#Zona del silencio mexico cracked#
#Zona del silencio mexico drivers#
#Zona del silencio mexico driver#

On the way back we can take pictures of a Roundtail Horned Lizard which is here in Mexico called chameleon. But they only get high on the Tequila and the home-made Mezcal they drink later. Of course our students have to cut and eat some of the plants. We don't really believe that until we suddenly discover the bluegreen to pale purple fleshy cacti in cracks between flat limestone slabs. We climb to the top of the mountain because that's where also the real Peyote ( Lophophora williamsii) should be growing. Of course there are more interesting cacti, also Agaves, Hechtia, and Yucca trees, but we don't want to get on your nerves with too many names. Next to it flowers a tiny Mammillaria ( M. We discover Ariocarpus fissuratus (the false Peyote as the Mexicans call this cactus) in the limestone soil which grows sunken into the ground and is thus easily overlooked. The vegetation gets interesting as soon as we reach the foothills.

We shoulder our rucksacks and climb the nearest mountain. At a washed out river bed we reach the end of the road, at least for the Mercedes bus (you should have a Unimog.). Nevertheless we look for interesting rocks and make some finds - it's probably still some meteorites, everything is possible. The big meteorit of Allende went down near Parral, that's where you can still find some splinters.

#Zona del silencio mexico driver#

According to the driver (and scientific books on meteorites) this is all a pack of lies. According to our guide book this place should be swarming with meteorites, one of the reasons why we came here. First of all we drive with the bus to the real Zona del Silencio where there is a sign telling us that we're really there. The next day we can accompany the photograph students. We sit until long into the night under a beautiful starry sky and exchange stories.

#Zona del silencio mexico cracked#

Then the bottle of Mezcal goes the rounds, the last cold beer cans are cracked open, and the women prepare some Tacos over the fire. First of all the camp fire is lit up and somebody boils water for coffee. Finally, even the crew of the Mercedes is fed up with the bumpy road and we set up camp somwhere in the Nowhere. He finds every turn-off, every short cut, and we wonder how we will find our way out of this maze again. Like crazies we race along behind the Mercedes (simply PocoLoco) which obviously knows his way. And until everybody is again accomodated on the roof of the bus it's already pretty dark. Then we have to wait until the sky turns pink and red. Of course the students first have to take pictures of the sunset. After the driver tells us about a mountain with interesting plants that they want to climb the next day, we decide to move on together with them. Near here we also meet the happy group from Durango. So we can only admire the javelinas in a cage which got a visit from a turkey vulture. And the Señora who guards the house normally hides behind the high walls from strangers. We decide to go there to talk a little to the people about their projects. A little later we reach a fork in the road where the research station of the 'Reserva de la Biosfera' is announced on a sign. A faded Coca Cola sign gives evidence of once better times. A packrat lives in the upholstery of the seat.

#Zona del silencio mexico drivers#

Big spiders settled in the drivers cabin of an old rusty truck. This spectacle goes on for many kilometres until you reach a little hill with an abandoned Rancho. Then you push the pedal to the metal to escape the fine silt, and you're followed by a long cloud of dust. Here you choose the best track, but they are all equally dusty. This you can feel as soon as you reach the maze of roads that leads through the endless plains. There's no cloud in sight, no rain has fallen since months, everything is bone-dry, dusty. Our second trip is crowned with more success. As we learn later, only tractors can deal with those mud holes. That's why we camped a little away from the real Zona del Silencio. The deep tracks in the mud spoke for itself. On our first trip into the Zona del Silencio, in April of 2001, it rained a lot, very abnormal for this time of the year, and a normally totally dry river bed was transformed into a mud hole where others have practised with their cars before us. asperrima) which we can photograph in peace and quiet. Shortly before that, everything was quite different:Ībsolute silence, divine quiet, a gentle wind, dark blue sky as far as the eye can see, beautiful Agaves ( Agave asperrima ssp.

Immediately we're offered some beer, after all we should be quickly as cheerful and loud as our new friends. From the bus pour 12 people, photographic students from Durango with their 'Profe' (professor), the 'Capo' (driver) and another silent helper. All of that in the Zona del Silncio, the Zone of Silence. Engine noise, then loud howls out of a big green Mercedes bus.