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RosanaHart

Dec 3, 2004, 3:48 PM

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Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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Hi -- My husband and I will be going to Mexico in our little (Toyota Dolphin) RV later this month. We took it down there two years ago for 6 weeks, but this time have more like 4 months.

The first region we want to explore is the Huasteca area, loosely centered around Cd. Valles. This is not an easy region to find out about, and I've done a lot of googling. Also have searched the forums and the whole site here. As a former librarian, I've bought a big pile of guidebooks too. I have made online friends with a woman whose husband is from that area, and his family is expecting us to turn up in their village at some point. (We speak enough Spanish for basic conversations.)

Are there any places there that have a bit of an expat presence? This trip is kind of a quest to see what might appeal to us. Not right on the coast -- too hot for us. First we want to get away from the Colorado winters, later may want to make Mexico our home base.

TIA for any comments,

Rosana

"El Gringo Jalapeño"

Dec 8, 2004, 3:15 PM

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Re: [hartworks] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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Sorry, folks, unfortunately I have not been to the Huasteca in many years, and was only in the northern Veracruz part near Huejutla de los Reyes, Hidalgo.
I hope someone on the forum can give you more information. I will keep my ears open, too.
¡Feliz Navidad!
Roy B. Dudley "El Gringo Jalapeño" See more about Xalapa at www.xalaparoy.com

Ed and Fran

Dec 9, 2004, 4:26 PM

Post #3 of 15 (4023 views)

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Re: [hartworks] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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I'm going to offer just a couple of very general comments, because I don't think you're going to get any definitive response on this question here. In all the years I've been hanging around MexConnect I've never seen anyone post who said they lived in that area. There might be some, but if there are they don't post much.

I've been to, and through, Valles a number of times, but only as a casual visitor. If there are any significant number of expats there it wouldn't be anything that a casual visitor would notice. My guess is that here might be a couple, only because it seems that no matter where you look down here you'll eventually find an expat or two somewhere in the area.

It's certainly an attractive area with enough places to visit (very nice waterfalls) to make it interesting for a while. It never seemed to me that Valles was any cooler than Tampico. Maybe a bit less humid, but just as hot. jmho

The only place anywhere near Valles where you'd find a decent population of expats would be in Tampico, and most of them there are working for one of the petrochem firms that have plants in the area or working on a project in the area. Adrian, who posts here occasionally, lives in Tampico and has a business there. There are some farmers out north of town who have had large spreads there for years. There's nothing that resembles an Ajijic like expat club, or at least there wasn't when I lived there a few years ago.

I'm afraid that wasn't much help really. But I wanted to at least respond as I probably live closer to there than most of the regular posters on here (except Adrian).

Enjoy your trip,

Ed & Fran

raferguson

Dec 11, 2004, 5:21 PM

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Re: [hartworks] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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I have had a desire to visit the Huasteca for years, ever since we went to San Luis Potosi, and so many locals talked about the Huasteca. The Huasteca is an area known for ecotourism, including rafting. It is obviously not a popular destination for gringos, so I don't think that you will find an expat community there. I assume that you have heard about Xilitla. I am not sure if you know about the impressive missions in the Sierra Gorda of Queretero, most notably Jalpan, but am not sure if that is considered part of the Huasteca or not. If you are in the area, you should go to Tajin, near Papantla and Poza Rica. Have you seen the Voladores de Papantla? But I am talking about places that I really want to see, not places that I have been.

Unfortunately, if you have been researching diligently, then I imagine that you know more than I do. So my post is even less helpful than the posts of others. ;-)

Have fun, and post a report when you get back.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

RosanaHart

Dec 13, 2004, 4:51 PM

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Re: [raferguson] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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Thanks, Ed & Fran and Richard -- Well hopefully, pretty soon I'll be posting about the Huasteca! We are in San Antonio for a few days before heading into Mexico.

I must admit I am puzzled as to why it isn't a popular region. Ed & Fran's comments about the heat may be part of it... After several years of drought in Colorado, my husband and I are hungry for lush greenery.

Richard, your comments *were* helpful, if only in fueling the flames of my curiosity. My husband and I did get to El Tajin two years ago, and it was one of the high points of our trip. I liked it even better than Teotihuacan!

Here's a link to the first of three pages with photos I wrote about El Tajin. The voladores are on the last page.

Haven't been to Xilitla or Jalpan, thus far. Have been reading, though -- the most useful source I've come across is the out-of-date Moon Handbook title Northern Mexico, by Joe Cummings.

