Southbound Canucks: Day trip to Aguamilpa Dam

Huichol Day Trip

Monday January 21

We got together with 6 other couples and one single person for a day trip to a Huichol (pronounced wee-choll) Indian village called Tawexileta near Aguamilpa Dam (aw wah meel pah) high in the mountains north east of Tepic.

It was a full day trip with the tour bus coming to our campground at 7 am to pick us up. Our first stop 2 hours later was breakfast at a buffet restaurant in Tepic. From there it was another hour's drive to Aguamilpa Dam. The scenery on the drive was beautiful but as with many scenic routes in Mexico, there were no pulloffs or shoulders on the route to stop to take photos along the way.

As per Wikipedia: "The Aguamilpa Dam is an embankment dam on the Rio Grande de Santiago in the Mexican state of Nayarit 38 km (24 mi) northeast of Tepic. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and it supplies a 960 MW power station with water. Construction on the dam began in 1989 and it was completed in 1993 while the power station became operational in 1994."

There didn't seem to be much water flowing at the time we visited so it doesn't seem to be producing much power.

we catch sight of the dam as we near the area on the tour bus

A view of the lake formed by the dam

stretching our legs as we got off the tour bus to head to the boat ramp

We hopped in a boat to travel about 30 minutes along the lake formed by the dam to reach the village.

the boat ride to the village

The beautiful rock walls along the lake as we near the village

There was a fairly steep climb from the boats up the hill to the village.

Our guide Sergio leads the walk to the village

Tah-way-seek-tah ...Place of the Sun

From the top of the hill we walked through the village to the little market place.

An electric line for a street light. None of the homes we saw had electrical service or running water. We saw locals filling their large water jugs at a community cistern.

A shamon hut

there were several adobe buildings of this style in the village

the local medical clinic - the most modern building in the village

sample adobe homes in the village

bead-work in progress

The women of the Huichol tribe are known for their beautiful beadwork and embroidery. 27 women gathered in the local market area of their village to display and sell their craftwork.

embroidery work - look at the three dimensional flowers made of beads at the lower right corner

our guide holding an embroidered picture of peyote

The Artisan building


A jaguar head made of beads set in bee's wax and pine resin over a clay form

The Huichols grow peyote - according to the tour guide, consuming peyote sends a person on a high for three days! According to Wikipedia, "Peyote has a long history of ritualistic and medicinal use by indigenous Americans". The effects of drinking the "tea'" lasts several hours but the celebrations go on continuously for three days.

the tour group is shown a garden of peyotes

close up view of peyotes, a type of cactus

a plant growing beside an adobe house

more adobe homes...note the solar power panel!

chicks wandering in the yard

The babies or children sleep in a wooden hut built on stilts (a "Careton") near the family's home. The hut contains a mat for the child plus mosquito netting as seen in the photo below.

Our tour group

Drying corn sprouts used to make a drink

As we depart from the village, we noticed horses watering at the end of the bay

goats feeding on an island further down the lake

We returned to Tepic for a late lunch (5 pm) at the Huichol market in downtown Tepic. We dined on quesadillas made with blue cornflour tortillas! They were excellent! The Huichols grow 5 varieties of corn: red, yellow, blue, black, white.

About an hour after leaving Tepic, we stopped at a coffee plantation located between Compostela and Las Varas. We saw the coffee beans on the tree and in the various stages of processing. Many people on the tour purchased bags of coffee beans at the store. Our guide told us the state of Nayarit is known for it's production of quality coffee beans.