Santa Engracia. A small place, not on the map, but with a hotel that came highly recommended by Richard as a place to rest weary bones. Well he was right there - Hotel La Hacienda Santa Engracia.
Our room was about 30ft by 20ft by 15ft tall and filled with huge old pieces of furniture and paintings reflecting the 300 yr history of the place. Plus we were the only guests, so the whole place was at our disposal. Five star luxury - and all for the price of a Travelodge at £42 for the night. Incredible.
In the morning, after the usual feast, we had arranged to meet up with Richard - he had taken time off work to join us for a couple of days and wasn't due until midday so Toby and I passed the time by playing tennis (Toby won, but then I hadn't played since about the time he was born...) and swimming in the pool - tough life this plant hunting.
Bang on time Richard arrived together with a mate of his. I didn't catch his name - sounded like Oreal - so I asked how it was spelt. 'R-L' came the puzzled reply (as in J.R - these Texans are often known by initials, it seems). Probably the silliest question he has ever been asked.
Anyway - it was a huge pleasure to finally meet up with my Mexican flora patrician and off we went following his jeep to see yet more exciting plants.
First up - here is Richard proudly showing us a palm. He reckons it to be a hybrid between Brahea decumbens and berlandieri, certainly not like anything else we saw all week. Nearby there was also this spectacularly marked agave:
Then off 15km down a dirt road following the dust cloud ahead from Richard's jeep to a spot in the Juamave valley where RL was after finding a particular bromeliad.
It was worth the trip. I found another plant I didn't expect to bump into - Bocconia frutescens.
The light was all but gone by the time we got back to the car and so we headed back up the dirt track, narrowly missing a cyclist who appeared out of nowhere, and back to Victoria and our hotel. Went out for a lovely meal in town, met a friend of Richard's - James, who was brought up in Victoria and takes people on adventure trips in the countryside - rock climbing, abseiling, rafting, hill-walking, nature treks etc. He was to join us the next day.