Cascada de Los Pescaditos

Deep in Puebla's Mixteca, a land of scrub and cactus, the Zoquiac river rises from a spring at about 1,740 m and, right from its source, forms a chain of five cold, clear pools in several shades of green; the fifth is the longest. The water drops straight from the spring into a deep pool where you can swim or just watch the fall from the edge. Organ cacti two to ten metres tall grow all around, and the stream belongs to a system of caves and caverns the Zoquiac has carved into the rock. Some call it the Pececitos waterfall. It lies at the far northwest of the municipality of Molcaxac, less than 2 km from the El Moral ranch.

Reaching the first pool means walking up the canyon on a very narrow, uneven path; keep close to the rock wall and wear shoes with good grip. Climbers have opened deep-water soloing walls above the water, but the site has no tourist facilities: no toilets, drinking water or stalls, so carry everything in and out. Check the depth before jumping into any pool. It suits watching semi-desert plants and wildlife better than a lazy day at a swimming spot.

Molcaxac, "where the sparrows nest", covers about 156 km² and in colonial times was subject to Tepeji; its parish of the Assumption was founded in 1755 and in 1766 its residents asked to separate. It became a free municipality in 1895. In 1916 the town was burned by Juan Andreu Almazán's troops after some residents took refuge in the church towers. Temperatures range from 14 to 20 °C, with 600 to 700 mm of rain. At San José de Gracia there is a tetele, a mound possibly from the Preclassic. People here make rope goods, palm weaving and bone and leather objects; the food is mole, pipián, bean tamales, cecina and chileatole, with guava paste, jamoncillo, mezcal or aguardiente, and feasts are played with flute and teponaxtle drum.