Juchitan de Zaragoza (Oaxaca, Mexico) Kms 4115

One of the advantages of cycling is that it allows you to observe the fauna on both sides of the road. Most species, with the wisdom that Mother Nature has given them, flee when they see a human being. This is even true for species that have been domesticated such as cows, horses and goats grazing in the meadows near the road, but it is especially true for wild species. The ones who don't run away are because they've been hit. The good news is that the abundance of dead specimens indicates an abundance of living specimens of that species. Particularly abundant in this part of the route are the toads, snakes of all lengths and reptiles, mainly lizards.

Much more difficult to see, even if there were hailas, are the iguanas. One day in Cuajinicuilapa (city in the state of Guerrero) missing my usual diet I sat in a dining room for breakfast and offered me 'iguana broth'. My first reaction was to think it was some kind of giris joke. But no, I was serious. As I have been finding out, it is not about iguanas raised on farms, but about iguanas who live in freedom protected by law and who are furtively hunted. Its meat is highly appreciated and used to make broth and cooked. Their hunting and trade generates additional income in rural areas where the wages of the pedestrians in the countryside are miseros (between six and twelve dollars for a full day of work).

The iguana is not the only unusual Mexican food for me. In a time when we begin to discuss whether insects will be the source of proteins of the future, in the state of Oaxaca it is typical to eat for chipulines (grasshoppers) and chicatanas (large flying ants). They must be delicious because they're not cheap meals. It's a guess, because I haven't. I don't even think.

Chapulines, ready for consumption and enjoyment