Day trip to Tehualmixtle and Hotel Mayto

On May 16, 2016, we joined up with our friends Joe and Yvonne for an exciting day trip to the south-west coast of Jalisco to see interesting sites close to Tehualmixtle. We hired a driver (Noel) with a van and he was also our tour guide. He was very

informative and made the trip very interesting. We took over 100 pictures of many things and have included just a few here as a reminder to ourselves... :-)

We left at 8:30 in the morning and followed highway 200 past Mismaloya and Boca del Tomatlan and then headed inland. About 10 km in we drove past the Botanical Gardens and at about 25km in we arrived at a little bakery on side of the highway. It is very close to El Tuito. The oven is made of clay and bricks and is fired with wood. They make all sorts of breads and pastries and we bought several of them for a snack. Not that we needed anything to eat but they all smells so good!

We then drove into El Tuito for a stop at the town square and local church. It was interesting to walk around the town as it was very clean and had a common theme to the paint and finishes on the buildings. Noel told us that a common practice in most small Mexican town squares is for young men and women to meet with the whole town there and have the women circle through the square with the men watching. The women would be “checking out” the men, and vise-versa, and flowers would be handed to potential suitors. It was a way for people to meet and show their intentions without sneaking around in the dark behind their parents back.

We left El Tuito and seemed to drive for a long time through winding roads – some good and some not so much – and went past big farms that were growing papayas and red/green peppers and a bunch of other stuff. Soon after we arrived at Hotel Mayto. Wow what a place. We walked the beach and then over to the neighbouring hotel and back and then had a nice lunch.

We headed to the next little spot a few kilometers away - the small town of Tehualmixtle - and it seemed like another world. Amazing scenery and spectacular views everywhere. Nothing much in the way of development around so if you head this way, make sure you book in the hotel or have all of your survival gear with you.

On the way back we learned of the folktale about the devil's tree. Apparently God was busy creating trees and Lucifer was asking why it's taking so long. God responded that there was a lot to do. The trees had work to do like cleaning the air, feeding people, providing shade, etc. These things can't be rushed. Lucifer indicated that he could make a tree in a fraction of the time so god said fine do so. God came back and found a tree that Lucifer made and he was napping under it. God noticed there were no leaves on the tree. God woke him and asked where the leaves are and he said they are not necessary. So God added them. Lucifer noted that they look like crosses. Well this did not make him happy so he took rocks and threw them at the tree. Instead of bouncing off they stuck where ever they landed, so he tossed more. They all stuck and the tree looks that way today. While he was throwing the rocks, Eve walked by and he threw two rocks at her. The tale suggests that these "stuck" to her on her upper front torso. Thereafter they were also deemed "fruit" and became the root of all evil for men as it was Eve who lured men in with her fruit. Quite the tale.

Even though the fruit is fairly sweet, no one in Mexico eats it because of the strong catholic religion – can't eat from Lucifer's tree. The fruit just lays on the ground after they ripen. More recently, some adventurous folk have poured tequila into the fruit to let if ferment a while and apparently is quite the drink...

We were back home tired, happy and in time for dinner. :-)