Tarquins Tales

[Tarkers]

Well it's been a busy week here up on the Altiplano (no, not the famous Mexican jail currently housing El Chapo!!)

Firstly I have my first baby sheep, born here on the Hacienda. Complete surprise, didn't even spot the mother was pregnant.

Here she is about 7 hours old.

To celebrate the new arrival, Miriam and I went out for the weekend......and ended up climbing Mount Cerro Quemado......we drove the 15 miles from the Hacienda at 4,500 feet, to an old abandoned mining village at 9,000 feet........then climbed the last 1,000 feet to the top......crazy Tarkers, it took me a week to recover!!

We spotted some of the ancient Huichol Indians doing the same on the mountain trail, an annual 300 mile pilgrimage to their ancestral Wirikuta lands to thank the Gods on the summit, then back down to the valley (in my pic) to collect the "legal drug" Peyote. This they use in Shaman ceremonies to contact their ancestors and speak to the Gods.

Here is the mountain overlooking my land

.....and the view from the top 10,000 feet......and I hate heights!!.......that is the Altiplano below me and the Pacific in the distance.

Huichol Indians on the way down chatting to Miriam....(I think they were telling her that I shouldn't take pics, apparently I was "stealing" their spirit?)

...I've had enough.....3 hours walk back down to the bar.......bye Miriam.........grrrrrr

 

 

 

 

[Piethagoram]

Tarqs..thought you were scouting locations for Jamie's high altitude pre season training  

[Elite_pie]

So what?  Today I went to Screwfix and bought two door handles and a tube of kitchen sealant.  On the way home I even drove through a traffic light on amber because I like living life on the edge.

 

Seriously that looks pretty amazing Tarquin (apart from the beige cardigan).  Newborn animals always bring out the softy in me.

[Turkey_Twizzler]

Does the baby lamb have a name? On second thoughts do people name sheep? And that mountain view looks amazing! What a sight!

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[Chris]

I love these posts, especially the funny banter which occurs from them - you've been missed @tarquinbeech.

You have some really interesting views in part of the world - the one with all the paths especially! Is it a town in the background? It looks like a collection of small buildings but can't tell for sure.

I almost sent out the PON SOS

[Tarkers]

4 hours ago, Elite_pie said:

So what?  Today I went to Screwfix and bought two door handles and a tube of kitchen sealant.  On the way home I even drove through a traffic light on amber because I like living life on the edge.

 

Seriously that looks pretty amazing Tarquin (apart from the beige cardigan).  Newborn animals always bring out the softy in me.

Living life on the edge huh?.....I have just booked 2 flights to Cancun, which is coincidentally only a few hours from the border to British Honduras....yes, it is time to the 6-monthly "dog-dance" at the border for anyone not possessing the "proper" paperwork.

The "dog-dance" involves finding a local border, hopefully with corruptible guards.....and dancing around with USD sticking out of your clenched fist!!

Three trips to Guatemala, one to Costa Rica and one to Cuba involved zero Dinero changing hands....just a polite admonition to get the correct papers.....however, I have a bad feeling about this next trip....hence the need to find a river that I can swim across!!

A quick Google Earth view shows that Tarkers can doggy-paddle across the Hondo River

...if I get caught, then I might be sharing a cell with El Chapo!!

ps....I know that British Honduras has officially been re-named.....but to me, Rhodesia, Ceylon, Burma, Mesopotamia etc etc are the true and proper names of our once-glorious Empire!!............Rule Britannia.

[Tarkers]

1 hour ago, notts-joe said:

I love these posts, especially the funny banter which occurs from them - you've been missed @tarquinbeech.

You have some really interesting views in part of the world - the one with all the paths especially! Is it a town in the background? It looks like a collection of small buildings but can't tell for sure.

I almost sent out the PON SOS

I've only been "missing" for a week old bean!! I was actually primed and ready for action on Saturday....only to find that Notts players couldn't swim!!

The "paths" and buildings over my shoulder are, I think, the town of Cedral.....5,000 feet below.....as I stated, I hate heights, so I wasn't looking too closely.

[Tarkers]

For anyone remotely interested.....I attach a beautiful YouTube vid of the Huicholes trying to "protest" at the loss of their ancestral Wirikuta lands...that include the mountain I climbed.

This tribe, now only about 6,000 persons, is over 15,000 years old and have refused to become Mexicanised....they live near the Pacific Coast in Nayarit......but journey every year to worship their ancient Gods on the mountain here.....a round-trip of 600 miles, often on foot.

UNESCO have tried to protect their lands by deeming it "of special interest"......but Mexico sold the land to First Majestic Mining Corp of Canada, who are busy ripping the mountains apart searching for silver......every day and night "boom boom boom"....plus they use enough water in one day sifting the ore to supply an Indian family for 20 years.

They also use Cyanide in the process, which is why nobody around here drinks the water.......progress huh!!

 

 

 

[DangerousSausage]

Crikey, amazing views. I'd much rather swim across that river than climb one of those mountains if I were you!

The Huicholes seem to share their fate with many indigenous peoples - as soon as there's big money at stake, they're swatted aside like a minor inconvenience however much they pray. And I doubt the Mexican state gives a stuff about them.

How about naming that lamb after a Notts player?

[Piethagoram]

Have you checked for piranhas  The sheep has to be named in honour of Shaun Murphy ....           ____ the sheep

[Dripsey3]

You know when you get to Belize, what do the locals think when you call it British Honduras? Strip search? 

[Tarkers]

5 hours ago, DangerousSausage said:

Crikey, amazing views. I'd much rather swim across that river than climb one of those mountains if I were you!

The Huicholes seem to share their fate with many indigenous peoples - as soon as there's big money at stake, they're swatted aside like a minor inconvenience however much they pray. And I doubt the Mexican state gives a stuff about them.

How about naming that lamb after a Notts player?

The names of the animals so far are:

First two sheep....Adam and Eve.......then Blackie who is the mother of the new baby.....then my last sheep was Luther Blissett

First two goats were Red and Dewey (both Female).....then Devon White was added to "spice" things up!!.....lastly, Britney Spears.

Deaths in the "family" so far........Cain and Abel both died at Xmas 2014 (they were baby brothers bought together from the side of the road at "slaughter corner") and Whitney Houston at Xmas 2015.

I hate it when the little babies die, but I am a sucker for buying the them out of the back of the slaughter wagons.

So yes....the new black baby needs a name....I've not looked too closely but it looks like a male

[liampie]

name the sheep super after our very own. 

[AmericanPie]

On 10/02/2016 at 02:25, tarquinbeech said:

Living life on the edge huh?.....I have just booked 2 flights to Cancun, which is coincidentally only a few hours from the border to British Honduras....yes, it is time to the 6-monthly "dog-dance" at the border for anyone not possessing the "proper" paperwork.

The "dog-dance" involves finding a local border, hopefully with corruptible guards.....and dancing around with USD sticking out of your clenched fist!!

Three trips to Guatemala, one to Costa Rica and one to Cuba involved zero Dinero changing hands....just a polite admonition to get the correct papers.....however, I have a bad feeling about this next trip....hence the need to find a river that I can swim across!!

A quick Google Earth view shows that Tarkers can doggy-paddle across the Hondo River

...if I get caught, then I might be sharing a cell with El Chapo!!

ps....I know that British Honduras has officially been re-named.....but to me, Rhodesia, Ceylon, Burma, Mesopotamia etc etc are the true and proper names of our once-glorious Empire!!............Rule Britannia.

Stunning picture! You would catch me near there though.