Columns

Not long ago I got a call inviting me to fly over the Salt Flats of Sayula in a tiny aircraft called an ultralight, which I learned is a kind of Delta Wing with a small engine and room for two persons. It has three wheels and is also called a trike.

Many years ago I heard a rumor that there was a “man of letters” living in the hills near Atemajac de Brizuelas, high above the salt flats of Sayula. “His name is Alfredo and he’s been living in a cabin all by himself for 15 years,” a friend told us.

Curious to meet a modern-day hermit, we climbed a bumpy dirt road to a lonely area full of tall pines. At an altitude of 2,700 meters, we came to a small, rustic shack. Yes, it was the home of Alfredo the Hermit but he was hardly alone. Seven or eight visitors were seated with him on stumps and logs behind his cabin and – hard to believe – all were  engaged in a lively discussion of the nature of time.

“You have to visit La Estación Bicicleta,” I was told again and again by friends who know the Primavera Forest well. “It’s such a cool place and they have a restaurant, too.”

Isabel Island is located 34 kilometers off Mexico’s western coast. It is a wildlife refuge with a population of some 42,000 birds and in 2003 was named a World Heritage Site. Because the birds and iguanas on the island have no natural enemies, human visitors can get quite close to them, for which reason the island is sometimes called the Galapagos of Mexico.

Jaime Villa is a farmer who decided two years ago to start a wildlife sanctuary in the foothills of the Tequila Volcano. “The land,” he explained, “belongs to our ejido and it’s too rocky for farming. However, it’s extraordinarily beautiful and home to all kinds of animals and birds. So we applied to the government to set up a Management Unit for Wildlife Conservation (Unidad de Manejo para la Conservacion de Vida Silvestre or UMA) on 433 hectares of the land and our petition was granted. During the last two years, with the help of a grant, we’ve created a nature trail 350 meters long, a site for camping and picnicking, a hanging bridge, and a mirador with a spectacular view.”

I was about to start a game of racquetball with my friend Rodrigo Orozco when his cell phone beeped. The text message was from an unknown caller. “I’ve been bitten by a tarantula. What do I do?” were the words on the small screen.