Following a machete-wielding man into a tropical forest to find the source of a river. And we had to drive through a sugar cane field to even find machete man.
The vacation didn't start out so hair-raising. We took my sister Erin's advice and joined her on a trip to Zacatecas, the highest elevation in Mexico. It's about six hours in from the border and is a colonial city with amazing colors, fanastic old monastery ruins, a silver mine, and the never-ending mariachi tribute to Pepe Aguilar (evidently the Mexicans version of Elvis Presley in terms of adoring fans and fame). 
From there, I told Erin I wanted to see the waterfalls that were in the pictures she had posted on Facebook earlier this year. The photos were phenomenal - like my version of Paradise on Earth. So off we trek on another three hour journey to a town called El Naranjo (The Orange Tree). From there we see El Meco (the biggest waterfall) and then my favorite Cascada Minas Viejas (Old Mines Waterfall). 
The name is very unimaginative. It should be called PURELY FANTASTIC FALLS! The pictures don't do it justice. This fantastic place is hidden in the middle of a sugar cane field...literally we are driving on a dirt path between the high sugar cane to find the entrance - which is unmanned currently because the two men that work there are laying a stone path down to the falls.
Erin is intrigued about the source of these waterfalls and her friend Ericka asks the men about where it begins. They tell her that the river just "comes up out of the earth" and that the source is about 4 KM then another 20 minute hike through the woods to get there. That doesn't sound so far so we decide to go see it. The man (and his machete) climbs in our SUV and directs us through several more sugar cane fields, past a burro and several horses tied to banana trees, and into a spot on the edge of a large pasture.
This is probably not our best plan but off we go, dodging large piles of horse dung and enter the tropical forest behind Machete Man.
We soon learn that time and distance are fuzzy concepts in the Latin World. 90 minutes later we come to another cool waterfall - definitely worth seeing - but still nowhere near the source. In fact, Machete Man looks a bit sheepish and tells us its another 250 meters further (which is the same figure he has been telling us for the last 90 minutes).
We decide that was far enough. We head back to the vehicle (and are very thankful it was still there) and head off to the Hacienda Santa Engracia another three hours away. This fanastic property once owned by Juan Martinez has original furnishings from 300 years ago, it's own private chapel, and fantastic woodwork.
Thankfully, with Erin to interpret, we were able to see some amazing parts of Mexico that even most Mexicans don't know about. Here's to random side trails in life that change you forever. I plan to go back down to the falls when it's warm enough to swim and stay there until the Machete Man chases me out!
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