A Non-Existent Petrified Field

In the tourist brochures that we have read about Mascota, a petrified field called Malpais is mentioned as being a place to visit.

From a Puerto Vallarta tourist information website it says:

“The petrified field at El Malpaís is located a mile northeast of Mascota. It is said that during a day of strong volcanic activity the whole place was covered with ashes and lava. There is a legend that states that people have found a fruit orchard in the middle of the fields, they'd eat some of the fruit and later when they'd try to find the place again, they couldn't.”

For the past week, we have wanted to see that field. One farmer asked us if we were talking about
the pile of black rocks. I guess that we were. One brochure even said that the area was a park.

So today, we walked to the park. At one time, the whole area that we were walking in was owned by a landlord who had a hacienda called San Nicolas. Now the hacienda is pretty run down and several families live in the remains of the big, old house. But just up the road, there are many lovely homes built on sizeable properties. There are some very nice cabins that can be rented also. The views are beautiful.

As we walked past a treehouse with a satellite dish and a big deck, two dogs decided to join us - a black lab and a small white dog. That was cool. They led the way.

Well, we walked and walked. No petrified field in sight. Lots of cows and horses and farmlands... nothing petrified. Finally we reached the end of the road. We couldn’t go any farther.

A farmer was working in his field and he came over to talk to us. He told us that the land was private and there was no park. He figured that it was information to draw people to the area but a park certainly didn’t exist. Hmmmn

He was a really nice guy though and asked us if we had felt the 4.7 earthquake that shook buildings for 5 seconds last night. Nope we didn’t. Maybe we did but thought that it was a truck rumbling by on the cobblestone road. I checked though and he was right.

He proceeded to tell us all about the history of the area and about the government and all sorts of other things. I guess that he was dying to talk to someone. He did live out in the boonies. We couldn’t take the biting flies or mosquitoes anymore so said adios and walked back home along that lovely road.

All in all, we walked 9.75 km. It definitely was not a 1 mile walk north of Mascota! And ... no petrified field... It’s Mexico...Read more