Whilst staying at ‘El Faro de Peter’s’ campsite near San Luis Potosí, Abigail found a flight for the UK. It had been the cheapest listed since the outbreak of the pandemic and after two years on the road, it was high time for her and Zoe to go visit family again. So, as always, plans changed, and Silverskin once again turned around, hit the highway and drove towards Mexico City.
The drive south was beautiful, back through the states of Guanajuato and Hidalgo. We visited favourite hotspot Eco Alberto Park, ‘Gran Cañon’, again, which unfortunately had experienced some flooding damage since we were last there! Our beloved rickety-rackety bridge had gone! And we made sure we stopped by to eat Hidalgo’s most famous Sunday dish: Barbacoa de Borrego.
What an awesome restaurant we had found on the side of the road. The vibe was pumping with live traditional music playing, families gathering together to share good food, and the Barbacoa firepit, the star of the show, centered in the middle.
Barbacoa de Borrego is a slow-cooked method of preparing lamb. On this particular day, the pitmasters had placed five lambs deep in the ‘horno’, in the middle of the night, and covered them with Agave leaves. Twelve hours later, the most tender and juiciest meat was carved and placed in tacos with a variety of salsas. Believe us, it was good!! You can find out more here on one of our ‘Meataroundtheworld shows’.
Satisfied and full, we rocked up at Mina’s campsite in Teotihuacan for the evening. You know, the one near famous pyramids; ‘Piramide del Sol’ and ‘Piramide de Luna’. We had visited back here in July, and it had been an excellent base to see not only the pyramids, but Mexico City too. It therefore seemed like the obvious campsite to stay at when waving Abigail and Zoe off at the airport, and an excellent place for Richie to hang out at.
In fact, as soon as the airplane left ground, other travellers started rolling in. The Simons, a family from North Carolina; Las Tragamillas, another family from Spain; Karsten and Stefi from Germany @Dinoadventure; and Alfredo, a cyclist from Mexico City had arrived. There was much grilling to be had over the campfire each night, and may we draw attention to the fact that the food had to be cooked over the fire! Yes, unfortunately our beloved volcano grill had bit the dust, and was no longer repairable. What a tragedy!
It had served us well during our two years of travel; was collapsible, very versatile, and was used almost every day in order to grill some of the most delicious meats ever. But in Mexico, anything goes, and Richie was able to find a local welder who created a grill for him. Made out of a rim of a car wheel and placed on taller legs, this grill is similar to the volcano but custom made to meet all our barbecuing needs. Richie was a very happy camper!
But the grill would just have to wait, because new friends, Phoebe and Chris, Oliver and Perry, had invited Richie to spend two days with them, at their Airbnb, exploring Mexico’s capital; Mexico City.
And apart from the excellent museum trip to the Museum of Anthropology (what a huge collection to be found there), this visit was all about food and, in particular, Tacos.
Upon recommendation of Alfredo, the cyclist, they hit the taqueria’s de Orinoco, El Huequito and Los Panchos amongst many other restaurants and oyster bars. Each and every bite was delicious…but the highest score goes to (drum roll please)…‘El Orinoco’, with the BEST taco ‘El Pastor’ (pork) in the whole of Mexico. Do check it out if you’re in the city.
And talking of Mexico City, timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Abigail and Zoe were flying in and Richie was able to take an Uber directly to the airport and greet them. Well, so he thought! The plane had indeed landed when he arrived but after two hours, and still no show from his wife and daughter, he was beginning to get a little worried.
What was the hold up? Had they been turned around or once again taken to a detention center? He decided to take action and speak to the people at immigration. Just as he was signing his name for the waiting list, the phone rang. Abigail and Zoe were through and were waiting at arrivals! Phew!
But as always at any border, it wasn’t all plain sailing, and this time the delay wasn’t due to those crazy long queues either, (yes, with a crying two year old in the middle of the night, people were only happy to let them push their way through those lines). The challenge this time lay in the fact that Abigail and Zoe were flying in without a return ticket. Apparently one cannot enter the country by plane without proof of exiting again.
Well, our only saving grace was having a photo of Richie’s ‘FMM’ card on hand. The border control could see on their system that Richie was on the other side and that we had entered the country by land and of course intended to leave in this manner too.
But letting us go wasn’t that easy. Passports were removed, and our case was taken to the authorities. Two hours later, permission of stay was granted but for only 30 days. There goes the 3 months of plans already made for Mexico.
What would we do now? Where would we go? Find out on our next ‘Meataroundtheworld’ blog entry.
Thanks for reading and we’ll ‘meat’ you around the world!
