Queretaro, Mexico — We were in rugged, barren country with awe-inspiring views. The terrain and vegetation seemed to change each time we rounded a curve or drove through a valley.
We had entered the Sierra Gorda, a remote chain of mountains in northern Queretaro state. It is a region of steep mountain ridges, deep canyons and ravines, along with the only cloud forests in central Mexico. There are jaguars, black bears, river otters, spider monkeys and nearly 400 species of birds.
Unfortunately, there also are frightening two-lane roads full of hairpin curves.
I visited this region last June with Eleanore, a friend who has a degree in anthropology and enjoys traveling in Mexico as much as I do. We were in search of five Baroque churches, 18th century Franciscan missions that Father Junipero Serra founded in the Sierra Gorda before building missions in California.
Our plan was to devote three days to the mission journey, driving from Mexico City to Queretaro, spending the night and venturing into the Sierra Gorda for two nights, returning to Queretaro the third day. Our driver was Rico, who has great patience, a calm demeanor and a tourist car stationed at a Zona Rosa hotel in Mexico City. He has been driving me, and family and friends, since I missed a Christmas Eve flight to Oaxaca in 1987, and he has spent many hours taking me about.
Queretaro is a delightful Mexican colonial city, worthy of a three- or four-day stay, so it was a bit frustrating to be there only for a stopover. Meson Santa Rosa, a favorite hotel, was booked, but we discovered the elegant La Casa de la Marquesa, in the heart of the old section. There were flowers on every table, and the room was palatial.
By 9 the next morning we were on our way. Six hours later, with a bit less than 200 miles of bad road behind us, we reached our first mission town: Jalpan. As we sat near the missionsipping cerveza and eating tacos, we reminded ourselves that it took Father Serra and the nine missionaries he was leading 17 days to make the same journey in June 1750. Considering the topography, it seems a miracle that they ever reached their destination. When Father Serra died at the age of 70 he had spent 50 years as a Franciscan friar, with half of his lifetime devoted to building missions in Mexico and California.
