I’m half way through my trip in Mexico. I started in Tuxtla, the capital of Chiapas, last week and will stop today in Campeche in Yucatan on the Gulf of Mexico. How different are the people, the soils, the climate, the weather and the landscapes of each locale. It’s as diverse as going from Bonny Doon to Pasitiempo to Scotts Valley and then to San Lorenzo valley.

Well, maybe we don’t have alligators and monkeys in our gardens as the people of Canon de Sumidero might have to deal with. But with 50" of rainfall each year they grow bougainvillea, bananas, dates, native succulents and a tall cactus. The residents of the town of Chiapa de Corzo had "sustainable" gardens. At this higher elevation, most people grow what they could eat. Maize, citrus and fava beans are in nearly every small garden plot.

The people of San Cristobal de las Casas, a large city at 7000 ft., grow a little bit of everything. Some plants are cultivated like angel trumpet, impatient oliveri, marigolds and some are native like sunflowers and santivalia. The residents who live in the center of the city have their gardens in courtyards behind large walls which is traditional in Latin countries. Boungainvilleas are common despite the cold weather. It must not actually freeze in the in winter as they were happily growing everywhere.

Nearby, a village called San Juan Chumala had dozens of greenhouses all growing marigolds. The Indian people use lots of these flowers as traditional decorations in religious ceremonies. They are also used extensively on the Day of the Dead which follows Halloween. Every small house grows marigolds as well as maize, squash, fava beans and other edible greens. Long haired black sheep are also common and their wool used in a type of pancho worn by many of the men and in women’s skirts. I also saw fuchsias, tree dahlias and cosmos growing outside houses and small restaurants. Pine tree forests are plentiful at this altitude.

Further up in the mountains in Los Altos de Chiapas, as the area is called, apples grow.  The elevation is 9000 ft. Red clay soil supports pointsettias that are blooming at this time of year.Canna lilies and celosia are commonly grown and the pine trees sported tillandsias and bromeliads in the nooks of the branches. Every garden contained coffee bushes instead of maize here. Asclepias, or butterly weed, grow here but I didn’t see any monarachs.

Passing the continental divide and descending down to sea level on the peninsula, the weather turned more tropical, although still mild at this time of year. The ceiba tree, the source of kapoc for stuffing pillows, is native to this region. Bromeliads, tillandsias, lilies, elephant ears, bougainvillea, coffee, coleus, impatiens and marigolds are typically grown around the house. Scarlet runner beans, morning glories, ficus trees, banana, pineapple, avocado, papaya and gum trees are also common. Red clay soil is typical here, too.

Past the tropical rain forest of Palenque, the Maya ruins, we enter the flat cattle grazing lands in the east part of the state of Tabasco and continue on to the state of Campeche. Cattle egrets by the hundreds gather in the fields. Banana, mango and sugar cane surround small ranch houses. If you live by one of the large rivers, apparently you need to beware of the alligators, especially after a rain. Small, bluish palms are grown to mark the long driveways leading up to the house and horse corrals. Coconut palms, mango, citrus and orchards of "custard apples" grow beside the road. One house was surrounded with potted plants although this is not usual. Blooming water lilies cover some of the numerous ponds. Rainfall here is 70" per year.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my travels in Mexico as I travel in the Yucatan peninsula from Campeche to the ruins of Uxmal, the city of Merida, the fishing village of Celestun and finally Playa del Carmen on the Caribbean.