Daytrip to Tila

   Today we decided to take a daytrip up into the mountains of Chiapas. The jungle seemed to rise with us. Along the way, the townspeople of a small village stopped our car and asked for donations for their village. The road rose higher in the mountains. We drove up into the mountains from Misol Ha city to Agua Azul city and then to a charming town square of a town called Tila.

   On the way, we were thrilled to see a Golden Fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes Aurifrons), another Life Bird for us. This woodpecker's backed is barred black-and-white. It has a yellow-orange neck and a white rump. It was on the side of a tree, pecking away.

   We ate lunch on the front porch of a hotel, right on the town square. While we were eating, a religious parade made its way down the street, blowing horns and singing hymns. It was a parade in honor of the Cristo Negro, a figure of Christ crucified, made of ebony wood in 1539. They came from the local Church of Saint Matthew. Very impressive.

Iglesia de San Mateo Santuario del Señor de Tila

   After the parade, we were amused by the contrast of loud American heavy metal music coming from a huge blue pick-up truck, driven by the local police. There were two uniformed deputies in the back of the truck, brandishing machine guns in the soft rain. We did not feel threatened at all by this commotion. The waiter brought a generous serving of beef. After we left, the locals snatched up the national newspaper we left on the table.

   On the way back to our hotel in Palenque, we saw a Smooth-billed_Ani (Crotophaga Ani) in an open field. The Smooth Billed Ani is a large black bird in the cuckoo family. This bird is called "el pijul" in Mexico, because it sings "pee-hool, pee-hool, pee-hool".

   ♪ Ya me voy amado mío /
porque está soplando el viento /
que cuando canta el pi-jul /
que cuando canta el pi-jul /
me lleno de sentimiento... ♪

Robert and Berry

photo courtesy of sanmateo