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Published: February 11th 2009
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Vanilla growing
Onza vanilla plantation owner Adrian showing us his vanilla bean crop. On our last day on Costa Esmeralda we had an opportunity to visit a vanilla plantation. Clair from Trailer Park de Alba was escorting members of the Vagabundo RV caravan and invited us to tag along.
This is the fifth time Clair has escorted caravans to Onza but the first time that the owner, Adrian, was there to conduct the tour. Adrian told us that he was of Dutch descent and the third generation owner of the farm. He spoke English with a slight European accent but was born and raised here in Mexico.
The tour was fascinating. As soon as we got out of our cars we could smell the aroma of vanilla. Vanilla beans grow in clusters on vines. Vanilla grows naturally in this area but to be of good quality it must be organically fertilized and grown in restricted sun. Adrian’s plants are grown in black mesh greenhouses and we were told that it is a very labor intensive crop to raise.
After the beans are harvested, they are placed on tarps to dry in the sun. While we were there a brief rain passed over. Workers gathered up the tarps and rushed them inside.
Adrian had several sheds containing neat rows of drying vanilla beans. The beans currently drying were picked in December and will be processed and packaged soon. Adrian told us that there are many other vanilla farms in the area and that he ships his product to Germany. Most of the vanilla sold in the United States comes from Madagascar.
There were several very strange looking trees with thorns as thick as an adult's thumb on their trunks growing on this farm. With an internet search they seem to be of the species chorisia speciosa although Clair called them by their common name which I can’t remember.
February 6th, we said goodbye to our great hosts at Trailer Park de Alba and continued on our trip. The drive to Veracruz took about four hours. The road was much better but not as scenic as before Costa Esmeralda. We passed numerous banana orchards and sugar cane fields. The panel trucks hauling cane are amazing. Their loads were stacked at least five feet above the top of the panels. Sure wouldn’t see that in California.
In the villages, a number of people were standing in the middle of the road
Onza vanilla plantation
Some of the workers with drying vanilla beans panhandling or selling drinks and snacks. It seems awfully dangerous. In one village we bought some delicious pineapple juice and in another we bought some peanut brittle like candy from a little girl about 10 or so. We haven’t figured out what their school day is.
Veracruz’s only campground is at least ten miles south of town. Campamento El Ray is on a bluff overlooking the beautiful Gulfo de Mexico. The water here is a deep blue.
Veracruz, with a population of about 500,000 is the oldest port city in the Americas and has survived attacks by Spain, France and the United States. The fortress Castillo De San Juan de Ulua still sits in the harbor. Also, part of the old city wall Baluarte de Santiago, built in 1635 to protect the city against pirates remains. We walked around the baluarte but did not take the boat tour to the fortress. Most of the buildings and churches in the central area are more than 150 years old.
The song La Bamba originated here about 300 years ago as a folk song.
Tour books describe Veracruz as having a distinctive flavor like Boston, New Orleans and San
Francisco but note that it is usually overlooked by tourists. Many of the buildings resemble those in New Orleans. We like the town. We think we could live here. It is the most modern and least grungy city we’ve seen in Mexico so far. The newer sections resemble Honolulu but Veracruz is not a popular location with expatriate Americans and Canadians either. Before we left home, we bought a copy of the book Choose Mexico for Retirement, now in its 10th edition believing that the book would help us understand the Mexican way of life and how to get along as a Gringos in Mexico.
Veracruz has Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam’s Club, Home Depot, Office Depot, Sears, most of the fast food joints including the ubiquitous golden arches. On Saturday and Sunday mornings we caught a bus into town. We passed the World Trade Center and a Mormon temple which is smaller than usual but standing in a typically prominent location where it can be seen by traffic in all directions. We saw a couple young missionaries. Couldn’t help thinking how their parents must have felt that they lucked out having their kids sent here instead of some excessively expensive
Onza Vanilla Plantation
Owner Adrian, our guide Clair with Dave and Connie, Vagabundo RV caravan wagon masters place like Scandinavia!
Veracruz’s malecon (seawall) and adjacent sidewalk run for miles along the waterfront. The central plaza is one of the oldest in North America. It is bordered on one side by the 17th century Palacio Municipal (City Hall) and on another by Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion built in 1721. There is a body entombed in a glass crypt inside the cathedral. We did not go near him. There are some things that one just does not need to see.
On Saturday, we toured the Mexican Naval Academy Museum housed in the old academy (on the way out of town, we passed their new academy in the village of Anton Lizardo) and had lunch at Gran Café de la Parroquia which was recommended by both AAA and our Let’s Go guidebooks. The cafe is supposedly famous for the way they pour coffee from high above the cup. My guy only raised his pot about a foot. We ate our dinner at El Torbellino recommended by Let’s Go where our Modelo Negros (beer) were 18 pesos and ceveche (Mexican shrimp cocktails) were 28. Both restaurants seem to be very popular with local families.
Sunday,
we returned to town to explore Mercado Hildago, selling almost everything from clothing, personal care and household items to fish and produce and all manner of meat products including some that will have men checking themselves to make sure that everything is still intact. We had ceveche and Modelo again for lunch while sitting on stools in the market place.
After lunch we walked a long ways along the malecon to the aquarium. The aquarium is fairly small but they must feed their fish very well because, I swear to God, this aquarium had the biggest fish we have ever seen, sting rays at least ten feet long with bodies the size of large kites, sharks at least fifteen feet long, plus some other guys that are the size of large humans. All of these behemoths were living in harmony with much smaller fish.
Mardi Gras must be a very big event here. The city has installed viewing stands for miles along the malecon for the nine days of parades and events leading up to Ash Wednesday.
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Candy
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Your Travel Guide
I enjoyed your recent posts and pictures. Very interesting. Even Mateo (Matthew) and Daniela (Dani) are travelling along with you via the blog! Certainly you noticed the name of the ship in the Veracruz Harbor (Tomcar). Perhaps you've got another traveller along on your trip and he was just making his presence known. I suspect he's acting as your travel guide. But, where was he when you had to back up to get out of the narrow residential street?!?