Camping and home time

I can't believe it's time to go home already. I feel like the time's flown by!

This week has been amazing. We couldn't get a pilot to take us on the flight :-( so Carlos took us to the village of Yierbabuena, which is the closest village to the volcano and sits directly in the path of any large pyroclastic flow (cloud of extremelyhot gas and ash which rushesdown the flanks of the volcano at hundreds of km per hour - believe me you don't want to be anywhere near one!). The village has been evacuated and as far asI know, is still evacuated, but people still live there. The views of the volcano were stunning.

On Monday, Carlos, Ivan and I went into the field with the truck full of camping gear, food, samples bags, spades (our most important tool!) and lots of other bits and bobs for 3 days of intensive field work. We wanted to go along a road Carlos went along 10 years ago to the East of Nevado, but we'd been told a landslide had blocked it, so we were prepared for some hiking. It turned out the road was completely impassible and after about 500m walking the road completely disappeared. It looked like there had never been a road there, there was so much vegetation. After about an hour of trying to find our way through, we gave up and went back to make camp. Ivan busied himself with making a cracking meal ofchickenand vegetables wrapped in foil and chucked in the fire, while Carlos and I slurped tequila cocktails - who ever said field work was hard?!

Our campsite - it looks like the whole tree is about to catch fire, but it was a controlled wee fire! Ivan the chef!

After a cold and fairly uncomfortable night at 3400m altitude we decided to give up here and head down and enter from the other side, close to Volcan de Colima. We walked up the track towards the caldera of Palaeofuego - there was a massive volcano which blew itself up about 2500 years ago, and now Volcan de Colima is growing in the caldera. We found some nice sections and collected some samples.

After another nice meal while sitting around thefire watching the beautiful star filled sky, and a much warmer (we were at 3000m altitude) night we set off up the road again and into the Caldera. It was incredible! Carlos wanted to show us some things there. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking.

Ivan and Carlos entering the Caldera. The 200m high caldera wall made up of lava flows from Palaeofuego

Volcan de Colima growing out of the Caldera floor. Rubbly lava flow from 1961

You can see the lava dome sitting above the crater rim. A tree broken in half by a recent lava bomb - the sap was still sticky!

A tree smashed by a lava bomb. A bomb sitting in a tree - you can see the tree is burnt from the bomb. Eric on a burnt tree

Typically the volcano puffed about 15 minutes after we left! We had a look at the seismics for the day and found that the only 2 hour patch with no activity was when we were in the Caldera! Great luck looking at it one way, but we really wanted to see a puff!!

When we got back on Wednesday night, we found that Mini had organised a farewell dinner for us with her entire family, so we were once again whisked off for lots of food and drink. Mini's Mum and Dad stood up and said some lovely things, so Dad replied by saying a few words which I think summed up Mexico nicely. I can't remember his exact words but I'll fill in as best I can. He said "When we came here we had a view of Mexico tainted by Hollywood. Now we're here we've discovered the real Mexico. Mexico is a country full of smiling faces, where people greet you in the street and start up conversations with you, and when they see you more than once, you're there friend. Where people buy you beers at the bull fighting, and offer you their food! Your family (Mini's) has welcomed us and shown us so much love that we feel a part of your family, and you have made this a very special place for us."

All work and no play...

Ivan came on Wednesday night, so that's the end of my holiday! We went into the field on Friday and yesterday which was great. We found some nice stuff and got some good samples. We even saw an explosion on Friday!

Yesterday was lovely. We walked for a change, in stead of driving to outcrops. We were told it was about a 3km walk so we set off, rather stupidly in the heat of the day. It turned out to be more like 5km, and with the sun beating down on us, felt more like 10! It was nice though, walking through the Mexican countryside. Unfortunately I haven't been able to download my photos yet so I'll do that later today.

We're hopefully going on a flight round Volcan de Colima today - I'm SO excited!!!!

Rodeo and bull fighting (and a little bit of work!)

So it was back to work on Monday. I finished off measuring the lithics I had in the lab from our last trip to the field, and crushed and separated the crystals from 2 more samples. I think I'm done now with this part, so when I get back to Leeds I have to sit at a binocular microscope and hand pick the crystals and glass I want to analyse.

Carlos and I went into the field on Tuesday to collect lithics from a couple more sections. I've now got a good distribution of data points so I should beable to start estimating the height of the eruption column. I had a look at the paper yesterday to try to make a start - it's full of maths and equations so it may take me a while to get my head round it!! Blerk.

We had a great day in the field, digging holes away to find the older deposits. We went round to the west side of Nevado to wherewe camped last year. I was really hoping to get a nice view of Volcan de Colima, but unfortunately it was really cloudy and by the time we left we were in the clouds.

