Sanborn's Mexico Travel Insurance

Hurricane Karl, a category three hurricane with sustained winds of up  to 120 miles per hour, hit the city of San Pancho,  north of Veracruz  on Sept. 18, 2010. Karl hit Mexico’s central Gulf  Coast on Friday,  killing two people in a mudslide and left thousands of homes flooded  in its wake, although it quickly downgraded to a tropical storm once  it made landfall.

Please drive cautiously through this area, for the meantime, as  there is still potential of flooding do to nearby overfilled rivers  and mudslides.

Stay tuned in to our blog, where we’ll post any updated information we  receive on the areas affected by hurricane Karl.

East of Mexico City, past the town of Puebla, you will find the highest mountain in Mexico know as El Pico de Orizaba. It’s actually a volcano and rises 18,490 feet above sea level. The peak or “el pico” is located north of the city of Orizaba. The volcano is currently dormant but not extinct; however, its last eruption occurred in 1687. Although it’s located about 75 miles inland, west of the port of Veracruz, its peak is visible to ships approaching the port in the Gulf of Mexico, and at dawn, rays of sunlight highlight the peak while Veracruz still lies in shadow.

Not many people consider Mexico as a skiing destination but for a proper adventure south of the border this peak offers amazing skiing opportunities in an exotic location. En route from Puebla to the mountain, stop at Tlachichuca — the sort of base town for would be climbers and skiers — and ask for Senior Reyes. His family is well know around here for their climbing experience. They have a place, called “The Hut”, up in the mountain (at 14,000 ft.) that is used by virtually everyone that ascends the volcano. The cost includes lodging and transportation.

Reaching the top is the goal, and looking down into the volcano’s crater is definitely not an “everyday” scene. It’s not a  tough ascent for the average skier and mountain climber, but your stamina can surely be tested. From the summit, the views stretch to the temperate forests on the lower slopes to the other volcanoes and past the flat desert to the gulf coast beyond. Each year adventure seekers enjoy the year-round snow and the Jamapa Glacier on this peak with over 600m of steep descent on the summit glacier. The most exhilarating part is descending the peak, with most of the ski route facing north. Snow conditions are variable; sometimes the snow becomes a chunky powder, but it gets icier as you approach the glaciers.

For information on climbing Pico de Orizaba visit www.summitorizaba.com.

Thu Oct 29, 2009

A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck off Mexico’s Gulf Coast on Thursday, shaking buildings in the coastal capital of Veracruz but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, public safety officials said.

“At present we have no news of any damage,” said a spokeswoman for the Veracruz state civil defense office.

State oil company Pemex, which has extensive oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Gulf coast, said its facilities were operating normally.

“The ground shook quite strongly for a while, it was frightening but we have no reports of any problems,” said a Pemex spokesman in Veracruz.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported the epicenter of the quake was offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, 45 miles (70 km) southeast of the port city of Veracruz.