Petroglyphs and jungle hike

We joined our friend April who has lived and raised her kids here in La Cruz for thirty years to go see the petroglyphs etched by native Indians thousands of years ago.

We hiked on a road for a few miles then down a rocky river bed under native palms and Huancaxtle trees. One tree is called the Gringo tree as it is red and peeling.

I have placed photos of some of the signs along the hike for your information about these Indians.

This is the Gringo tree. See that it is red and peeling.

Great jungle hiking in the shade! Lucky--no bugs or no biting bugs.

The Indians used this little plant to color in the petroglyphs although no paint is left to see over so much time. 

Larry found the coolest plant life. This is some sort of flower with seeds.

I spotted these philodendrons living up on the tree.

The tallest tree with the fine leaves is the Huancaxtle tree. It is similar to the Poinciana that Larry grew in Florida. These grow tall and thin trying to get light. Normally they grow out and up making an umbrella. The are fabulous in the town square casting a lot of shade.

A dragonfly.

This little guy (preying mantis) was in the road in our path. Amazing that we did not step on him.

Lush jungle with a Gringo tree up ahead.

Now for the petroglyphs. Most of them, it is thought, have significance of the sun, fertility or water.  The man figure is thought to be the shaman. The snake is said to be a symbol of water. The cross stands for the four cardinal directions. The sun is the spiral. That being said, I can't tell you exactly what all this below means but it looks cool.

With water we could make the petroglyph stand out.....

Now for the part I LOVED. This is the gathering area of the Indians and it is a sacred place. There are still a small band of them that celebrate here.

This place was so serene. We immediately stopped chatting and sat and soaked in the history and serenity of the area.

A couple more tidbits about the Indians...yikes!