Vultures (zopilotes in Spanish) are among the most conspicuous birds in many parts of Mexico. Commonly misidentified as eagles, these blackish scavengers can be seen almost anywhere, often in large flocks, either circling lazily overhead or feeding greedily on roadkill or other carrion. A few years ago, in the early morning mist at a municipal garbage dump […]
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The oldest winery in the Americas is in Parras de la Fuente In Mexico, vineyards and wineries exist in several states, including Baja California, Sonora, Zacatecas, Querétaro, and Coahuila. Wine experts usually claim that Mexico’s finest wines come from Baja California, but award-winning wines are also now emerging from the oldest winery anywhere in the […]
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Elvia Silva Bartolo believes her big ceramic pots have a pretty good chance of winning a prize at the 46th annual Tianguis y Concurso de Artesania de Domingo de Ramos on April 9 in Uruapan, Michoacán. Bartolo lives in the village of Zipiajo where she and other artisans practice an ancient Purepecha craft in which they make […]
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The Cathedral of Santiago in Saltillo faces the Plaza de Armas where young couples relax on iron benches surrounded by manicured gardens and children chasing pigeons. Streams of water rise from a fountain into gentle arcs in the sunlight, and a young man sells paintings of feathered Indians, the Virgin Mary, and Mexican villages with […]
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A cool waterfall rushes over rocks into a pool surrounded by Boston ferns, split-leaf philodendron and magnolias in the desert of the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. Turtles bask on the shore, iguanas stare through a window into the herpetarium in the next room, and dinosaur eggs lay nestled beneath lush foliage. The biodome of […]
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The Purepecha Indians throughout Michoacan have developed a tantalizing culinary heritage for centuries that still awakens the senses with its powerful aromas and flavors. In Uruapan, Morelia and other parts of the state, corundas and huchepos, both Purepecha variations of the tamale, eagerly await the opportunity to extinguish the hunger of visitors while imparting a delicious cultural experience. Of […]
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Inspired by the caricatures of lithographer Jose Guadalupe Posada, the elegant Catrina has her origins in Day of the Dead celebrations. Capula’s Catrinas arrived only recently. They stand in the doorways of this small quiet colonial town, Catrinas of every size and description decked out in flowered dresses and clenching flowers in their cratered teeth, plumed […]
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The paths are riddled with streams of water that exhale their sweet musty breath as they descend toward the river; the forest is bathed in a powerful mist, emboldened by its fragility where the thunder of rushing water courses through the consciousness of an eternal dawn. The moment you enter Cupatitzio Gorge National Park in […]
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David Santos Alonso massaged the clay flower pot as stinging smoke skulked from the wooden cooking area. Inside the kitchen, his wife Maria Lydia prepared tortillas on a comal over a brick fogon next to a pot of water. Cocuchas — tall clay jars crafed in the Michoacan town of Cocucho — rose from the concrete floor and opened into sensuous […]
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Martha López Luna gripped a fragment of hummingbird feather with tweezers and placed it delicately on her painting of the Isla de Janitzio rising over the lake. Pondering her arte plumaria — feather art — painting for a moment, she removed a small puff of raw umber feather from a jar and split the piece into tiny […]
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