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Coughs, Coconuts and Coffee in Huatusco, Veracruz, Mexico

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Location
Corpus Christi, TX
Bato wasn't looking well when he showed up Sunday evening at the hotel in McAllen, the night before leaving for Mexico. He was feverish and coughing but was determined to go along when I left for Huatusco Monday morning. He did decide he had too much gear along and left his top trunk and saddlebags at the hotel, only taking along his strap-on duffel bag.

I was making my fifth annual winter trip to Huatusco to visit my friends, Manolo and Hortensia and this time, Bato wanted to come along, definitely improving my wife's outlook for the trip. She doesn't like my travelling solo in Mexico, even though I've now invested in half a SpotTracker. My first farkle!

We left the hotel shortly after 7:00 Monday morning, gassed up and bought some pesos before hitting the Pharr-Rio Bravo bridge. Both of us had our travel papers, so once the gate let me through on the Mexican side, we were on our way.

Bato's ride:

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Rocinante II: (This is a photo-Guzzi.)

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I've said it before, the Pharr-Rio Bravo bridge at the end of Business 281 in Pharr is one of the best places to cross the border if you're heading south from the border. The bypass around town is complete and gets you out of Reynosa without having to deal with any of the traffic. I had a pleasant surprise at the toll booth when we were charged just half of the toll for cars, 3 pesos instead of 7. Google maps shows the road, but won't route me on it.

The fellows at the aduana checkpoint south of Reynosa wanted to see our bike papers, but then we were on our way. Our first stop was a break at the Pemex where Hwy 97 hits 101. Bato got one of the locals to tighten up his rearview mirror on the bike.

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We stopped for gas in Soto la Marina, about 175 miles south of the border and ran into two fellows riding their motorcycles on a trip to Mexico. Turned out they were two Russian brothers. One lived in Iowa and spoke English. His brother settled for a handshake.

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They warned us about road construction south of Soto la Marina and said it had been raining when they came through 2 days earlier. One of the guys had dumped the Vulcan twice in a muddy bit. I thought, "What do Russians know about bad roads?"

When we hit the construction zone, things had dried out nicely. Other than being surprised when we crested a hill at 70 and found ourselves riding in loose gravel, we made it through just fine. In Aldama, another hour down the road from Soto, we stopped for lunch at the Super Creme.

We hit the main highway a bit north of Tampico, took the beach road to avoid the downtown traffic, crossed the bridge over the Panuco and continued on South. Traffic was tied up at one point and it turned out a heavy load had shifted on a lowboy and several cranes were on hand to get things sorted out. Bato chatted up the Federale while we waited for things to clear.

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When they reopened the road, the police let us through first and we had miles of open highway before finally catching up to other traffic headed South.

As dark approached, we stopped at the Hotel San Carlos on the South side of Cerro Azul.

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After checking in, Bato wanted to find a doctor to see if he could get some medicine for cold/flu or whatever he had that was making his trip a rough one. We caught a taxi downtown and after a few minutes wait, Bato was in to see the doctor, then off to the neighboring pharmacy for the medicine, then back to the doctor for a shot. I passed the time buying some platano chips street vendors were frying up in the park, dosing them with hot sauce, and plowing my way through the bag. After a sample, Bato decided he liked them, too, and wound up eating half of them. Next time he can buy his own bag.

Back at the hotel, we had some supper at the Restaurante San Carlos and called it a day.

Maybe if we're lucky, Bato will include some of his own pictures and write-up of the trip.
 
The next morning after breakfast, we continued on our way. We took the detour around Tuxpan, going through Alamo instead and I stopped at the fruit stands to buy some mandarin oranges and platanos to take along with me to Manolo and Hotensia's place. Then we hit the toll bypass to take us around Poza Rica.

Had a bit of trouble finding Premium gas in Gutierrez Zamora. I guess the tanker was late showing up and everybody was out, so we settled for 10 liters of Magna instead. I was happy to see the goose was getting just better than a peso a mile when it came to gas mileage. That's how I estimate fuel costs for the trips. Bato's Beemer was burning just a bit more.

On the Costa Ezmeralda, we stopped for a coconut water and a couple pictures on the beach. As is usual for January, it was pretty deserted.

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Some of the visitors were rather scary-looking.

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By about 1:30 or 2:00, we'd made it to Manolo and Hortensia's house. They hadn't met Bato before, but made him welcome anyway.

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After some lunch, we paid a visit to the park. The Nativity scene was still up.

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It included an ark's worth of animals and a bridge.

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And the local tree-trimming crew is usually pretty creative.

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I have no idea what this was about.