Rosana
www.mexico-with-heart.com

raferguson

Dec 14, 2004, 5:21 PM

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Re: [hartworks] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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If you are going to go to Jalpan and the Sierra Gorda, you might pick up the book by Richard Perry, Blue Lakes and Silver Cities. He has about a page or two on each of the missions, and some general discussion of the Sierra Gorda and its history. He has excellent books on the missions of Mexico.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

Adrian

Jan 12, 2005, 5:04 AM

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Re: [hartworks] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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A reading of 'A History Of Mexico' by Henry Parkes (Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1938), suggests that the paucity of Huasteca artefacts and culture in the present day is largely due to one Nuño de Guzman, who rounded the tribe up and shipped everyone out as slaves in the early 1520's.

Does that help?

Adrian
(in Tampico)

RosanaHart

Jan 12, 2005, 8:58 AM

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Re: [Adrian] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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Thanks, Adrian. He was one bad egg.

We've left the Huasteca now, after about 3 weeks based at El Banito, an old balneario/ trailer park just outside of Valles. The weather was very nice, but I think from April on through maybe October, the heat is not going to attract tourists. The people were very friendly. I posted links a few days ago in this forum to some blog articles about Las Pozas, Xilitla, and Aquismon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rosana Hart
http://www.mexico-with-heart.com

MARIA CUERVA

May 5, 2005, 3:22 PM

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Re: [hartworks] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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Hola. The Huasteca Potosina is a fabulous place to visit. To live there is to endure almost constant rain,high humidity,and heat that does reach 50 degrees celcius. Tarantulas, viboras,alacranes, vinagrillas. And all in the house at different times of year. It is the jungle after all. I go every year. Last year I took my dogs. They came back with a bad case of scabies. They can never go back there. You get the picture. Fabulous people. Primal nature. I forgot to mention the biggest flying cockroaches that my cousin the biologist(who lives there and is leaving as soon as she retires) has ever seen. She grew up in Mexico City and said she has never gotten used to the heat. They spray poison on everything to try to keep the creepy crawlies down.

(This post was edited by cuerva on May 5, 2005, 3:47 PM)

MARIA CUERVA

Aug 27, 2005, 5:43 PM

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Re: [hartworks] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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In the Huasteca Potosina they say their are only 2 seasons.
Invierno y Infierno. The climate is the only thing keeping these
beautiful and magical places pristine. But now you get an idea
of why the Spaniards suffered and died in these jungles.
I used to look at the pictures of my family in cotton stockings
and knitted lace collars in absolute awe! But of course it was only for
the pictures!My family came to get rich on the silver mines. Instead they ended up as Hacendados with huge tracts of land. They were a people of the coast who learned the songs of the jungle.

Bubba

Aug 28, 2005, 3:28 PM

Post #11 of 15 (3744 views)

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Re: [hartworks] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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You may want to check the mexico desconocido site, thay have a lot of good information on a lot of remote places.
There was sometimes a good program on Canal Once may be Sol y Aguilar on the musicians from the area really fascinating. You may be able to tract down something on the internet.

Bubba

Aug 28, 2005, 3:32 PM

Post #12 of 15 (3742 views)

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Re: [hartworks] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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check www.mexicodesconocido.com They have a site in English. If you enter huasteca it will give you a lot of information on the area the food culture etc. What I found was in Spanish but they may have it in English as well.

MARIA CUERVA

Aug 28, 2005, 4:09 PM

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Re: [Bubba] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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There is a distinctive and very pure melange of music in the Huasteca. They use instruments that are identical to the ones brought by the Spaniards, mixed with a little Caribe from the African slaves, a little Huastecan Indian. I claim all of that and more. To make a distictive sound and feel that is muy alegre. It makes you happy just to hear it. I have been tempted for a long time to buy a guitar or some of the more unusual stringed instruments. I hold back because I am not ready to give it my focus (maybe next year) and I worry that taking the guitars away from the humidity into a dry area might cause it to crack or alter the sound. They swear NO, that they have even gone to Sweden. My family is very well known and respected in the area and so I do not think they would lie to me but they might not know in fact what might happen. These are second and third generation instrument makers.
There is a fabulous radio station broadcasting out of Xalapa at the university that specializes in the various types of traditional musical styles of the region. You can hear it all the way in Xilitla.

"El Gringo Jalapeño"

Aug 28, 2005, 8:48 PM

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Re: [TATA CUERVA] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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Tata:
Another good source for Musica Veracruzana and Huasteca is at www.rtv.org.mx on Radio y Televisión de Veracruz.
¡Que la disfruten!
Roy B. Dudley "El Gringo Jalapeño" See more about Xalapa at www.xalaparoy.com

MARIA CUERVA

Aug 30, 2005, 9:11 PM

Post #15 of 15 (3684 views)

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Re: ["El Gringo Jalapeño"] Know anything abou the Huasteca?

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It is good to be back in the selva. As a child I spoke Huasteca, now I only know a few words. Out of Tancanhuitz there is a radio station broadcasting in the Huasteca language.