When we got back to Colima, I went and joined Mum and Dad at the Petetera - the bull ring. I went last week with Mini and Donaji before heading to Mexico City to see a rodeo. It was really fantastic! The bull comes flying out the door into the bull ring, jumping about like a maniac, while the guy riding it is clinging on for dear life. I couldn't believe how long they managed to hold on for! Once the bull tires or the man falls off, the cowboys lassoed the bull and then it was taken away and the next one was let loose. Over on one side of the ring, clowns were busy entertaining the crowd while the wholething was going on. At one point a drunk guydecided to get into the ring, and when he saw the door opening he ran over to be in front of it deciding it was a great idea to show how brave he is - the bull went straight for him and floored him! He pretty quietly walked back to the stand!

But the one we went to on Tuesday was the proper one where they kill the bull. We decided that we would go for the experience, and felt that it was an opportunity we had to take. Mine had told me the atmosphere is cracking, and that as long as you don't watch the bull it's great fun! And it was. As the afternoon wore on, you got more and more sucked into the atmosphere and soon forgot about the bull, and got caught up in the excitement of the crowd, and the details of it all.

The bull's name and weight for written on a big placard which was carried out by 2 beautiful girls in tiny low-cut dresses and massive heals (to the wolf-whistles and jeering of the crowd - the guy next to us started a chanting asking them how much!). Then the bull would come tearing out in a fit of madness. Sometimes it had a spike already in the back of it's neck, other times it wouldn't have anything. The matadors would then run about doing their "ole!" thing and get the bull mad. Then the main dude (he's called a Torrero in Spanish) gets his long spikes and sticks them in the back of it's neck. It's very much a show of their bravery - they prance about on their tip-toes and almost dance their way to the bull, showing they're not afraid. The when the bull comes for him, he impressively side-steps and spins and lands the spikes. The video I've uploaded shows this. I've tried to capture the atmosphere in it, but it doesn't do it justice - it just looks brutal. The idea is to cut the tendons on the back of it's neck so it's head hangs low, then when they come to trying to kill it with the sword, they can do it easily. They're meant to plunge to sword in all the way to the hilt, through the heart to kill it, but only one guy manged to do that. The others plunged it in but didn't kill it. The bull would then collapse after a few minutes, and a guy would come in and stick a long knife straight into it's brain to kill it out-right. The whole think lasted about 15-20 minutes (I reckon) from the bull coming out to dying.

Once the bull is dead, the Torrero gets an ear, 2 ears or 2 ears and a tail depending on how well he did. The crowd influences this by waving white handkerchiefs and cheering. I commented to Dad how it must have been just like this in Rome with the Gladiators, except obviously with people. One Torrero was flipped by the bull. He went flying and landed in a heap. The bull went for him on the ground but the matadors distracted it. He got up and carried on (the crowd were going bonkers), and a few minutes later he was knocked down again and the bull got him again when he was on the ground. He was carried off and the bull was killed. When he came limping back on the crowd went berserk, people were whistling and cheering and waving their flags and in the end he got 2 ears and the tail!

It was the atmosphere and the people round about it that really made it for us. The lady to our right shared her food with us, while the guy on our left decided that he was drinking so we had to, and kept buying us beers! There were people selling snacks and drinks passing by all the time, a drink seller called Luis started chatting away to Dad and kept coming by to make sure we were ok! The guy that bought us beers kept yelling things at the Matadors - there was a fat matador and at one point that guy stood up and shouted "run little fat man run!" It was cracking and I'm so glad I've been and experienced it, but I won't go to another one - I don't like watching the video clips I took!

A Mexican welcome!

On Sunday, Mini's brother-in-law's (Hector's) family invited myself and mum and dad to join them for lunch to welcome mum and dad to Mexico. We were picked up at 1 and I mentioned to dad on the way there, that it could potentiallygo on till 8 (we got back at around 9!). They live in the village of Queseria which is North of Colimatowards the volcano. When we arrived we were given beer and sat around a big table in the garden. More and more people arrived until there was all of Mini's family and all of Hector's family, plus friends - there must have been about 20 of us! Bowls of meat and veg were plonked on the table along with tortillas and limes, so we all started tucking in whole-heartedly (the food was great!), until Hector told us that this was just a starter!

Everyone gather ing around the table in the garden, and Hector at the BBQ

As the afternoon wore on, more and more food was cooked on the BBQ and we were urged to eat everything. Dad seemed to get the brunt of the force-feeding, so in the end I let him know that it wouldn't be offensive to say no! He was also fed tequila, which he cunningly managed to pass along to an American lady who loves tequila!

Hector's dad is a typical short round bearded Mexican who loves his tequila and cigarettes. I went and sat next to him and thanked him for inviting us and he replied "I didn't invite you. I was told you were coming"! He then asked me about the volcano and then mid-sentence suddenly stood up and told me he had a big rock for me to see. He wanted to know if it was deposited by a glacier in his garden. I told him I thought it was more likely it was deposited by a debris avalanche seeing as we were so close to the volcano. He didn't like this reply and then told everyone I said it wasn't a real rock and that it's plastic!

Margerita and Hector's dad (also Hector) setting fire to a cloth! Mum eating watermelon!

