Geographical Association

The 2008 GA ISIG Study Tour focused on Mexico City and Tocuaro. Participants experienced the contrasts between one of the largest cities in the world and the small village of Tocuaro nestling in the volcanic hills of Michoacan.

The programme included visits to Mexico City's Zocala, the Aztec floating gardens at Xochimilco, the pyramids of Teotihuacan, the archaeological museum and local schools. The Patzcuaro focus included visits to Tocuaro and the Horta family, the volcano Paracutin, the settlements around the shrinking Lake Patzcuaro, and the Monarch butterfly sanctuary.

For KS1/2 teachers the Study Tour provided a marvellous opportunity to meet the Horta family in their home surroundings.

Chillies (see photo above) originate from the Americas. They contain high amounts of vitamin C and carotene ('provitamin A') and are a good source of most B vitamins, and vitamin B6 in particular, potassium, magnesium and iron. Their high vitamin C content can also substantially increase the uptake of non-heme iron from other ingredients in a meal, such as beans which are another Mexican staple (e.g. refried beans).

Their name is a romanisation of the Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs). The black chillies in the picture are the Habanero negro variety thought to be closest to the original kind first encountered by the Spanish.

Avocados got their name from the Spanish explorers who couldn't pronounce the Aztec word for the fruit 'ahuacatl'. The Spanish approximation was 'aguacate', which accounts for the 'guaca' part of guacamole. Avocados must reach full maturity before they are picked, however, they do not ripen on the tree which therefore can be used as a kind of storage unit by keeping the fruit fresh on the tree for months after maturing if desired.

This tree yields three crops a year on a plantation at Uruapan, Morelia state. The fruit goes to a co-operative wholesaler for packing and export to the USA by road.

The forests of the volcanic hills around Lake Patzcuaro are under continual threat of degradation by illegal fire wood collecting, logging for furniture and building and, here, by resin collecting in a manner similar to rubber tapping.

Resin is used as a wood varnish. Furniture making has also threatened the survival of the Madrono tree, which is also a source of tannin and brown dye.

Madrono trees are native to North America and Mexico on the Pacific coast. They produce white flowers and red berries and their bark peels off naturally hence the 'naked' trunk.

Encyclopedia.com - madrono trees

Congestion and pollution are major problems for the city. This southward view is from the top of the Latin American Tower, a 600ft steel and glass structure completed in 1956 which withstood the 1985 earthquake without structural damage. Still one of the tallest buildings in the city, it is a wonderful vantage point on clear days.

Eje Central Lazaro Cardenas (Eje = axis) is one of a number of axis trunk routes through the city that run both north/south and east/west. Here it is one-way but for a contra-flow bus lane.

As with most large cities, increasing car ownership presents a parking problem. Rooftop parking can be seen in the foreground. Building regulations nowadays require adequate underground parking to be provided with new developments.

In 1989 the city experimented with restricting (by numberplate) the days that each car could be used. It was found to have little effect as people tended to shift their journey-making to other, permitted days. Others, finding the roads a little less busy, made journeys that they would otherwise not have made! (Eskeland, Gunnar S., and Feyzioglu, Tarhan, 1995)

'They want Huasteca oil, but they don't want Huasteca Indians'. Getting their message across to drivers held up at traffic lights in Mexico City, these protesters were part of a group of 200+ from the Gulf coast where Huasteca Indian people claim that an unscrupulous politician had sold off their land, then absconded with the proceeds to the USA. Stories of corruption throughout government and business and the unfair treatment of indian people (including murder) were related to us on a regular basis. Organised crime, hostage taking, murder and corruption seemed to be the feedstock of the press.

This formation was found among the fabulous diversity of plantlife in the botanical gardens which among other things, has a major cactus conservation programme.

Lava is particularly useful as a building material.

Ropy Lava is formed when lava is moving quickly and the thin surface crust buckles under compression. NeMo Explorer - Sheet Flows

Ropy lava can also be known by the Hawaiian word 'pahoehoe'. Volcano World - Different Types of Lava Flow

Not to be confused with Judas Iscariot, St Jude is the patron saint of lost causes. On a monthly basis, devotees bring their figures to church beside Hidalgo metro station for supplication and blessing.

This unusually large statue was being carried through a dense throng of thousands, some of whom, especially youngsters, appeared to be there for social as much as religious reasons.

Mexico is overwhelmingly Catholic, but a number of evangelical protestant churches are gaining support.

Earthquakes are a daily occurrence on one of the most active seismic parts of the world, though few can be felt. The Cocos plate subducts under the southern section of Mexico’s Pacific coast and it was off the coast near Acapulco that the focus of the 1985 earthquake was located. Mexico City, where so much damage and loss of life occurred, is over 300km inland. Fault lines running east - west across central Mexico (in particular, the Acambay and Clarion faults) are highly active and are associated with the belt of volcanoes, within which Mexico City is nestled.  All public buildings display warning notices such as this.

USGS Mexico Earthquake Information

Dolores Street in Mexico City is at the core of a small Chinatown. The first Chinese immigrants to Mexico were Philippine-born , brought by the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade, as early as 1635. However most contemporary Chinese immigrants came to Mexico directly from China during the early 20th Century as contract workers and political refugees.

However, with the rise of anti-Chinese sentiment in Mexico in the 1930s under President Calles, most of these migrants, including individuals of mixed Chinese and Mexican descent, were deported to China. Today, Mexicali on the US border, has the greatest Chinese population.

This is the vehicle of choice in rural areas, suited to transporting large families and gangs of workers as much as cargo. It is against the law to ride in the back while standing up, though this appeared to be honoured in the breach. Messrs. Kington, Cook and Nichols can attest to the delights of this mode of travel from personal experience!

Whilst having attractive flowers, this introduced plant is extremely fast growing and invasive. If not managed, will cover lakes entirely; this dramatically impacts water flow, blocks sunlight from reaching native aquatic plants, and starves the water of oxygen, often leading to the death of fish. Here it floats among the ancient field and dyke agricultural system (the Aztec 'Chinampas') of Xichimilco, the largest remaining part of the original LakeTexcoco that once occupied the Valley of Mexico.

On the plus side, the plant is tolerant towards, and can take up, heavy metals which have polluted the lake from industrial sources. Agricultural chemical drainage and waste water from a sewage treatment plant flowing into the lake further stimulate the growth of the water hyacinth.

Lake Xochimilco is something of an ecological disaster: Carp and Tilapia were introduced (also put into Lake Victoria) with the result that endemic species are critically threatened and protective tree roots are eaten, causing erosion of the fields. Posts in the background show what must now be done to conserve the unique landscape. Due to the heavy metal pollution, the fish are unsafe to eat anyway.