Mexico
Tuxtla Chico

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    • Day 26

      Exploring Tapachula City

      January 6, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

      Going to the beach — Playa Linda being not too far away — or visiting Laguna Pozuelos for a cruise amongst the mangroves. That’s what I had initially planned for our first port in Mexico. That changed when we saw on the Oceania Destinations Channel on TV that there was a shuttle into Tapachula City. We decided to explore a new-to-us city instead.

      Turns out that there is a shuttle, but it is not operated by Oceania. So the information was a bit misleading. (There was no mention of a shuttle in the Currents. Thus, I am guessing that the information on the destinations channel is an editing oversight.)

      At a cost of USD $10pp R/T, the locally operated shuttle was quite reasonable. After all, it would be taking us some 17 miles each way. The problem was that the first shuttle was at 10:00a and they insisted that we had to come back on the noon shuttle. Hmmmm! 30 to 45 minutes each way to get into the city … leaving us maybe 1 hour to explore. Plus, as the first two people off the ship, we’d have to kill at least 45 minutes before the shuttle departed. We already had a short day in port, with all aboard at 2:30p. No can do, we said.

      Instead of wasting time, we arranged for a R/T transfer at the taxi stand … more expensive at $30pp … but in this case, more efficient. We could have, of course, dropped that price down by sharing the cab (a van in our case) with others. But the few early disembarkers who were around were leery of taking a cab, concerned that the driver would leave them stranded in Tapachula City.

      No worries, actually, as our driver found a parking spot and just waited to pick us up from the designated spot at the designated time. He even asked if we wanted him to escort us around Tapachula, but we declined and went off on our own. (By the way, he spoke no English … which seemed par for the course for today’s visit, but he was very adept at using a translation app to converse with us, connecting his phone to the van’s radio so we could hear his questions.)

      The drive into Tapachula City was a pleasant one on a paved highway. Once we got into the city, the traffic was congested, but by 10a, we were off and wandering around Parque Central Miguel Hidalgo … in the heart of downtown. What struck us almost immediately was something unexpected. Yes, there were a lot of locals in the park. But there were even more immigrants — mostly men — who seemed to be of western African descent … seemed really odd on the Pacific side of Mexico.

      Two of the places of interest in the city overlook the park, so it was easy sightseeing, allowing us to get out of the brutally hot sun for some respite between sites.

      First we went in for a quick look-see at Iglesia San Agustin, dedicated to the patron saint of Tapachula … built in a neo-classic style and dating back to the mid-1800s … gleaming white in the bright sunshine. No elaborate decorations inside … a place of worship for the locals.

      Then we went to the Museo de Tapachula … housed in the art-deco style Old City Hall. Here we were greeted by music and dancing. Inside, we were shown the entrance to the museum. Everything was in Spanish, unfortunately, so we did not spend much time there. We did, however, on the second floor, enjoy a a display of the lacquer art for which the area is known and a temporary art exhibit by a Japanese artist.

      The surprise part of our time at the City Hall was a couple of special events … organized for the Oceania tour groups. A Maya ceremony in the courtyard and a Maya dance performance in a multimedia room. (The organizer of the latter event welcomed us to stay and watch the show when we told him that we were from the ship … though not part of the tour group.)

      We wrapped up by going into the new City Hall where the locals transact everyday business … on the other side of Parque Central. One of the English-speaking tourist reps at the Old City Hall had told Mui that there were two beautiful stained glass panels that we should see. Mural? Stained glass art? You don’t have to twist my arm to check them out. Definitely worth the stop.

      One of the things we wanted to do while in Tapachula City was to pick up pesos for the many Mexican ports we will be visiting as we make our way along the coastline … both on the way up to San Francisco and on our way down to South America. Having noted the banks overlooking Parque Central, we went to ScotiaBank first … only to have the ATM go out of service when we stepped up to it … we think the large family group ahead of us drained it of funds. Trying several other banks, where there were long lines waiting to use the ATM, we finally found a Banco Azteca on a side street. The line was short when we joined the queue, but quickly grew behind us. This time, we got our money … all is good.