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The evening included a visit to the Cafeteria Huatusco, where Manolo and Hortensia's daughters were minding the store.

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And we stopped for a visit with Marcelo, who had a shop around the corner. Unfortunately, I caught Marcelo with his eyes closed and a flat tire.

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Bato was displaying some nesting tendencies.

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I always enjoy my time in Huatusco.
 
Our Wednesday Ride

Wednesday morning was clear, so it was time for a few rooftop pictures. I know I post many of these same shots time after time. I'm not a very creative photographer. Please bear with me.

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Manolo borrowed a bike from a friend and we went for a short ride to Colonia Manuel Gonzalez, about 10 miles from Huatusco. It's a pretty little pueblo.

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On the ride back, Bato was shooting some video with his helmet cam. Maybe he can post it. It's a pretty ride through some coffee country.

Bato had made arrangements for us to meet up with MikeMike from Veracruz, who was escorting some other riders through the area. We caught up with them at Los Cucuyos, a tourist hotel on the outskirts of town.

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MikeMike is a Canadian who has lived in Veracruz for 15 years or so, knows the area like the back of his hand and is more than willing to play tour guide for riders coming through the area. The local tourist board should keep him on retainer.

We rode through the town of Tecolutla, [actually Totutla; Ed] down the mountain northeast of Huatusco, and made our way out to Puente Nacional, where we were to have lunch. A few miles of the road were under construction and I was working hard trying to keep up with MikeMike on the dirt with the street tires on the bike. Two of the riders got separated from the bunch, took a wrong turn and wound up in one of those "You can't get there from here," situations. Communications were spotty due to limited cell phone coverage, but we found out they were OK and would eventually make it to Puente Nacional. We had lunch at the very nice hotel down by the river.

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Bato had made arrangements to meet an old family relation in Xalapa, so we headed up there from Puente Nacional. The toll road to Xalapa does not believe in giving bikes a break on tolls. We fought our way across town in the 5:00 traffic and met Bato's family member at Asadero Cien for an early dinner after a late lunch. The arrachera was terrific. After the visit, we backtracked back to Puente Nacional, then rode up the hill to Huatusco, not wanting to go up the Tecolutla [again, Totutla;Ed] road in the dark.
 
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Thursday Coffee Country Loop

We left Huatusco Thursday morning with Bato, Manolo and I on bikes following Felipe in his government pickup to see some of the coffee-growing in the area. My trip report from two years ago covers coffee processing in some detail, so you can refer to it if you want a refresher.http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54766

Sacked coffee at a beneficio near Huatusco:

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When they're hauling off the coffee hulls, the juice can really slick down a road.

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I'm not sure their wiring is up to code.

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Sacking up the coffee.

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Past the coffee beneficio, the road drops down into a narrow canyon, called a barranca by the locals. The road was concrete with lines scored across it for traction.

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I told Felipe the river at the bottom looked like it would make a good trout stream. He said someone had put in a trout hatchery and stocked the river, but rains and flooding after a hurricane washed everything away.

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There were still weaver bird nests in the trees at the bottom of the canyon.

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On the way out the other side, we ran into several members of Felipe's co-op, Ocozaca, who were spreading compost on their land and had cut several stalks of bananas.

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The Ocozaca folks hadn't started harvesting their coffee yet. They were waiting for it to get just a bit riper before they started.

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Heading for the Ocozaca beneficio, my bike hit a bump in the road and immediately started running poorly. I stopped in the villiage we were approaching and found the fuel line had come disconnected from the tank, spilling about a gallon of gas over the hot engine and all the electrical stuff under the seat. We reattached the fuel line using some safety wire Felipe found at a neighbor's, and the bike was running again.

After giving us the tour of the beneficio, Felipe showed us the training center the co-op members built next door.

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There's a French company that has fallen in love with the Ocozaca organic coffee, buys up all they can grow, and pays the co-op members to train other coffee growers in their organic growing techniques. Felipe and two other members travelled to the island of Sao Tome and Principe (off the western coast of Africa) the previous year and spent a month there, working with the local coffee growers, all expenses paid by the French coffee importers.

Manolo mentioned that the number 1 grade of coffee goes to Europe, number 2 is sold to the US and Mexico keeps what's left. The Ocozaca coffee quality puts it at the top the export coffee market. By the way, that's what Manolo and Hortensia serve at their Cafeteria Huatusco. They're the only people with access to the Ocozaca coffee in Mexico. So, if you happen to be riding through the area and want a world-class cup of coffee, stop in at the Cafeteria Huatusco for a grande.

