El Carrizal, Oaxaca, Mexico

Nestled high up in the Sierra Norte is the village of El Carrizal, with a population of approximately 600.

In Canada, a paved road is in better condition than an unpaved road, this is not necessarily the case in Mexico.  We travelled to El Carrizal using the paved road, full of potholes that were sometimes impossible to avoid.  We also encounter rock slides cleared, but barely passable.  I'm glad Joan was the driver.  It took about two hours to reach our destination, a distance of forty-four miles, but well worth the journey. 

The people in El Corrizal are farmers with beautiful orchards full of pear, plum and peach trees.  The orchards and fields are irrigated by water from the Cienaga and Neveria Rivers.  The villagers also earn money by making a type of flat bread, baked in clay ovens heated with firewood.

There are new immaculately kept cabanas where people interested in ecotourism can stay overnight for $170 pesos per person.  (Less than $17 American dollars).  We plan to return in a couple of weeks and stay overnight.

Fearing we would be travelling home in the dark, after a brief hike, with our guide Francisco, to a cave and waterfall we ate lunch at La Granja (the farm), which is a trout farm restaurant, and left La Carrizal too soon.