Mini's mum was eating a piece of watermelon, and then recited a short poem to us abut how the watermelon is like the Mexican flag, which then started a whole bunch of poems and songs about the flag. Mexicans are very proud of their country, and having seen a bit more of Mexico, I completely understand why. I love it.

This a video of everyone singing a song about the Mexican flag. It gives a little insight as to how the afternoon was!

Mexico travels

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted anything! I've had such an amazing time touring about last week, and since I got back to Colima, I haven't been able to find the time to sit and write anything! Plus my camera broke, so I'm having fun and games using my Aunt's camera and having to download the photos on to Pop's laptop then copy them across to mine - suddenly writing a blog is a bit more hassle!

So, a week last Saturday I hopped on an overnight bus to Mexico City arriving at 7am. The buses here are really comfortable, so it wasn't a bad journey at all. I met Mum and Dad and Mum's 2 sisters - Diana and Sheila in their hotel and tagged along on their tour for the rest of the week - thank you!

On Sunday we went to Teotihuacan which is an ancient city of pyramids which has been excavated just outside Mexico City. The guide said that they don't know who built it, but they reckon it was built around 100AD, and it covers an area of 20 sq. km, but only 5 sq. km have been excavated. I read somewhere that the temple of the Sun is the worlds 3rd largest pyramid. It's a pretty awesome place.

Here's some geology for you, just in case you were thinking it was all holiday! We went to a place where they carve stones and make posh jewellery and masks and things for rich tourists. The guide had a whole bunch of semi-precious stones - turquoise, obsidian, lapis lazuli,malachite, tigers eye, and he had a couple of stones that I've never seen or heard of before. He called them Venturina. One was dark blue and the other brown, and when in the sun they sparkled like they were covered in glitter! I told him I'm a geologist and he gave me a bunch of pieces to add to my rock collection - see I'm working! I told Carlos about them and he'd never heard of Venturina - he asked me if they were plastic!

These are just some photos from our travels - sweeping in pink stiletto boots(!), San Pancho church, and a campervan!!

After Mexico City we drove to Zitcuaro, where we saw the Monarch Butterflies. You might have seen them on David Attenborough's "Life" series. It was absolutely incredible. Every year anything from 60 million to 1 billion Monarch Butterflies migrate from Canada to a particular forest in Mexico. This year they reckon there were 150 million of them. They spend 4 months here, then in early March they head north again and after a month, once they reach Texas, they lay eggs and die. The next generation then flies on further North, and also lay eggs and die after a month. The 3rd generation make it to Canada, and then leave again in October to fly all the way down to Mexico. These guys live for 8 months. No-one knows how they know where to go as they've never been here before and their grandparents who were here are dead so can't tell them. One of life's mysteries! I've seen "Life", and still it didn't prepare me for quite how amazing it was. Butterflies were everywhere - the trees were orange so many covered them! Poor Aunty Diana stood on one! It was incredible to lie on my back and watch the butterflies filling the sky. There were so many, the combined fluttering of their wings sounded like light rain. They landed on all of us. This doesn't even begin to give justice to just how beautiful it was! Hopefully the photos will give you an idea - these are a very select few from about 100!

Afterwards we went to Morelia, and visited Pascuaro - what a stunning wee town! Unfortunately my camera broke then so I have no photos of it.

Then last Friday, Aunty Diana and Aunty Sheila went back home, and mum, Dad and I returned to Colima.

Right, I'd better go and work, so I'll leave the rest for later!

Volcano and festival fun!

Check this video out of the dancers from the other night! I love the old guy in black in the background - he's a mover!!

We had a great day in the field yesterday. The volcano put on a nice show for us with an explosion on the morning as we were driving towards it, and when we were on our way back the fumaroles were steaming away!

It was another cracking sunny day, although it clouded over for a time, which was really nice to have some cool weather. We spent the day looking at more road cuts. Most of them have collapsed a bit so we had to dig a lot to see the lower units, and scrape the surface off the exposed units to see them better. I collected more pieces of rocks to measure, and my correlations of the eruption deposits across the area is coming along.

In the evening there was a Caballgata in Villa de Alvarez as part of the festival. It's a big parade with dancers, musicians, clowns, horses - it was really cool. My camera battery died, so I'll do my best to describe it to you. The street was buzzing by the time it started. People were milling about everywhere - groups with coolboxes full of beer, families with small kids running around, old folks camped out on benches, groups of lads getting more drunk as the time passed, teenage girls in massive high heals and checked shirts tied up at the front parading up and down the street, and the odd tourist caught up in the mayhem wondering what was going on! It was a great atmosphere. There was a big stand for people to sit in which was rammed. The people sat there were getting really possessive of their space and were yelling at people to stay away! It was great! When it started, fireworks were set off right in the middle of it all! What a fright I got when the first one went off!! Then came a truck with 2 guys playing a flute and a drum, followed by dancers wearing big papier mache puppets of famous people of Colima - they were about 10 feet high. Then there was a band, then clowns throwing sweets into the crowd, then the festival Queen on horseback, followed by all the cowboys on horseback and 2 drunk men!! All the while, the crowds were dancing and singing along.