One of the reasons why the Spaniards eventually located the capital of Nueva Galicia in the place where we find it today, is the semi-tropical climate at the bottom of the Santiago River Canyon, which in many places is 500 meters deep.
“Carajo!” they surely must have exclaimed, “We’ll be able to enjoy a coconut anytime we want, without having to walk all the way to the coast!”
One of the many orchards they planted along this very long, deep canyon, is on the grounds of what is now called the Ex-Hacienda de San Antonio, located 46 kilometers northwest of Guadalajara, between the towns of Amatitán and Tequila.
Some years ago, I visited this orchard with Botanist Miguel Cházaro, who introduced me to the strange blue tomato plant and exotic trees such as the zapote negro, breadnut, bonete, mamey and the truly bizarre Cuastecomate or Gourd Tree (Crescentia alata) which produces a gorgeous yellow flower with blood-red veins and a large, perfectly round green gourd about the size of a large apple. What’s bizarre is that the flowers and fruits do not hang from the branches but grow directly on the tree trunk, like warts on a witch’s nose.
When my friend Erik Peterson recently invited me to join him on a family trip to the Huerta de San Antonio, all I could say was, “When do we leave?”
The former hacienda can only be reached via a very steepbrecharoad six kilometers long. You need a vehicle with high clearance and rear-wheel drive. About halfway along the road, we came to a huge truck completely blocking the way. To our surprise and delight, we saw that the hillside above the truck was full of jimadores, men specialized in slicing off the long, pointed spikes of the blue agave with a flat-bladed coa, transforming it into the piña from which tequila is distilled.
Never had any of us seen jimadores at work. This was a rare opportunity.
“You don’t know how rare,” the foreman told us. “Nowadays this work is done entirely by machines. But those machines require a nice flat field of agaves. For this rocky hillside, we still use the traditional jimadores.”
Well, that made my day. All the rest was frosting on the cake.
On arrival at the ex-hacienda, we found no one, climbed over the fence and walked 700 meters to La Canoa, a spring-fed waterhole surrounded by trees which supplied us with shade as well as grapefruits. The water was cool, delicious and deep enough for diving, while up above us flew playful, squawking magpies (Pica pica) and yellow-winged caciques (Cassiculus melanicterus). After bathing and picnicking, we followed the stream to a huge amate or strangler fig (Ficus petiolaris) tree which, long ago, wrapped itself around its host and entirely engulfed it. Today, the extensive root system of this tree has formed a natural bridge, beneath which the waters from our swimming hole rush another 70 meters northward to suddenly plunge down to the canyon floor in a roaring waterfall.
The complete driving-walking route to this little paradise is on Wikiloc.com under San Antonio Tree Bridge. Don’t forget to bring bug repellent and your swim suit, even in the middle of the winter, because it’s almost always hot and muggy in this orchard and believe me you’d regret not taking a dip in that heavenly pool.
How to get there
Take old Highway 15 (libre) northwest from Guadalajara toward Tequila. Check your odometer as you pass under the overhead pedestrian bridge in Amatitán. At 6.15 km from Amatitán you’ll see a Pemex station. About 150 meters after it, you must turn right onto a dirt road (N20.87516 W103.80677) heading north. About 1.6 km from the highway you come to a crossroads. Go straight ahead. At 2.6 kilometers from the highway you come to a Y and you must take the left fork. After this, stick to the main road and don’t turn off it. After about 6 kilometers from the highway, you’ll see the ex-hacienda (N20.90900 W103.80541) down below you. The roof is topped by a dome and a little tower. It should take about 20 minutes to reach the ex-hacienda from the highway. Total driving time from the Guadalajara Periférico: about one hour.