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La Martinica Hill

Sunday, April 25, 2004 | 0 comments

In the afternoon we took the bus from Xalapa to Banderilla, a short drive of about 15 minutes. The road to the hill is easily to find from the main street. An orange sign with "Ruta de la Niebla" and a street sign with "Martinica" on it, mark the beginning of the road.

Sign with hummingbird logo
Sign with hummingbird logo

After a short walk we noticed a sign with a hummingbird logo. I thought it was also a sign for tourists. And after a short walk we indeed saw a humming bird. Later the sign turned out to be the logo of a rancho.

We saw many tillandsias, some trees were literally covered with those air plants. We just followed the road. Now and then we saw strands of fog between the trees, which gives this type of forest its name: mist forest. When the trees became more dense, it gave a pleasant wet smell, like a normal forest after some rain. However, after a nice walk the road ended at a gate.

Two tillandsias attached to a twig
Two tillandsias attached to a twig

It was clear that the property behind the gate was private, so we walked back until we came at a t-junction.

T-junction, as seen from the direction of Banderilla
T-junction, as seen from the direction of Banderilla

We decided to follow the road to the right, as seen from Banderilla, to the left from the way to the gate. After a short walk there was a big open space with a lot of high grass, and a small hill to the left, also covered in grass.

I saw some small mounds in the grass, which looked a bit like ant hills. When I came close it was clear that some other animal had made those. Suddenly I saw something jump away.

Small frog
Small frog

Too big for a grasshopper. It was a very small frog. I made several pictures.

Close-up of the small frog
Close-up of the small frog

Esme asked if we could take it with us. But since we got a scorpion in the terrarium, that would be a bad idea. And I didn't want to let the scorpion free yet. So she took the little frog on her hand, and I made a picture.

The frog on Esmeralda's hand
The frog on Esmeralda's hand

We saw a small river to the right of the road, and followed the road. We found another gate, but it was clear that this one was only in place to keep cars out. After a short walk we saw a little lake, almost hidden from view, to our right.

A small lake, almost hidden from view
A small lake, almost hidden from view

Because it was getting late, we decided to go back after a short walk down the road. Also the mosquitos had discovered us, and decided they liked us.

On our way back we took some tillandsias with us from branches on the ground and some chopped down trees.

Also today

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