Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Sierra El Travesano Ravine hike

Sorry this is so late.  Three members of my immediate family passed last year.  As we get older, this is going to happen more and more.  Somehow, we all need to deal with death in our own way.  I guess it just takes time.

I featured this hike in one of my earlier blogs.  It is a 5 mile round trip trek that has become one of my favorites.  You ascend a ravine with switchbacks.  When you arrive to the top of the mountain you are greeted with acres and acres of Oak trees.  The reason I am featuring this hike again is that there is much to see and do at the top of the trail.
You even find Cactus at the top.  Lake Chapala is in the background.
J. C. enjoying the shade of the Oaks. 
Family shrines are big deals on mountaintops throughout Mexico.
They can be very ornate, or like this one, they can be very simple.
The local teens come to the mountaintop to do what teenagers do!!
We saw these holes along the trail.  Found out the Mexicans dig these and cut the feeder roots of trees.  They take them to maket and sell them as a food supplement.

Would have been easier if we could have taken the Jeep.  Instead, we parked at the trailhead.  Lake Chapala in the background.
This is the dueno of the property where we park.  We usually give him 20 pesos ($1.60).  He has lived on this property for 35 years. 
I know this has nothing to do with the trail.  But, I wanted to show you our doggie family.  All four of them are rescue dogs, three of them here in Mexico.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Mexico Pets

We moved to Mexico almost two years ago with our dog Peso.  We now have four.  The second dog is  Diablo.  He had no home and was just roaming around the neighborhood so we kind of adopted him.  The third dog is Maya.  She was laying in the gutter of the street with only a few days to live.  We scooped her up and several months later, she is as healthy as she is going to be.

She has some neurological problems like bumping into things.  She also has a constant tic.  But, she still runs and plays with the other dogs.  We call Maya our special needs doggie.  Our latest acquisition is a puppy that someone left on a country road.  Our neighbor found him and brought him to us.  Mexicans are good people and for the most part they treat their animals well.  But, they still have a ways to go to achieve the level of care that we would like to see.

Sorry to say Indie died early Wednesday morning.  We only had him for a week and he looked very strong.  But, he had some major health issues.  We tried our best to save him and find him a good home.  Sometimes things just don't work out.  We are waiting for our next street dog to appear.  And when he does, we will give him the same love and affection that Indie received.
We named him Indie because of our fondness for Independent Films.  He stays in his kennel when we are gone for short periods of time.
Just finished eating.  His eye was swollen shut when we started caring for him but, it is fine now.
Maya's checking him out to see what he is.
Indie looks healthy.  But, he has parasites in him and he also has low red cell counts.  He has been to the Vet four times and will need at least four more visits.
He looks healthy but, he doesn't play like a puppy normally does because of his anemic condition.  Hopefully that will change in a couple of weeks.
This is about as excitable as we see Indie get.
Debbi is volunteering at the new animal shelter a couple of miles away.  Once we nurse Indie back to good health, we plan to put him up for adoption.  Yeah, whatever.
Peso still doesn't know what to think about the new arrival.
We have spent the last week tending to his every need.  He is one spoiled little dog.
Diablo napping with the little guy.