      It was hot today. The city — 300,000-strong by last count — was crowded and noisy … we were amidst the hubbub of the locals going about their daily activities. Tourists were not in evidence, except when the Oceania tour buses made a quick stop en route to other destinations. English-speakers were few and far between, reminding us of our visit to Merida, Mexico in 1999 where our pigeon-Spanish, interspersed with a bit of English and some Italian, allowed us to get around unaided. The people of Tapachula City were incredibly friendly … smiling and offering greetings of welcome; apologetic when the language barrier prohibited them from being helpful.

      We really enjoyed our visit to Tapachula City and are glad we went there instead of going to the beach. Next time — and there will be another call here on the way south — we will have a longer day in port and will go see some ruins.

      (By the way, I had read that there would be operators at the port with whom tours could be arranged. None were there today for our short call. Perhaps that will change when we return on the way south. The taxi stand will arrange for tour-like trips as long as you know where you want to go, but whether you get an English-speaking driver is uncertain. Prices are pre-set.)
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    • Day 44

      Izapa & Chocolate City

      January 24, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

      On this, our second time in Puerto Chiapas on this trip, we ventured further out by booking a private experience with Nativo Tours (highly, highly recommended). Sonia and Boris joined us for what turned out to be a great tour … with Fabio, an informative and charming young man guiding us.

      Our first stop was the ruins of Izapa, a large pre-Columbian archaeological site spread out over a wide area. The various groups of the site are located on the properties of farmers and the like and have not been excavated by the government.

      Though it wasn’t on the itinerary, Fabio suggested we see if we could start at Grupo A, where there are numerous stele … including one that is known as the “Tree of Life.” Unfortunately, the site was locked up since no one was expected today.

      So, we went back to the original plan and continued onto Grupo F. Here, we visited the three-level pyramids and the pelote court where the Maya played a ball game using parts of their bodies other than the head, hands, or feet to get the ball through a ring. The rings at this court, believed to have been made of wood, are long gone. But Fabio still gave us a chance to play the game. We failed miserably. But in this instance that was a good thing … back in the day, the winners were sacrificed to the gods!!!

      From the ruins of Izapa, we continued onto Tuxtla Chico … a town whose name means “little rabbit.” This was definitely the highlight of our tour.

      We started off by visiting the Church of La Candelaria, which has an old altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin. I love these white-washed churches that date back to the Colonial Era. Fabio explained that the town is getting ready for the Fiesta de la Candelaria, which is celebrated between 23 January and 2 February. Unfortunately, the preparations extended into the central plaza where normally there would have been a folklore performance. Today, we had to be satisfied with seeing the colorful traditional costumes worn by the women.

      The next portion of the tour took us to the Chocolah La Parra house. Here, Doña Josefina, who has won awards for her chocolates in competitions in Italy and France, runs an artisanal shop and demonstrates the process of making chocolate by hand. It’s a small place where large tour groups cannot be accommodated, and today, we had the place to ourselves.

      The demo was a participatory experience, which we enjoyed tremendously … from roasting the cacao beans, to shelling them, and using a metate made from lava rock to make the paste that is then formed into cakes of chocolate. Yes, we got to taste (and smell) the fruits of our labor.

      To reward us for our hard work, we were then fed a traditional meal that included quesadillas stuffed with queso fresco (fresh cheese) and chicken tamales, which had olives and hardboiled eggs in the filling. Of course, the beverage we were served was freshly made hot chocolate … using just hot water to melt the incredibly rich and tasty chocolate paste.

      By the time we left Tuxtla Chico we were all sated to the gills and ready for some downtime. It was 92F by then … a refreshing shower on the ship was looking like a very attractive way of ending our day of touring in Puerto Chiapas.

      We have had some wonderful experiences in Mexico. Now, we are moving onto other countries.
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    • Day 11

      Puerto Chiapas. Iztapa and Chocolate

      January 24, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

      This is our first visit to Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. Our friends, Erin and Mui visited this port 2 weeks ago and managed to set up a private tour for 4 of us.

      We stopped to see ruins of Izapa. It is an archaeological site dated 2500 years ago. The sites located on land of farmers. These sites are not supported by government since the traffic to see them is not heavy and can not bring big revenue. And it is sad, since the sites will not survive for much longer.
      Our driver/tour guide Fabio was very knowledgeable and explained many traditions and believes. Too many to list here.
      We visited three level pyramids and tried the game Maya people played a game ball ( it weighted 5kg). Our ball was light. We need lots of practice to play that game.

