A poster came my way announcing an all-day excursion called “La Ruta del Colibrí,” The Hummingbird Route. It promised a three-part adventure + unlike any other, so I signed up and I must say they kept their promise.
This activity was conceived in Ahualulco de Mercado, located 60 kilometers west of Guadalajara. The residents of this small town have always known they were surrounded by curious and unique attractions. At last, they have decided to share some of them with the rest of the world.
We met in the town square at 7 a.m. I found that 16 people had signed up for the excursion, all who had obviously gotten out of bed before the crack of dawn.
The early start was de rigueur because the first item in the program is bird watching, and the best time to see birds is right after sunrise. Off we went in a van along a picturesque brecha (dirt road) which winds its way through a magnificent forest, up to one of the most extraordinary geological sites in the world, Las Piedras Bola: a mountain top covered with perfectly rounded giant stone balls bigger than golf carts.
We parked a kilometer and a half from the top and proceeded on foot. The leader of the group was biologist and self-taught ornithologist Julio Álvarez, who passed out binoculars to all.
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