Mar 11 – You are going to be so jealous when I tell you where we went today! El Árbol del Tule! What is that? Well, it’s not the tallest tree in the world (that would be the General Sherman, a sequoia in California), nor the oldest tree in the world (that would be the Great Basin bristlecone pine, also in California, over 5000 years old). No friends, today we visited the world’s stoutest tree! A really, really wide cypress tree, over 2000 years old!

A half hour’s bus ride from Oaxaca city, the little town of Santa Maria del Tule exists for the sole purpose of taking care of this tree! A lovely park surrounds the tree, with fountains and topiary animals.

For 10 pesos (50 cents), you can walk inside the gate and see the tree up close and personal. Folks say they see faces and animals in the tree’s bark. What do you see?

There is a pretty church here, unfortunately closed.

On the other side of the church is the Son of Tule, only a thousand years old. If the original tree ever kicks the bucket, the townspeople are prepared with a replacement!

A nun sells souvenirs:

There are some lovely metal sculptures here:

We spent a few hours wandering about, then found the bus to take us back to the city. A great way to spend a sunny Sunday!