Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Parque Ecologico RufinoTamayo

Barely on the outskirts of La Crucecita, sits the Ecological Park of Rufino Tamayo. Sitting on several acres of undeveloped land, the park is maintained by the city. Most parks and public areas in Huatulco are maintained by FONATUR, the Mexican tourism agency. The difference in upkeep is quite noticeable.

The area outside the entrance gates is quite lovely. Lots of plantings of nice trees and vegatation.




But don't let that fool you. The inside is anything but beautiful. In fact, it is kind of scary on the pathways.

A little way in, sits this long neglected play area. Swings were missing or hanging by one chain and almost everything was covered by rust and/or had sharp points and corners. Certainly no place a parent would allow their child to play.




Looking from the playground back to the entrance gates.




The pathways are surrounded by wild, unattended growth. Dense and forbidding. But I don't think anybody would want to leave the trails anyway. It was almost primevil looking.




The park sits on some very hilly land. The pathways are either cement ramps or steps. It is not an easy park to just take a leisurely stroll in. It was hot, muggy and a lot of work to go up and down these ramps.




The one on the right looks like a tree, doesn't it?




In truth, it was a very large cactus.





Here you can really see how steep these paths were. Just not an inviting system at all. In fact, we only encountered one other person the entire time we were walking around.





I suppose these pathways might be good for skateboarding, although only for the experienced.




We had great expectations for this park, since it was labeled as ecological. I'm not sure what I expected to see, but certainly not a park that was unfriendly and uninviting. All in all, we were greatly disappointed by this park and I would not recommend that you put it on your "must do" list when visiting Huatulco.

4 comments:

Calypso said...

Sorry about the disappointment - but thanks for the tip (warning). 'Won't spend the time visiting an unfriendly and uninviting park.

Babs said...

Well, I see it differently. The terrain is hilly so why wouldn't the paths be such. If it is ecological then that means to not disturb the natural land. Maybe that helps to make it not seem so uninviting to you.
That cactus "tree" is amazing. I've never seen such an old one.
Beautiful.

Steve Cotton said...

Any wildlife? You know. Snakes. Panthers. Sharks. Or just life-threatening slides and slopes?

Ann said...

Sorry that this park is so uninviting. Glad you made it back to Isla after such a terrible trip home! Can't wait to hear about the new Seso loco's--I got an email from Seso a few weeks ago.