Cloudforest Initiatives
P.O. Box 16177
St. Paul, MN 55116
e-mail: tomas@cloudforestmexico.org
651-592-4143

DOCUMENTATION:

You can get a tourist card from your travel agent or at the airport before departure. Fill it in. Remember you are a tourist; so, write traveling in the place where it says Trip motive. For destination you can write, traveling in Mexico. As you know, the word Chiapas has become a problem for tourists. We want to emphasize that we are tourists.

ARRIVAL:

In Chiapas, you will fly into the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez. We will pick you up at the Tuxtla airport, or make arrangements for a van to pick you up and drive you to San Cristobal. Since group members might be having different arrival times, and because we want to make things easier for everybody, we have chosen around 6:00 PM as the pick-up time. So, if you arrive earlier than this, please wait at the airport. If you have a morning flight, let us know ahead of time, well see what we can do; we try to be flexible. If you arrive at a different date than the group, you will have to arrange your own transportation to San Cristobal. At the end of the trip, we will take you back to Tuxtla Gutierrez for your return flight. Again, we are not responsible for transportation if you have a different departure date, but we will be glad to help you arrange transportation, which you will have to cover on your own.

SAN CRISTOBAL:

Our center of operations in Chiapas is San Cristobal de las Casas, a beautiful colonial city in southern Mexico. San Cristobal is a favorite tourist spot because of its colonial buildings, indigenous environment, arts and crafts market and historical museums. San Cristobal is a small city where you can walk just about everywhere; van-bus service and taxis are readily available. The taxi service costs 10 pesos in the main area of the city (farther locations, within city limits, are 12 to 15 pesos, depending on distance). The vans (called combis) cost 2.50 pesos. We use public transportation or walk in the city for all visits (CI pays for all land transportation that is directly related to the program). You will be staying in San Cristobal de las Casas in a guesthouse, in our own housing facility, or in some cases in a modest hotel. In our language program, you will be living with a San Cristobal family and eating all your meals with the family (please see below for Language Program Preparations).

LODGING:

Cloudforest Initiatives housing facility is the artisan workshop. We can now host up to five people. We usually host small groups in the workshop (which we call taller [pronounced TIE-YARE in Spanish]).  The taller is a small, lovely colonial-style house. There are two bedrooms with a sleeping loft, and a common bathroom. We have a kitchen facility and we encourage our guests to prepare their own breakfast and sometimes their own dinner, although some times we go out to eat. For lunch we usually go out to restaurants or we bring a meal to the group. The taller is a place where talking can be done without concern that others will hear, and where real community is formed. The guesthouse is run by a solidarity family and is very comfortable. It is a very secure and safe place where the trip participants feel they can talk about everything they want, including all political issues that we recommend not be discussed in other public places for security reasons. It is located away from the noisy center, but within walking distance from it.  The Combi buses run in front of the guesthouse. The guesthouse has double rooms and common bathrooms (although some rooms have their own bathroom); there is also a meeting place, a beautiful yard, and you can use the kitchen and dining room for breakfast. We go out to restaurants for lunch and dinner. In some cases, our groups stay in a small comfortable hotel, double occupancy with bathroom. We do this only when the group requests it.

Participants of the language program stay with middle class families in San Cristobal de las Casas and all meals are eaten with the family. The language school, Instituto Jovel, arranges placements, taking special consideration for the needs and desires of the students. Therefore, if you are participating in the language program, please let us know what your dietary/health needs are, as well as other needs you might have (noise, privacy, children, allergies to foods or pets, etc).

For all participants, we request that you let us know about health and dietary needs or restrictions. This helps us to plan the program.

As part of the travel program, we visit indigenous communities in the highlands (or sometimes in the lowlands or rain forest). The communities we visit are traditional indigenous villages, Zapatista communities or internal refugee camps. Sometimes these are overnight visits. We usually bring our own food and prepare it there, or ask somebody in the community to prepare our meals. If you like, you can bring a sleeping bag. Some people have chosen to buy a blanket in the San Cristobal market and then donate it to the community after our overnight visit. This, of course, is up to you. Some people like to bring or purchase a hammock; in the highlands, you will still need a blanket as it gets quite chilly. For some of the visits we will need a permit and will undergo an orientation at a San Cristobal NGO.

