Weekend in Michoacàn

I'm frantically trying to catch up blogging on the past three weeks and I wish there would have been more time to write, but this is the best I can do. For the last weekend of the summer session we traveled to Michoacàn and had an amazing and physically intense weekend. Here's the recap.

Friday the 19th: We traveled four hours to hike around and visit Tzararàcua and Tzararacuita, two waterfalls in the region of Michoacàn. Stepping off the bus, groggy and lazy we definitely didn't realize that to hike down to one waterfall meant we had to hike back up to the other and then down again to swim in the water. Alma, our program director had prepared us to take a 'walk' to the waterfalls, but by the time we had hiked up and down and back to the bus we were drenched in sweat and exhausted. It was definitely worth it. Then we got back on the bus and drove to the city of Uruapan where we stayed in a hotel. That night I bummed around the city like a good mexican does and did nothing but window shop.

Saturday the 20th: This saturday was probably my favorite day of any excursion in the program. We spent the day horseback riding to a volcano, climbing the volcana, and returning back on horses. In the morning we drove to a ranch-like establishment and were presented with glow sticks and bandanas in case we got lost. I was already a little nervous about spending 6 hours on a horse but then I realized that when Alma said 'extreme' she actually meant it.
The process of getting and choosing horses was interesting. It seemed that people of the little pueblo brought their own horses to the center and then each of us were instructed on how our specific horse responded to individual instructions. My level of nervousness was now reaching terrified. Luckily, I managed to get myself easily onto my spotted gray horse and was determined not to fall off.

We took about a 30 minute horseback ride to ruins of a church that had been destroyed by the volcano (Pericutìn) and climbed around on the volcanic rock that was there. Then it was back on the horses for another 2 hour ride to the volcano Pericutìn.
The horseback ride itself was an adventure. Everyone's horses seemed to have a very distinct personality. I grew very attached to my spotted gray horse but hated it at the same time because its personality resembled my own. My horse did not feel a need to gallop or trot until it saw or heard another horse near it start to gallop. As soon as it knew someone else was going faster it took off with me hanging on for dear life. Literally. My horse would go twice as fast as the one that had started the nonsense. The competetive caballo and I were quite the pair.

The volcano Pericutìn was unlike anything I have ever seen before. We struggled to hike up to the very top of the volcano, slipping and getting pushed back by all the ash. I honestly thought about giving up, but knew that climbing a volcano isn't something that I would have the opportunity to do again. Reaching the top, I was greeted with mist from the clouds that surrounded the top and the steam rising from the rocks. It was incredible to sit on the warm, heated rocks and look out at the entire forest we had just rode through. Then we sprinted, literally ran down the ash to where our horses were waiting. It took us a good 30 minutes to make it to the top and about 5 to run down. The ash was just like skiing in a few feet of snow.
On our return to the ranch our horses raced since they knew food and water would meet them when they got home. Again, my silly horse and I fought to make sure no one passed us.
When we got back to the hotel in Uruapan the first priority was a hot shower to get all the horse smell and ash off of us. Then it was dinner and time to crash, already sore from 6 hours on a horse.

Sunday the 21st: On sunday we spent the day hobbling around a national park that was more like a jungle in the middle of the city. It was basically a series of walking paths that leaded us to different springs and mini waterfalls, perfect for picture crazy girls (not me). Then we drove to the city of Patzcuaro where we had time to eat and shop. The city had a lot of spanish influence and was very different from Guanajuato. Then it was back on the bus to pass out until we got back home in GTO. All in all, an intense and amazing weekend.