CUATRO CIENAGAS, Coahuila, Mexico

Well, finally I have something to write about, and to update everyone about!

This weekend I went with a group of friends to Cuatro Cienagas, an ecological preserve about 4 hours away from Monterrey. It has quite a few lakes, springs, etc. in a desert, where there are several different species of animals particular to this area. It is really beautiful.

So Friday my room mate and I had to go to immigration...again, and waited 2 hours, again. So that wasn't fun at all, but it had to get done. After we were finally done there, we went home and packed for the weekend, and left by around 4:00. We had 3 carloads of people, but only 2 left at that time. The other car left a few hours later. So when we got into town, we found our hotel, settled in, and then walked around to find a place for dinner. It was freezing, so we pretty much just went with the closest place. We found a small restaurant, and the food was delicious. After, we walked around the town a little, and then just went back to the hotel, played/listened to some music for a while, and then the other car arrived. As soon as we figured out our sleeping arrangements, we pretty much went to bed.

Saturday we woke up, had breakfast, and started our day. We first went to la poza azul and some other springs in the desert. They were really beautiful...clear blue water, fish, and they were actually thermal water. Even though we couldn't swim in them, we got to feel the water, and it was quite warm! It was really cool. After that we drove a few kilometers to the white sand dunes, where there were different sand structures and white sand for miles. It was also really beautiful, and a lot of fun. We just walked around, and were actually able to climb on some of the structures. It was a really good time. After we went into town to buy supplies for the night, because I went camping. The campsite was absolutely breathtaking. It too was in the middle of the desert, with mountains covering the horizon, and our tent was about 10 feet away from a lake. So after we heated up water on the fire to make our ramen noodles we headed into the tent for the night because again, it was freezing. I wore a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, a sweatshirt, a coat, a scarf, leggings, sweatpants, and two pairs of socks, and slept in a sleeping bag, and I was still cold. But it was an experience. We woke up really early in the morning because we were still cold, and went to the car, turned the heat on, and then fell asleep in there for a while just to unthaw. When we could finally feel our bodies again, we made breakfast, and then when it was warmer outside, we went for a swim. The water was really pretty, clear, and there were lots of fish. When we got back after our swim, the rest of the group was arriving, and we spent the rest of the day eating, drinking, swimming, and just hanging out at the campsite. It was really fun. The ride home was really long, I was exhausted, and there was a lot of fog, so it seemed to take even longer, but we finally got home around 1:30 am. I went straight to bed, and slept in, because due to some Mexican holiday, we didn't have classes today. So I did absolutely nothing. It was a good relaxing day after a fun, exhausting weekend. :D