A short tour of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere delivered via Mental Sweat & your future tour guide, Armando. Find the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere a little outside of Tehuacan, Puebla, in the south of Puebla state and near Oaxaca state.
The trip would have been so different without Armando, our guide, who graciously shared his day with us visiting many landmark spots around the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve in Zapotitlan. His jovial, open personality made our day both educative and entertaining, and his services come with my highest recommendation! Reach him on WhatsApp at +522371069153 and organize your private tour today!
Armando, our tour guide, raising a toast in honor of a great day!
The first stop on our tour was a local rancher’s land, who opens his facilities to visitors for a modest $50 pesos. This was our first up-close look at the towering cacti of the region, learning how they all lean away from the north to protect their flowers. We scaled a metal watchtower and watched birds circle in the canyons, and then headed to lunch at a local restaurant specializing in dishes featuring cactus flowers!
I ate cactus flowers like these for lunch, believe it or not
Next door, as well as all over the valley, a store sold onyx figurines, sculptures and even sinks! The sinks and fixtures especially are spectacular, and an incredible value for anyone resourceful enough to organize transport home.
After lunch, we went to a palenque, aka a mezcal farm, named “Don Isauro,” and walked in the dry bed of a seasonal river picking up fossils, different colored quartzes (I left with white, blue, and red!), and taking in incredible landscapes. Then came the mezcal tasting featuring a specialty Tepestate mezcal unique to the region!
A unique variety of Tepestate agave found only in the biosphere
After gaining a slight buzz, Armando took us to his private land—a real treat. His family owns and protects a large parcel of pristine land outside Zapotitlan, where we walked up a hill, took a group photo, and enjoyed an immersive experience in this incredibly unique environment, which is one of the most biodiverse in North America.
Our final stop of the day was a salt mine north of Zapotitlan. We daringly drove down a steep, gravel road while astonishingly making it past other cars despite only one lane existing. The salt mines were hot and buggy, but also fascinating. One of the “jefes” of the salt mine escorted us around, telling us stories of how receding oceans left salt deposits where we stood.
Overall, this was a FULL day, and I cannot thank Armando enough for showing us around and saving our trip—considering how the government-operated portion of the biosphere park was closed.
Touring the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere is an off-the-beaten-track necessity for anyone traveling in Mexico, so don’t miss out on this opportunity!
And please remember to like, comment, and share!
Never stop breaking a Mental Sweat,
-Justin Markowitz
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