13 February 2010 Arriving at this campground, we were wondering just how far out in “no man’s land” we were. Hacienda Contreras RV Park is located about a 40 minute walk from Valle de Juarez and a 12 minute drive from Mazamitla. Other –wise if you were to look at the larger green field using Google Earth at the GPS location of: 19.94312N, 102.96779W you’ll find us.
Sal and Barb have a great campground here and are the “Host’s from Host’s Heaven”. From the moment we met them it was like we were “family”. The campground will hold the largest of large RV’s
Sal and Barb have a great campground here and are the “Host’s from Host’s Heaven”. From the moment we met them it was like we were “family”. The campground will hold the largest of large RV’s
and unlike most Mexican campgrounds, be able to supply a true 30amp service, great drinking water with tons of pressure, and an easy to get at dump at each of the large level sites. Do I sound like an advertisement, well it was… for $125 pesos a night you just can’t beat this place. The first day we just took the chance to be a little lazy until late morning and then we took a hike into Valle de Juarez. Jauarez is a small town with a wonderful plaza filled with activity. Standing high above the plaza is their architecturally beautiful church. We hiked into town to do a little shopping at the open air market and find a place for a quick lunch. With backpack filled and a couple of bags in hand, we headed back to the campground. No sooner had we started than a pick-up pulled alongside and Barb called us over and offered a ride back…”welllll OK”. On the way back, Barb was telling us about this great hike from Mazamitla that would take us down to a great waterfall. Waterfall, we’re interested…
hike, we’re interested… We were going to take the Minnie Winnie into Mazamitla but Barb and Sal thought we might be too large to make it through town, and besides, “we’ll be more than happy to pick you up and take you to the gate of the hiking area”. 9:30am and they were there to take us, so with backpacks filled, camera and extra batteries, and an extra jacket we were off. When we arrived in Mazamitla it was obvious why I shouldn’t have brought our little Minnie. Yes, we could have made it, but it would have been with a lot of inconvenience to us and those in town…these streets are REALLY narrow,
and with a car or pickup parked…it would have been tough. No sooner had we passed through the main part of town and we were heading down a steep cobblestoned road. Down, up, turn sharp left, up, and then down for ever… Finally we approached a gate. This is where we were to get out and start our hike. At first site I thought, “Well this isn’t going to be so bad”… It wasn’t until we had walked on that cobblestone for a couple of miles going down a steep grade that I started to know that this was going to be a real hike. Now the gate that was now a long way above us was set up for a “Community” of high-end country homes. It just so happened that the stream flowing through their property was the water supplying the waterfall we were going to see. So as we hiked on that cobblestone we were distracted by the beauty of most of the amazing country homes set before us. At the end of the cobblestone and about 3 miles of downhill torture, we finally find a dirt and stone trail leading further down to the upper area of the falls. This part of the trail really got steep as it stayed close to the falls until you reached the bottom.
Now, a couple of pictures, a deep breath (hoping to be able to catch one…) and start the hike in reverse. Remember, we’re still at 6500 feet and I’m really beginning to feel like I’m my age… As we start our return to town, we come upon a couple of good salespeople… Now Louise and I have never forgotten a time when we were hiking Mount Sinai In Egypt, and on the way up and down we were met by the “sales people” offering us an opportunity to “TAKE A CAMEL” to the top or the bottom…Well we had suffered so much after that hike that we always tell those that are looking at hiking Mt. Sinai to “TAKE THE CAMEL !!!”. Well sitting before us a salesman and he’s offering us a ride…a ride on a horse. I can hardly remember when I’ve been on a horse, and as far as Louise…she’s not a horse lover.
But, a quick assessment of our hike down on cobblestones, and the altitude…we’ll take the horse. Well first off, Louise has short legs and the stirrups just couldn’t accommodate her needs. Second, my stirrups wouldn’t allow my foot to slip in all the way because of the WIDTH (that’s a first…). So off we go.
Everything was going pretty well while going uphill (and that was 90 percent of the time) but when we had to go down…well we both were forced into the horn of the saddle with a constant jamming motion making it very uncomfortable, and my toes being the only thing I was holding on with were about ready to leave me. I don’t know how long we endured this torture but I’m still here to write about it and to tell you to “Leave the horse behind..”. I wasn’t too sure I’d be able to dismount, or if I could, would I be able to continue our hike out to the town center so that we could find a place to have lunch and enjoy a mighty big cerveza. The short of it is, we did make it to town, we did find a great restaurant, we/I had a huge cerveza, and we even took in a tour of the plaza
and this unique church of their's.
The people that live in and around Mazamitla love this town and those that travel from Guadalajara and beyond keep coming back because it is a great and beautiful place.