Walking through cement platforms in the jungle, you can imagine you are Indiana Jones, in search of the next big artifact. Las Pozas  in Xilitla, Mexico is unique and I don’t believe there is anything else like it in the world.

On a Wednesday in November, I booked a trip for the upcoming three-day holiday weekend to Xilitla (November 20 is a major holiday in Mexico). My Spanish teacher told me she was taking a road trip and we discussed us joining her. However, I realized her plans (which included one night of camping) would not work for us right now*. Then, she told me about Las Pozas (“The Pools”).

She described Las Pozas as a crazy, surreal garden or jardin surrealista. She also mentioned there were waterfall pools where you can go swimming. Everything about this sounded perfect. Especially the waterfall pools. I should’ve checked the drive time (and weather) before committing. I did not. Thankfully!

When I learned about Las Siete Luminarias in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, I only knew one of the seven craters was a tourist attraction. I did not know if any other were accessible. As we arrived at our second crater visit, Crater La Alberca, my husband turned to me and said, “Please don’t make it a goal to visit all seven craters.”