A WEEKEND AT MASCOTA

The Psychedelic Bell, the New Mascota Museum and Magical San Sebastián By John Pint April, 2012. Mascota’s eminent archaeologist, Joseph Mountjoy recently informed us that the town’s already outstanding museum has been completely upgraded and expanded. We decided this was a perfect excuse to revisit Mascota, which lies about 150 kilometers west of Guadalajara and Lake Chapala. We also planned to take a peek at the nearby mountain village of San Sebastián, whose charm is legendary. Naturally, we could not imagine driving from Guadalajara to Mascota without stopping at one of western Mexico’s most extraordinary natural wonders, a little mountain called La Campana, also known as the Psychedelic Bell because of its bizarre, wave-like formations. We reached La Campana about two hours after leaving Guadalajara, planning to hike up to its peak via the rather complicated route described in our book Outdoors in Western Mexico. However, the first thing we discovered was a brand-new iron gate just where you turn off the highway. As we approached the gate we were hailed—in English—by a friendly voice: “Do you want to visit La Campana?” The owner of the voice was one Tino López, who introduced himself as the new owner of the mountain. He also told us of a much quicker and easier way to get on top of La Campana than the one we knew. We parked our cars 50 meters past the gate, walked uphill another 50 meters and found ourselves on a footpath which led us to the curious rock formations in a matter of minutes. “I’m always in the area,” says Tino. “Just tell people to shout my name and I’ll be glad to guide them,” he says. The walk to the top is 428 meters, one way, but note that there are no railings to hold on to, so you must carefully watch your step. It’s definitely not a hike for small children unless you’re carrying them in your backpack. A 35-kilometer drive on beautiful highway 90 brought us to Mascota, where we visited the Archaeological Museum, housed in the Casa de Cultura, just one block east of the plaza. We learned that the walls and floor of the building had been in need of repair for some time and it was decided combine this renovation with new designs for displaying the museum’s treasures, many of which are described in the January 9, 2009 edition of the Reporter. Renovation of the museum cost about one million pesos and its doors were officially reopened in August of 2011. It now has an auditorium, a library and five large rooms where over 600 items are on display, including petroglyphs, figurines and skeletons, many of which date back as far as 800 B.C. This museum is really a jewel. The petroglyphs alone are mind-boggling and there’s a special display of an ancient patolli, a Snakes-and-Ladders type game engraved on top of a flat, horizontal rock. A guard showed us a copy of the Rules of Patolli as played by the Tarascos of Angahuan, Michoacán, written up in 1941 by anthropologist Pedro Carrasco. It involves throwing dice and moving four pieces around the board, any of which can be “killed” if an opponent’s piece lands in the same space. Ancient patolli players, it seems, would bet blankets, jewelry or even their homes on the outcome of the game. Many of the items on display come from tombs discovered not far from Mascota in a place called El Pantano. The offerings found there show that a farming community flourished in this area 2800 years ago, that they had singular artistic traditions and actually carried on trade with peoples living as far away as Ecuador and Peru. Mountjoy suspects the Pantano people were trading hallucinogenic mushrooms for jadeite beads, fine ceramics and sophisticated pyrite and quartz jewelry from what is now called South America. These discoveries offer proof that western Mexico was home to at least one ancient civilization previously unknown to archaeologists in this country. Many new pieces have been added to the museum’s collection. I found particularly interesting the curious wide, flat faces of “gingerbread man” figurines which seem to be unique to this area. Most extraordinary of all, I think, are several quartz pendants found in El Pantano. Amazingly, these are beautifully faceted…and 2,800 years old, perhaps the oldest faceted stones in the world. We spent the night in one of Mascota’s wonderful old Casonas and the next day took a quick trip to San Sebastián del Oeste, a 45-kilometer drive from Mascota, located east of the winding highway to Puerto Vallarta. The road to San Sebastián is now nicely asphalted but the streets of the little town—now officially a Pueblo Mágico—are still paved with cobblestones and utterly charming. Like so many of the Spaniards’ early settlements in Western Mexico, San Sebastián, founded in 1605, developed near mines which, all too often, were located atop the most rugged and inhospitable peaks of the most remote and hard-to-reach mountains. In the case of San Sebastián, there were 30 some mines producing gold, silver, lead and zinc. The precious metals would eventually be carried to Veracruz, from which, once a year, they were shipped to Spain. San Sebastián became so prosperous that at one point it had a population of 20,000 and for a while was even the capital of the state of Jalisco. The Revolution brought an end to the prosperity and today the town has only 600 inhabitants and only one mine in operation. Just wandering the picturesque streets of San Sebastián is a pleasure in itself. As we were traveling with archaeologists Rodrigo and Cynthia Esparza we naturally visited the town’s little museum, a tour made fascinating by its very articulate caretaker, Juan Aguirre. Because the town is not far from Puerto Vallarta, it now has lots of little shops making and selling arts, crafts and jewelry. Visiting these three wonderful sites made for a full and most enjoyable weekend. If you want to do the same and plan to stay overnight in one of the reasonably priced and gorgeous casonas, don’t forget to bring along a mosquito net, a real necessity for sleeping in rural hotels. If you don’t have one, you can create your own out of tulle (tul in Spanish), that white stuff for making wedding veils. It’s available everywhere in dressmaking and fabric shops. Get that net and you’ll be set for a great weekend in and around Mascota. How to get there From Guadalajara, take highway 15 towards Nogales and, just before the toll road appears, bear left, following the signs for Ameca. Highway 70 takes you past Ameca and west to Mascota. If you live near Lake Chapala, you can take highway 80 towards Barra de Navidad. After Juchitlán, watch for a sign saying Ayutla. Turn right onto this road, pass Ayutla and Cuautla and keep going northwest until you reach Mascota. If you want to stop at La Campana, you’ll find it at 16.3 kilometers past Atenguillo (coming from Guadalajara) or about 30 kilometers past Cuautla if you’re coming from that way. The parking spot for hiking up La Campana is at N20 22.247 W104 35.651. In Mascota, the Casa de la Cultura is located one block east of the plaza. San Sebastián is a 45-kilometer drive north from Mascota. Driving time from Guadalajara to Mascota: about two and a half hours.