leaves at least 15 others. If you choose to check out the Palacio de Ocomo at Oconahua, you’ll find the route on Wikiloc.com under “Guachi 9 Tecpan,” or follow the directions below.
How to get there
Oconahua is located 33 kilometers northwest of Teuchitlán. You can get there from Guadalajara by taking Mexican Highway 15 west (toward Nogales) for 25 kilometers and turning left onto Highway 70 heading southwest towards Ameca. After 17 kilometers you’ll pass the large sugar refinery at Tala. One and a half kilometers later, turn right onto a road signposted Ahualulco. After 12.7 kilometers you’ll come to the Teuchitlán gas station (N20.68099 W103.84801), From Teuchitlán drive northwest on highway 70 towards Etzatlán. Turn left toward Oconahua when you are 6.4 kilometers past Etzatlán. The little town is just four kilometers to the south. Two blocks after entering the town (on Calle Matamoros) turn right onto Hidalgo and, just before the plaza, right again onto Independencia. Go four blocks to arrive at the ruins (located at N20.74553 W104.16425). If in doubt, ask anyone in Oconahua for El Palacio de Ocomo. The fee for visiting this site is only five pesos, but you may wish to contribute more than that in order to help beef up the local library/cultural center fund. Driving time from Guadalajara is about an hour and a half.
(Call Sabius at (33) 1872-4318 or find them at www.sabiusapp.com, if you want to teach a class.)