 We're presently working with the municipal government of Pluma Hidalgo to
help promote their eco-tourism plans, part of an ambitious ecological corridor
from San Jose del Pacifico through Pluma Hidalgo to Santa Maria Huatulco. An area of incredible diversity, this passes from high mountain pine forest through
cloud forest and the famous shade-grown organic coffee plantations of Pluma down to the Rio Huatulco and Santa Maria. The best thing about this region is that it is
far more easily accessible by comfortable highway driving than anywhere else in the local mountains. "Coffee plantation tours" offered by Huatulco tour operators as
part of Copalitilla waterfall trips generally involve a tour of the non-active La Gloria plantation at Llano Grande, which while a lovely place in its own right, is
not a working coffee plantation and leaves some visitors disgruntled at being misled. For the real thing, Pluma is the place to go.
More than just coffee, Pluma Hidalgo offers stunning views across verdant valleys and all the way out to the Pacific. Precariously perched at around 4400' on a knife edge ridge, the town
commands impressive vistas in every direction. While geographically isolated, it is a vibrant town of 5000 people and the paved highway connecting it to Santa Maria Huatulco makes
all the difference in the world to the quality of life here. The shops are well stocked, and a number of the buildings have elegant touches in the way of quality local-made doors
and windows that speak of a strong native pride. Four kilometers below town on a steep rocky dirt road is a dramatic series of waterfalls that cascade down hundreds of feet of cliffs from a mountain
stream. Above town in the hamlet of Pasionaria there is a ridge top hiking trail that offers unbeatable views in every direction of the mountains and valleys. The town has plans for five separate eco-tourism cabaņas in
different locations above the town, on which construction should begin in the spring of 2008. Also in Pluma's plans are an artisan's market for woodcarvings and other local art, and a
variety of other local improvements.
One of the main driving forces making Pluma Hidalgo's dreams into reality is the municipal president Pablo Perez Ramos. A dynamic young man with his own plantation above town, Pablo was just
a local coffee producer with some dreams two years ago. After being elected to run the municipality in 2007, the dreams are rapidly taking shape. One of his first major successes for his own business, along with putting Pluma on the map
as producing some of the best coffee in Mexico, was attending an international coffee trade fair a few years ago and getting Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream to buy his finca's entire production for use in
their coffee ice cream. He has a good knowledge of the world far beyond Pluma Hidalgo, yet is choosing to bring the world to Pluma rather than allow the standard cycle
to continue of people having to leave the mountains to find work elsewhere in Mexico or in the United States. The great thing about organic shade-grown coffee producers is that they
are fierce supporters of conservation. Healthy forests are their lifeblood, allowing their coffee plants to flourish and grow the highest quality beans. This makes shade-grown coffee the
perfect base economy for a place that wants to develop eco-tourism.
|