We then rode up the highway a bit to visit some of the Ocozaca women's flower-growing efforts. I always enjoy visiting the family. For some reason, they remind me of my wife's folks.

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A laundry facility for the coffee-cutting crews. (They're referred to as "pilas" as Milton mentioned recently in another Mexico trip report.)

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From there we rode out to Coscomatepec for a late lunch at the Restaurante Boulevard, then back to Huatusco. Total distance for the day, less than 40 miles. I really appreciate Felipe taking the time to show us around.

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Friday - Down to Veracruz

Another morning shot of Orizaba.

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Bato wanted to visit Veracruz (the city) before we headed home and had made arrangements to meet up with MikeMike again for some lunch in town. We said "goodbye" to Manolo and Hortensia, saddled up and took the back way through Colonia Manuel Gonzalea to Veracruz.

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On our way there, approaching the town of Soledad de Doblado, I followed some cars who looked like they were taking a shortcut. We encountered one of the more unique bridges I've ever seen. This is a railroad trestle with ties laid crossways on an under deck to make a lane for cars. It's only wide enough for one-way traffic, so signal lights at each end control the traffic flow.

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This is the top of the bridge.

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In town, MikeMike had recommended the Hotel Rivoli as it was near where he lived. After a lap or two around downtown, Bato paid a taxi to lead us to the hotel. Once we checked in, I let another friend, Adrian, know we were in town and he and MikeMike showed up to have some lunch with us. Both being bikers from Veracruz, they already knew each other.

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We wanted some seafood on the beach and wound up at Mariscos Villa Rica on Adrian's recommendation. I indulged in some conch ceviche. While we were eating, some Mexican army officers showed up for lunch. They stationed security on the beach while they were eating and had several pickup loads of soldiers watching the front of the place.

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After lunch, Bato wanted to have his footpegs and shifter adjusted so MikeMike took us by the local bike shop of Rafael, a BMW factory-trained mechanic who's originally from Spain.

Rafael adjusted the shifter to Bato's liking, then also adjusted the suspension on the bike, which Bato really appreciated as the trip went on. I had Rafael look at my fuel line connection and he got the quick-connect connecting again, then used some tie-wraps to make sure it wouldn't come loose again.

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We stopped by MikeMike's house for a bit and he told us stories of riding in the area, then it was back to the hotel. In the evening, Bato and I took a taxi downtown to see the Los Portales area. Colonnaded buildings line several blocks of a street that's closed and reserved for pedestrians. Garishly lit tour buses were circling the area. A town band was playing on the square and couples were dancing. Restaurants had tables set out in the street, but there were not many diners. After wandering around for a while, we taxiied it back to the hotel for a late supper and off to bed.
 
Saturday - Sunday, the Ride Home

In the morning, I woke up with a fever, sore ribs, and a cough. It looked like Bato's condition had caught up with me. I never should've shared those platanos with him in Cerro Azul.

The day before, MikeMike mentioned he would be leading another biker on a day ride, heading north out of Veracruz in the morning. If we wanted, we could ride the first 40 miles or so with them before we parted ways.

Trevor is an Australian who's been living in the US and decided he needed to take an extended vacation and ride his Super Tenere down to Ushaia, at the southermost tip of South America. He said he planned to take a year off, but after 3 months on the road, he was still in Mexico, so he wasn't sure how long he would take before reaching Ushaia.

The fellow in the pink shirt is a former English student of MikeMike's who happened by while we were getting ready to go.

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Trevor's blurry Tenere (too early in the morning for the camera to be awake, I guess).

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MikeMike gave me an education in Mexican riding pace on our way out of town. We were barreling down the divided 4-lane highway at about 90 mph and got passed by a VW Jetta. I decided I'd been riding much too slowly in Mexico to this point. If you can see the topes in time, 90 mph is fun!

About 20 miles north of town we detoured off the road to the beach. MikeMike said this was the spot where Cortes had landed with his boats and men. The boats weren't there anymore. Cortes burned them.

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From there, we had some breakfast a bit further up the highway, then parted ways, MikeMike and Trevor turning inland, Bato and I heading up the coast. The ride home seemed to go fairly quickly. At least I don't remember much of it. We ate lunch in Ozoluama at Restaurante La Guera, formerly called Restaurante California, then headed north again. We took the beach road to get by Tampico and I got a picture of a gate that I'd always wanted to take a picture of.

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We were hustling up the highway, trying to make it to Soto la Marina and through the construction zone before dark, which we managed to do. In Soto, we checked into the Hotel Rey. Bato said it was the cheapest hotel he stayed in in his life. At that, it's the best Soto la Marina has to offer. And it had wireless internet like every other place we stayed.

