Mazda3: Mexico in Autumn

"Do you have a security contingent?" asked a colleague when I mention my upcoming 'Mexico' drive.

Why would I need security?

"It's a blood bath there mate, you'll be shot up just for being a gringo."

I get this news flash three days before arriving in Mexico for a 1500km trek across some of the most stunning scenery in the Americas.

I contemplate bullet-proofing the Mazda3 and adding armour-plating but it would blow the budget… for the next 10 years!

Will I live to tell the tale?

Part Four

It all starts in Guadalajara. Home to around 1.5 million people, Mexico's fourth-largest city is the capital of the Jalisco province. Guadalajara is also home to motoring.com.au's Central-American sister site, Autologia.com.mx.

Catching up with my Mexican colleagues, I mention my Argentinean heritage and how I once gorged on dulce de lecce, an Argentinean caramel delicacy made with condensed milk.

Would you believe Mexico has its own take on the toffee-like treat? It's called cajeta (pron: ca-het-ah) and before long we're discussing the best cajeta in Mexico. Problem is, it can be quite a challenge to find the good stuff.

But as we've learned across the four-part 'Mazda3 for all Seasons' series, exploring foreign lands in a familiar vehicle is a tip-top way to experience a new place, learn about a new culture and yes, indulge in the odd strange thing like purple corn chips….

Cajeta Country

It's funny how a quick trip to the shops to buy a tasty caramel treat can turn into a five day trek through Mexico. After leaving Guadalajara we head north-east towards the vast and captivating Sierra Gorda mountain range (check out the video for evidence).

After approaching the locals and discovering none of them have heard of motoring.com.au - nor the type of goat's milk Cajeta I'm keen to locate - our search continues deeper into the mountains.

After several hours in the saddle, one thing's for sure - the Mazda3 can tour. When I say tour, I mean driven for hour after hour after agonising hour, easily and comfortably.

While a new Mazda3 is due in 2019, the current one is no slouch. Okay, there's no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto which is annoying (Mexican radio is pretty decent) but it does all the important stuff well, like blasting up twisty mountain roads, gripping the tarmac with enthusiasm thanks to its impressively tuned suspension. The steering feels good too, providing just enough feedback to tell me whether to back off or keep pushing.

Fanging through the dry, dusty foothills of the Sierra Gorda and cresting a ridge, the scenery flips to verdant subtropical rainforest. The once bone-dry landscape turns to a place of jungles, forests, raucous birds, opossums... and perhaps the best soft-shell tacos ever eaten by mortals!

Meanwhile, the Mazda3 and its trusty 2.0-litre petrol engine soldiers on, riding confidently over stretches of rutted, craggy thoroughfares, gravelly paths and uneven, crumbling roads.

After roughly 700km we arrive in Xilitla, a small town nestled on the eastern side of Sierra Gorda. It's here I get my first taste of cajeta, albeit in a curious wafer sandwich treat, but it's a great entrée to what is to come.

Fantasty or reality?

Have you ever had the feeling you're in a dream, staring at 'reality' but unable to believe it's tangible? Not far from Xilitla, further into the jungles, we discover a dreamlike garden.

The Edward James sculpture gardens require a healthy dose of athleticism - it's not the easiest place to get around and humidity under the forest canopy is draining. But the obscure blend of man-made sculpture and tropical splendour is worth the effort.

Often called Las Pozas, or the pools, we view waterfalls cascading over giant palm leaves, creating tiny rainbows between tropical flowers and moss covered sculpture.

Edward James was a wealthy poet who wanted to create a spell-binding paradise in the subtropical rainforests of central Mexico. Beginning in 1949, construction finished in 1984 and is estimated to have cost around $5million.

Like a botanical garden of Eden, there are tight walkways, stairs, bridges, pools and waterfalls, juxtaposed with verdant jungle and surreal sculpture. True mind-bending stuff!

However, it's not the kind of place that you decide, "Let's go for a little Sunday drive".

Just getting through the tight, narrow streets of Xilitla is a challenge, with more dirt road action before arriving at the mesmeric gardens. The Mazda3's chassis displays a surprising degree of flexibility that we caught glimpses of in Japan and enjoyed in Sweden as well as New Zealand.

Driving in Central America

After saying adios to Xilitla, we're back behind the wheel of the Mazda3 which is chewing through fuel at a rate 8.4L/100km. Not bad considering I'm wringing it's neck. Driving overseas is the best!

In the space of a few hours we go from humid jungle back to arid desert tundra before hitting the urban jungle of a modern city.

Car-spotters can enjoy the plethora of classic Volkswagen Beetles on the road. Beetle production started in the early 1950s but continued in Mexico well into the early 2000s, such was the popularity and affordability of the little VeeDubs.

Indeed, Mexico is a fascinating place to explore via automobile. Boasting a population of 123 million, I didn't expect to see a bloke walking between traffic on the highway selling baseball bats but the people are friendly and driving etiquette is as good as - if not better than - in Australia.

The country also has a progressive attitude to speed limits. There are drivers in beat-up crapwagons that can't go any faster than 80km/h if they wanted to, but most cars cruise along at 130km/h or faster. Some even fly past at 180km/h.

The maximum sign-posted speed limit is generally 100km/h but everything flows much faster on freeways. And unless you're driving like a complete idiot and swerving around, the police don't seem to mind.

The final chapter… a fairy-tale ending

After putting 1000km on the Mazda3's odometer and spending several days searching, it's almost time to give up and head home. Cruising past Pena de Bernal, a 433 metre tall rock monolith that's popular with pilgrims, my spirits are low.

I've met incredible people, seen astonishing places and developed an incredible tolerance to habanero chillies, but things are looking grim on the cajeta front.

Throwing caution to the wind I head for Jalpan, partially because it's on the way back to Guadalajara. Perhaps the gods are smiling on me or it's just pure coincidence, but I finally find the mythical elixir at a health food store. Goat's milk cajeta!

After long days driving, nights spent gazing at the stars, admiring big American pick-up trucks and highly modified VW Beetles, it turns out that culinary quests are remarkably satisfying once accomplished.

I survived the "blood baths" - the only drug dealers spotted were in the farmacias.

Mexico's reputation as a lawless, menacing country isn't entirely accurate, at least along the roads we travelled. In fact, Mexico is a lot like Australia in some ways.

Driving through New Zealand, Japan, Sweden and now Mexico, the Mazda3 has seamlessly dealt with four seasons and four countries.

What's next… The Canning Stock Route? Stranger things have happened!

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