Tlatlauquitepec, Puebla

Standing on a hill above the village of Tlatlauqui.  In this photo, I stick out like a sore thumb with my Mexican mother(striped shirt) and very young nieces.  They all are older teenagers now.  Life flies by so have fun!

Back in the 90's, my Mexican host family took a trip into the Pueblan mountains and had a beautiful visit with relatives.  Mexico is a country full of wonders and surprises.  If you know the Central Mexican landscape, you'll recognize that most of it is grassland with fun yuccas and cacti sprinkled about the landscape.  However, this place shocked me.  About 2 hours out of Tlaxcala in the state of Puebla exists an area of tropical rain forest and a whole other lifestyle.  I'll never forget how excited I was to run around the village and explore the area gardens and forests.  Many locals call this place Tlatlauqui and it's definitely worth the adventure.  The sky is overcast and the flora receives quite a bit of rain. The trek takes you through low desert up into the varied layers of mountain plant zones.  The mountain range along the Pueblan/Veracruz borders are very dry, but after a certain point, entering into the Veracruz side, the "wet" side of the mountains soon turn tropical. Tlatlauqui offers some unique Mexican cuisine which uses a lot of delicious green salsa. 

A view from the road towards the downtown area.  I would almost like to call this type of zone a cloud forest.  If you are in Mexico for an extended amount of time, I highly recommend the visit.  Until next time......