Introduction

A popular hunting and fishing destination, the state of Tamaulipas is home to numerous rivers and lakes, and has some 270 miles of coast on the Gulf of Mexico. Its well known border cities Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros attract millions of visitors annually.

Reynosa is the port of entry for most of the white-winged dove hunters who flock to the state’s hunting and fishing camps. Matamoros is an industrial city where many US businessmen work, mostly as managers at assembly plants.

The state capital is Tampico, where the Panuco River meets the Gulf of Mexico. It’s one of Mexico’s leading ports and oil-refinery centers. The architecture of its Frenchified downtown area is very similar to that of New Orleans. In fact, the town’s central Plaza de la Libertad (or Liberty Square) boasts a bandstand called El Pulpo (The Octopus) that is a replica of the one found in New Orleans. The former municipal slaughterhouse today houses the Casa de Cultura (or Cultural Center), a gorgeously restored building that hosts numerous cultural events.

The best hotel in town is the Camino Real (T. (833) 229 3535) located on the main avenue. An all-inclusive Maeva (T. (833) 230 0202) is at Playa Miramar, the town beach.

In the southeast of the state is El Cielo, the northernmost cloud forest on the North American continent. Declared an international biosphere reserve by the UN in 1987, El Cielo, or Heaven, sits on 284,000 acres. Visitors can hike or bike mountain paths, as well as kayak, rappel and admire up to 40 different varieties of orchids. Each year, the town closest to the reserve, Ciudad Mante, about 21 miles away, hosts a Butterfly Festival (October) and a Nature Festival (February), both designed to promote conservation and the sustainable development of rural communities within the reserve. In addition to art exhibits, workshops and conferences on nature preservation, there’s birding, butterfly tracking and boat trips; you can even help ornithologists in the field band birds for research. For more information, visit www.elcielofestival.com.