Our Mexican Field Trip 2005
Day 19: Ocozococutla
Total Mileage: Approximately 7245 kms
Arrival: April 2, 2005 - 5:00 PM
Departure: April 3, 2005
Temperature High: 34 C
Today we left San Cristobal and planned to stay in Tuxtla, the capitol of Chiapas, which is known for some spectacular canyons. However, we could find no camping or a decent hotel (not that there are not any). Just to let you know, all the Mexican cities that we have been in are not very easy to manouver in for most of the streets either do not have street names or are not marked. So we decided to push on to the next town which is called Ocozococutla. Here we found a campground that was located at an orphange called Hogar Infantil.
It appears that someone here really had a vision, but sadly, the vision has long been forgotten here. The orphanage is about 40 years old. The well was run dry so they have to get a truck to bring in water. The tires on the old tractor out back were flat and rotten. The place was in much disrepair. It had an old chapel that was now used for storage. The orphanage is still functional however, with 69 kids. About 25 kids have no parents at all, the others have one parent who cannot afford to take care of the kids so they just go home for the weekend.
The children were very friendly. We met another family (three kids on the right) who had taken a leave of absence from work and were touring Mexico for the last year. They were form BC.
Last Update : 4/2/2005
