05-May-2001 -- On May 5th, 2001 I visited 19ºN 99ºW - my first degree confluence.
I read about this in USA Today and immediately was hooked-up. I have no background in navigation (had to borrow a GPS from my sister Nuri - gracias!) but enjoy very much the outdoors. So I immediately looked for the closest degree confluence to Mexico City - where I live.
This degree confluence is between Mexico City and
Cuernavaca (a resort/industrial city south of Mexico) with no more than 70kms between both. Fortunately
I have a grandnephew who lives there and was having his first-year birthday; the perfect excuse to go do it.
There are three highways that connect Mexico City and Cuernavaca, two from the southwest end of the city and the third one from the southeast end. This last one is narrower, longer, slower and less used but is runs very close to this degree confluence.
From my maps I was able to tell that the degree confluence was really very close to a small town called Tlalnepantla, which is only a few kilometers before Tlayacapan (the point of reference) and is a very important producer of Nopal (Prickly Pear Cactus)
So I readied myself, drove the scenic road to Tlalnepantla and parked the car at a point that, according to the GPS, was less than 500 meters from my objective. I started walking but not in a very straight line - this was my first use of a GPS - through fields of nopales and going up and down small mounds and creeks.
To my surprise by the time I reached 'triple zeros' I was standing in a soccer field (picture #1) that is used by the Tlalnepantla community. More to my surprise next to the soccer field is a dirt road that took me back to my car in an easier more direct route.
Picture #5 shows our start point (pink pin) and the degree confluence point (green pin)