      After the ruins of Izapa, we drove to Tuxtla Chico. The town was preparing for celebration, which will be between January 23 and February 2nd. The streets were colourful with little flags and umbrellas.

      We were looking forward to a performance, but could only take pictures of woman in costumes. Beautiful costumes and ladies.

      Our next stop was in Chocolate La Parra house. The owner, Dona Josefina has an little shop and demonstrates the process of making chocolate. She won competition in Italy and France.

      We had hands on experience on making chocolate. We roasted beans, shell them and then grind them by hand until it forms as a paste. Then we ate our own made chocolate.

      After getting pretty full eating 100 percent bitter chocolate, we were invited to eat traditional meal of quesadillas and tamales. The drink was hot chocolate.
      In addition to hot chocolate it was very hot outside. 92 degrees. We really enjoyed this tour.
      This is our last stop in beautiful Mexico.
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    • Day 67

      Tapachula (Tschüß Mexiko)

      May 26, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      Ich wollte heute unbedingt in Tapachula ankommen. Zwei Mal so lange Strecken hintereinander sind ganz schön anstrengend. Der Wetterbericht sagte für heute eine 6° höhere Temperatur als gestern voraus. Jede Verpflegungsstation bin ich angefahren und habe getrunken. Bei längeren Strecken greife ich auf meine 4 l Wasser auf dem Fahrrad zurück. Das schmeckt nicht, wenn es zu warm ist. Vielleicht hätte ich mit einem Teebeutel den Geschmack verbessern können.
      Die letzten beiden Stunden habe ich mich beeilt, weil sich Regen ankündigte. Wenn es hier regnet, dann ist es ein starker, heftiger Schauer, die Strassen werden zu Bächen und alles wird binnen kürzester Zeit klitschnass. Ich hatte noch 2,5 Kilometer bis zum Hotel und trotzdem hängt jetzt überall im Zimmer meine Wäsche zum Trocknen. Selbst meine wohl gehüteten Dokumente wie Reiepass und Impfpass sind nass.
      Nach den mir vorliegenden Informationen, habe ich mich entschieden den Bus nach Panama City zu nehmen. Das sind 3 Tage im Bus. So brauche ich nicht für jede Land zu überlegen, wie gefährlich die Situation dort ist.
      Leider war der Ticketschalter heute Abend schon geschlossen, als ich am Busbahnhof ankam. Somit werde ich erst morgen erfahren, wann ich den Bus nehmen kann. Zumindest habe ich mein Gepäck so umsortiert, dass ich für Morgen startklar bin. Ist die Klimaanlage im Bus zu gut, brauche warme Sachen, um nicht die ganze Zeit zu frieren.

      Es hatte sich ein ganz dünner Draht in den Mantel des Vorderrades gebohrt. Als ich das Loch gefunden hatte, habe ich ihn mit einen Kugelschreiber heraus gedrückt.
      Bis jetzt bin ich ungefähr 7.000 Kilometer gefahren.
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    • Day 68

      Municipio Tuxtla Chico

      May 27, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Ich hatte es mir schon gedacht, dass es irgendeine Unwegsamkeit geben muss. Aus meiner Sicht ist die Radtour bis jetzt zu glatt verlaufen, vielleicht ist meine Erwartungshaltung auch gering genug, um die bisherigen Schwierigkeiten als normal anzusehen. Zum Kern, in Costa Rica muss ich mir erst ein Ticket für die Fähre von Panama nach Kolumbien besorgen, bevor ich ins Land einreisen kann. Das sind die netten Sachen, die nirgends stehen und die auch nicht planbar sind. In den USA hatte ich die gleichen Schwierigkeiten, aber mein Fahrrad hatte Grenzbeamten dann überzeugt, dass ich das Land wieder verlassen will. Also werde ich in Costa Rica einen möglichst kürzeren Zwischenstopp machen.
      Ich bin heute Morgen um 5.00 Uhr aufgestanden, meine Sachen gepackt und war kurz vor 6.00 Uhr am Busschalter. Alles hat geklappt. Jetzt nach 8 Stunden im Bus stelle ich fest wie anstrengend das Stillsitzen ist.
      Planänderung, ich kaufe hier ein Busticket zurück nach Tuxtla Chico und kann dann in Panamacity meine Weiterreise in aller Ruhe planen.

      Falls es in den nächsten Tagen keinen weiteren Reisebericht gibt, dann liegt es am Internet.
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