WEATHER:

San Cristobal is in the highlands of Chiapas; the weather is cool to warm year-round, or 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather is very sunny and nice, it very seldom gets hot. The rainy season is between June and October. It rains daily, mostly in the afternoon and evening, but the sun usually comes out in the morning. During the rainy season it gets quite muddy in the countryside, both in the highlands and lowlands. Rain gear and boots are recommended during the rainy season. From October to December the weather in the highlands is dry, cool and sunny. There is no indoor heating in the houses, so it feels quite chilly for North Americans used to central heating. The weather in the highlands during this time of year is similar to the fall weather in northern US. In the lowlands and Lacondon rainforest the weather is extremely hot year-round, and very muddy during the rainy season. In the rainforest, the rains are extreme and constant in the months of June to August. It cools off a bit in the months of December and January, during the dry season, but it is still hot.

PACKING:

Please pack comfortable clothes such as slacks, jeans and long sleeve cotton shirts. Women could include a couple of cotton skirts and/or dresses. You will a need a warm sweater/jacket for the highlands, as it gets quite chilly in the evenings and early mornings, and there is no indoor heating. We recommend that you bring along warm sleepwear, such as sweats, warm pajamas, or long underwear for sleeping in the highlands. You will need comfortable shoes for city walking and good boots or hiking shoes for going to the communities or to environmental visits. When you pack, remember that we are visitors in this country and we need to be respectful in the way we dress. Although you might see people in the streets with torn or dirty clothes, we do not dress this way, as we want to give our Mexican hosts a good impression of the type of tourists we are. Shorts are not appropriate in San Cristobal or in the indigenous communities. However, it is not necessary for women to wear only skirts. Slacks or jeans are perfectly appropriate for women to wear in indigenous communities; and they are more comfortable for walking, climbing, and working. Please also pack a set of summer type clothes in case we visit the lowlands or jungle, such as a light cotton dress or skirt for women, light pants, light cotton long-sleeve shirt, a couple tee shirts, etc. Bring along your swimming suit for any swimming opportunities. Rain gear is a must during the rainy season. You can purchase rubber boots in San Cristobal if you need them for community visits in the highlands, lowlands or rainforest during the rainy season.

HEALTH:

You will need to bring bug repellent, sun-screen lotion, a flashlight, and any snacks you might want to bring along for trips in the countryside; any simple medications (such as aspirin, pain relievers, Pepto-Bismol, Band-Aids, etc) and enough of the medication you currently take, toiletries and first aid. Some people like to bring a deck of cards or other games to play. Bring a journal to record your experiences. As far as vaccinations, we recommend gamma globulin for hepatitis, if possible. There is a vaccination for typhoid fever, but it is not 100% sure. You might want to ask your physician about it. If you are only coming to the highlands, you will not need malaria treatment. Some people choose to take it just in case. Our recommendation is to follow instructions on drinking and eating while in Chiapas: do not drink tap water, do not drink soft drinks with ice, eat only cooked foods, rinse ALL vegetables and fruits in a chlorine solution and wash them with soap and clean water, then dry them thoroughly and peel them before eating them, avoid eating in the streets or in the market, wash your hands thoroughly before each meal. Upon arrival, you will receive a complete orientation on health issues.

READING AND PREPARING:

There is lots of information available on the situation in Chiapas and Mexico. You can check information in the Internet by looking into Chiapas, Zapatistas, Mexico, or Mayas. You can consult web pages of the Mexican Solidarity Network, National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, The Resource Center of the Americas, Enlace Civil, Fray Bartolome Human Rights Center, or CIEPAC. There are several newsletters with articles on Chiapas including our own Cloudforest Initiatives utopias, SIPAZ newsletter, and EPICAs Challenge magazine. Some recommended books include: Rebellion from the Roots, Indian Uprising in Chiapas, John Ross (Common Courage Press); Basta! Land and the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas, George E Collier (Food First); The Peoples Church, Bishop Samuel Ruiz of Mexico and Why he Matters, Mary MacEoin (Crossroad Publishing Company); Heart of the Sky, Travels with the Maya, Peter Canby; Popol Vuh, translation by Dennis Tedlock; and for tourist traveling information, La Ruta Maya, Lonely Planet. Do not worry about reading it all before you come. You will feel much more motivated to continue your learning after your trip.

LANGUAGE PROGRAM AND SCHOOL:

You will be studying at the best language school in San Cristobal de las Casas, Instituto Jovel. Classes are taught by excellent professional teachers, who are young and dynamic. You will take a placement test to determine your level of instruction, and will then join a small group of people at that same level. Classes will be three hours in the afternoon, 4 to 7 PM. As explained above, you will be living with a San Cristobal family and eating all meals with them. We encourage students to take advantage of this great experience and opportunity to learn about Chiapas from the local families. Aside from the language program, Cloudforest Initiatives has a program of environmental, cultural, socio-political and economic visits to learn about the Chiapas reality. We do three visits during the week, and a Saturday field trip.

DELEGATIONS/TRAVEL PROGRAMS: