WEEK 5 | Mexico a Caballo
Comitan to Flores Magon, Chiapas | 95 kms.
My daily mileage goal for this year’s long ride is 25km per day ridden. Roxy isn’t as strong as last time, in the back anyway, so I’ll settle for 20-25 km average.
Week 5 was pretty easy as far as hills, but the roads were narrow and it started getting hot. I descended from Comitan into sugar cane country and then on into ranch land and cattle corn. Nice easy scenery. If you don’t know much about Chiapas, it has in some parts a strong movement for autonomy and self governance. As I passed thru the entrance to one town, Carranza, I was greeted by a group of masked women and men with bats, that ask as a toll booth. You don’t pay, they play.. This is the land of the Zapatistas..the narrative reveals itself in many ways, depending who you hear it from…
Interesting week, interesting place…
There was a frenzy of attention my way from several whatsapp groups, which believe it or not, Mexicans use way more than Facebook. I joined a group, but I’ve never really enjoyed group chats, so I think I’m going to leave it. Contact me directly if you have something to say, is my approach. Social media has totally changed how we communicate and some parts of it, like the overly casual introductions and comments, I don’t like.
So, on my day off at a luxury ranch/ resort, I gladly accepted the lack of cell signal so that I could work on the Spanish translation of my horse travel book. It’s almost ready and I can’t wait to have it out there for my Spanish speaking followers.
Mexicans are in general crazy for horses; but even knowledgeable horse people from any country have a lot to learn about what it takes to trave by horse. Imagine the not so knowledgeable horse person, held down by half-efficient, half-truth horse care customs. To people like that I’m an alien! I end up answering the same questions again and again. And again. I can refer them to my site or page, but we all know how much people actually read these days…
My favorite down time is with open minded horse or animal people; people ready to learn and share. Last Sunday was my first presentation on solo horse travel, it went pretty well. The people who showed up showed up with good questions; we all ended up learning alot. My down time / non riding goal for this trip is to share horse knowledge; however to keep my energies from getting depleted, I have to do this in a weekly or twice weekly presentation setting, not a answer the same questions 20 times as more people visit in the afternoon/ evening. I just can’t do that….it drives me bonkers.
I want to thank this week’s hosts for keeping me sane!!!
Alfredo, Omar, Claudia, Alfredo, Oscar, Adrian, and Magon!
Chris MacLuckies’ professional career began with a decade-long stint as an organic vegetable grower in Ontario Canada. His career is prolific in breadth and scope. He has farmed organics commercially, volunteered in Guatemala, ran a gardening business, raised and raced sled dogs, tended his livestock, and ridden his horse on a multi-country expedition.
Chris is a certified TEFL ESL English Teacher, author of seven books, freelance content creator, and outdoor travel gear designer.
