San Juan Bautista Cuicatlán



San Juan Bautista Cuicatlán is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 543.5 km2. It is located in Cuicatlán District in the north of the Cañada Region.

Demography
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 9,181.

Education
The education system in Cuicatlán consists solely of public schools. There are 12 pre-schools, 18 primary schools, two secondary schools, and one high school in the municipality of Cuicatlán. Four out of the 12 pre-schools are bilingual as well as two of the primary schools.

Culture
Cuicatlán hosts its patron saint festival (Saint John the Baptist) the 24th of June, with festivities occurring the entire week in the central park including dances, fireworks, rodeos, and basketball games. Other major fiestas include Day of the Dead (October 31 to November 2), Semana Santa (Easter), and Christmas.

Tourism
Located just outside the city center is the Cuicatlán Botanical Garden, which has trails that meander through a dry tropical forest. The Botanical Garden also has gazebos and a kitchen for hosting events, and will house the Cuicatlán Archeological Museum, which is currently under construction.

Cuicatlán neighbors several ecotourism hot spots including San Jose De Chilar, Santiago Quiotepec, and Santa Maria Tecomovaca. These sites offer green macaw sightseeing tours, guided nature walks, hiking, mountain biking, horseback ridings, kayaking, cabins, camp grounds, and ancient runes.

Food
Cuicatlán is home to the world-famous chilhuacle, or chili huatle pepper, which is in season only in late August and September. Local people use this chili pepper to make typical dishes such as chile caldo. Other typical dishes of Cuicatlán include mole negro, mole rojo, salsa de chicatana (ants) which are only available during the early summer months.