Nature Hikes in Oaxaca, Apoala Oaxaca

Mountains of  Mexico.  Apoala is located in a river valley in the 

Mixtec region of  Northern Oaxaca State 

Nature Hikes in Oaxaca

Apoala, Two Rivers of Paradise   Updated August 2011

     You duck deep into the cavern called the Cave of the Snake and then enter a vaulted room with stalactite ceilings. You hear the gurgling of water. It tells you that you have reached the pool where the underground river bubbles through the rocks. This river will emerge from the cliffs and join the main river in the valley where, according to ancient legends, life first began in the Americas.

    

Apoala Camping  beside the river

     That legend says that the river bubbling through the grotto gave life to a sacred tree in the valley that in turn gave life to the first humans. The Codex Vindobonensis, now  in the National Library of Vienna, relates the marriage of Lord 1-Flower with Lady 13-Flower, both born of the Great Tree in the valley of the two rivers of Apoala, Paradise in the eyes of some Native Americans.

     From that valley of shading cedars,  the river tumbles over the Tail of the Serpent Cascade, plummeting 400 feet into a green pool and then spilling out into a broad valley, eventually tumbling 5,000 feet and 300 miles to join the Papoloapam River. There it spills into the Gulf of Mexico near the wetlands where Mexico’s first great civilization formed, San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, the home of  the Olmecs.

Apoala hiking beside the river 

     Lodging rooms serve guests at the tourist center in the valley of Apoala. There are doubles and rooms large enough for families.   Three hours of dirt road scraped from the high plains keeps all but the hardiest traveler out of the valley where legends say that life began.

     To protect the pristine environment, the State tourist agency hopes to lure visitors to Santiago Apoala and spread their dollars among the 260 local residents, easing pressure on the scarce resources of palm fronds, building lumber, exotic birds and endangered animals.   Oaxaca Ecotours

     To visit the two rivers of Paradise, you must hire a guide in the village; otherwise, you could not find the cave where the river bubbles through the rocks, the ancient stone carvings, the cascade, or the canyon cliffs where climbers come to repel.
The fees paid to guides helps the local people preserve the valley.

Mixtec Alta kitchen, ollas and the comal

  Naturalists find a paradise in Apoala; many species of birds visit the valley including Rufous-Capped Warblers, Western Tanagers, Yellow Grosbeak, Violet-Crowned Hummingbirds, and the White-Throated Towhee. A few years ago a naturalist discovered a new variety of small-eared tree frog that lives below the cascade.

      Villagers will put you up for the night if the tourist cabins are full, local people will feed you fresh cooked tortillas and memilitas in this simple paradise where fruit trees are abundant, water pure, and the air crystal clear. Three hours of dirt road through the plains of the Mixtec Alta’s high divide has kept it that way.
      Will increased tourism spoil this Paradise? Probably not unless the road improves, and that is not soon likely.

Apoala roads for biking and hiking, Apoala, Oaxaca            

Next, Road Trip, Pacific Coast