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Checking the weather in the morning showed a cold front already reaching McAllen, so I bundled up before leaving town. Bato didn't, so we had to make a stop about 20 miles up the road for him to gear up.

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We were back across the border by about 1:00 in the afternoon and Bato returned to the hotel in McAllen for his gear, while I headed up the highway to home. With my cold and cough, the weather was the coldest 58 deg. I have ever ridden in. It was good to make it back to the house.

I sure enjoyed the trip, in spite of returning home sick. I'll get over the cold but still have the memories of my trip to Huatusco. Thanks for riding along.
 
Great title, Andy! Take a bow for that one.
Just one correction, the town we went through on the Wednesday ride (where I, shall we say, "led the group astray down a one way" after the gas stop) was Totutla and not Tecolutla. Tecolutla is farther up the coast. No worries, there are plenty of towns here with a "T" and an "ula" or two in the name.
Totutla is one of those "junction" towns here, good location between the canyon that leads to Jalcomulco and the hills that lead to Huatusco, and the bus route from Conejos to the east.
 
Great! RR Andy.,
I recently acquire the little gopro camera so I'm just starting to learn how to play with it ... Here chasing you !
[ame="http://vimeo.com/58292002"]http://vimeo.com/58292002[/ame]

More coming soon
 
Thanks Andy! Heal up fast, brother! I like to see Bato's SMILE!! :clap: :sun:
 
Uno mas clip
[ame="http://vimeo.com/58293064"]http://vimeo.com/58293064[/ame]
[ame="http://vimeo.com/57178921"]http://vimeo.com/57178921[/ame]
[ame="http://vimeo.com/57517266"]http://vimeo.com/57517266[/ame]
 
Bato,

Those helmet can videos are great, especially the last one heading down into the barranca by Huatusco. Post more, please. And some pictures. We both know who the better photographer is.

MikeMike,

You're right on the geography. I needed my glasses when looking at the map. And I'm a believer in catchy titles. I like to think they get more views. BTW, you promised me a trip guide for Veracruz...

Gravel Guy,

I'm feeling much better now, thanks.

To continue the ramble, Mexico seemed calmer this trip. I've yet to encounter any problems, but there seemed to be more traffic on the roads in Tamaulipas and more gringos willing to go riding in Mexico. I'm happy to see that. It's just that all the riders seem to be gentlemen of a certain age.
 
thanks for the ride Andy! It's amazing what you can do in 6 days. I was following along on the map and Huatusco is spelled Huatuxco on this one - I think it's the same town - seems Mexico maps have a few different spellings.
Great report! :clap:
 
Altas Montañas Region of Veracruz where they grow coffee & bananas mostly
on top of the Montaña go full screen
[ame="http://vimeo.com/58303905"]http://vimeo.com/58303905[/ame]
Here is the trail of the video we working on
[ame="http://vimeo.com/58311519"]http://vimeo.com/58311519[/ame]
 
The movie trailer looks like pro work!......what would you do without your talented daughter?

:sun:
 
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Great trip!

Raul - When did you get the GS? Is it just a low seat option?
 
The movie trailer looks like pro work!......what would you do without your talented daughter?

:sun:
You are killing me, don't want to go there :giveup:

Great trip!

Raul - When did you get the GS? Is it just a low seat option?

Hey Scott! it was August 2011 when I trade the Harley for this one., Is the Low Sargent seat on a small frame had to be able reach the ground

BTW want to thank : Andy,Manolito,MIKEMIKE,Adrian ,Trever,Rafael and the primo in Jalapa for such a good time
I'm working in some pictures that will post soon
 
You are killing me, don't want to go there :giveup:



Hey Scott! it was August 2011 when I trade the Harley for this one., Is the Low Sargent seat on a small frame had to be able reach the ground

BTW want to thank : Andy,Manolito,MIKEMIKE,Adrian ,Trever,Rafael and the primo in Jalapa for such a good time
I'm working in some pictures that will post soon
My sentence was poorly worded, Raul. I'm sorry. :oops:
I saw your daughter's name on the trailer credits and it made me think of the fact that my 14 YO daughter would have to do ANY film editing for me, because she is so much better than me with computers. Bless you Bato. :sun:
 
My sentence was poorly worded, Raul. I'm sorry. :oops:
I saw your daughter's name on the trailer credits and it made me think of the fact that my 14 YO daughter would have to do ANY film editing for me, because she is so much better than me with computers. Bless you Bato. :sun:

Is here visiting, moved to Mexico City I do have a hard time when she is not around ...They suddenly grow up watch out :trust:
No big deal !
 
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