Mexican Mushroom Tours 2009

For Fungi Aficionados with a Sense of Adventure

Since 2000, we have welcomed more than 150 mycology enthusiasts, from renowned
experts to curious beginners, to our unique mushroom-hunting/travel excursions
in some fascinating regions of Mexico. Many participants have returned as
often as 3, 4 or even 5 times for tours in different locations with us. Now you,
too, can join us for our well-planned, all-inclusive, small-group adventures in
fungi-rich areas that also offer much to the culturally interested traveler.

In August 2009, you are invited to come on a fantastic mushroom foray in one of the most colorful, exciting, culturally and historically rich states in Mexico.

Oaxaca ("wa HA ka") offers exceptional cuisine, art, craftsmanship, archaeology and scenery, along with hills and forests abundant in a large variety of fungi, including the fabled matsutake.

Our Sunday to Sunday (August 10 - 17), all-inclusive mushrooming adventure will begin in an elegant boutique hotel near the lively main square in downtown Oaxaca city. From there, we will travel in our comfortable Mercedes van to various more rustic locations, where local indigenous guides will lead us to their prime collecting sites. With us also will be one of our knowledgeable, bilingual mycologists who will ID, discuss and document the specimens gathered. We will also have plenty of opportunities to savour the edibles we find, ending with a culinary highlight dinner at the Oaxaca cooking school of renowned chef Susana Trilling.

Our itinerary will include the pre-hispanic jewel of Mitla, the famed carpet weaving town of Teotitlan del Valle, a historic mescal factory and the stunning mountain villages of Cuajimoloyas and Lachtao.

A detailed preliminary itinerary will be available soon, along with specific tour fee rates. At this point we can say that the average fee per person will be under US$2,000.

Our last group foray in Oaxaca in 2006 was much enjoyed by all participants. Several of them have already indicated that they would come back again. But we especially want to introduce new visitors to this magic region that has so many special attractions and so many MUSHROOMS.

Contact us to let us know if you might be interested and we'll put you on our priority update list for further information.

Recent MexMush Activities

In 2008, our foray location was in central Mexico, in a new, exciting region for Mexican Mushroom Tours - the green, ecologically aware state of Hidalgo.

This past August, our group of 15 plus staff met in the easy-to-travel-to state capital, Pachuca, which is just over an hour northeast of Mexico City but light years away in environment.

Hidalgo's heritage is, of all things, partly British, due to the many overseas miners who came in the 1800s to reap the rich silver and other metals in the nearby hills. They left a legacy that includes charming towns in the mountains and a version of the Cornish Pasties food staple - an empanada style here called "pastes" (pahs-tehs).

But what for us was most important was the abundant forest habitat that remains, with a semi-temperate climate that generates a wide variety of fungi, which have been extensively studied by top mycologist Dr. Arturo Estrada, our technical leader for this important foray.

We stayed in comfortable lodgings in the woods as well as a recently renovated ex-hacienda, with good regional cuisine.

We saw local geological wonders, colonial treasures and much of the indigenous Huasteca culture in this corner of Mexico that has so far been spared "the beaten path."

We had wanted to plan a foray in Hidalgo for a long time and were delighted that it turned out to be such a success. Among all the other sites, activities, good camaraderie and fun, about 350 species of fungi were collected. All who were there felt that it was an exceptional mycological/travel experience.

Further information, fungi ID lists and pictures will be posted soon on our PRIOR TOURS page.

If, instead of our set-date, larger group tours, you might prefer a special arrangement to fit your particular interests and travel schedule, click HERE for details on our NEW, flexible,

PERSONALIZED FORAY ADVENTURES.