The southeastern part of San Luis Potosí State is an area of stunning natural beauty known in pre-Columbian times as Tamoanchán, or “Earthly Paradise.” It boasts tropical valleys, lush mountains, clear rivers, and majestic waterfalls. The most spectacular cascade is Tamul, which plunges 105 m (344 ft) into a canyon and is up to 300 m (1,000 ft) wide in the rainy season. It is reached by boat from Tanchanchín, southwest of Ciudad Valles. Of the area’s many archaeological sites, the most notable is El Consuelo, near Tamuín to the east. It has remnants of a polychrome altar and stepped ceremonial platforms.

High in the mountains south of Ciudad Valles, near the spectacularly situated town of Xilitla, is this extraordinary, dreamlike jungle estate created by the British artist, eccentric, and millionaire Edward James. He first used the property to grow orchids and then as a private zoo. Later, with the help of local workers, sometimes numbering up to 150 at a time, he set about producing this architectural fantasy, which took over 30 years to complete. Many of the hundreds of Surrealist metal and concrete sculptures are unfinished. They are scattered amid thick subtropical vegetation, springs, waterfalls, and pools. Slippery paths weave between the massive structures, which include the Homage to Max Ernst, Avenue of the Snakes, and Toadstool Platform.

The creator of the Las Pozas complex was Edward James (1907–84) according to his friend Salvador Dalí, “crazier than all the Surrealists put together. They pretend, but he is the real thing.” Edward Frank Willis James, born into a wealthy English family, was himself a moderately successful poet and artist, but excelled as a patron of the arts. He published books, founded ballet companies, financed large exhibitions, and amassed paintings by Dalí, Picasso, and Magritte, whose social circle he shared. His only marriage, to a Hungarian ballet dancer, ended in a scandalous divorce. In his later years, his private life revolved around the family of his long-time Mexican employee and companion Plutarco Gastelum Esquer, who had helped him create his jungle paradise at Las Pozas. When James died Esquer’s children inherited the estate.

Born in 1907 to a second-rank British aristocratic mother and American railroad millionaire father, Edward James may well have also been an illegitimate descendant of King Edward VII. He grew up cosseted by an Eton and Oxford education, and with no lack of money set about a life as a poet and artist. Meeting with only limited success, he turned his attentions to becoming a patron of the arts, partly in an attempt to prolong his waning marriage to a Hungarian dancer, Tilly Losch. Despite his bankrolling ballets that served as vehicles for her talent (notably those by George Balanchine’s first company), she eventually left him, whereupon he retreated from London society to Europe. Here he befriended Salvador Dalí, and agreed to buy his entire output for the whole of 1938. As James increasingly aligned himself with the Surrealists, Picasso and Magritte also benefited from his patronage. Indeed, Picasso is reputed to have described James as “crazier than all the Surrealists put together. They pretend, but he is the real thing.” During World War II, James moved to the US, where he partly funded LA’s Watts Towers and made his first visit south of the border. After falling in love with Xilitla, he moved here in the late 1940s and experimented with growing orchids (which all died in a freak snowstorm in 1962) and running a small zoo. In his later years he was often seen with a parrot or two in tow as he went about building his concrete fantasy world. Aided by local collaborator and long-time companion Plutarco Gastelum Esquer and up to 150 workers, James fashioned Las Pozas continually revising and developing. By the time he died in 1984, he had created 36 sculptures, spread over more than 20 acres of jungle. He left his estate to Esquer and his family, though without making any provision for the upkeep of his work.

Travelling through the Sierra Gorda is a joy in itself, but really doesn’t prepare you for the picturesque small town of Xilitla, sprawled over the eastern foothills some 320km northeast of Querétaro. Hemmed in by limestone cliffs, it’s set in a dramatic location, and at 600m, it’s warmer than the rest of the Bajío, with a lusher feel. There are tremendous views over the surrounding temperate rainforest, which is thick with waterfalls, birdlife and flowers, particularly wild orchids. It is mainly of interest as a place to relax, though you might devote a few minutes to admiring the beautifully preserved interior of the sixteenth-century Ex-Convento de San Agustín, which overlooks the central plaza, Jardín Hidalgo.

The real justification for the lengthy journey to Xilitla is to visit Las Pozas (roughly 9am–6pm), some 2.5km east of town along a dirt road: head down Ocampo on the north side of the square, turn left and follow the signs. It is a pleasant walk downhill on the way there, or you can grab a taxi. Having lived here since 1947, English eccentric Edward James spent the 1960s and 1970s creating a surreal jungle fantasy on the site, full of outlandish concrete statues and structures. Sprouting beside nine pools (“pozas”) of a cascading jungle river you’ll find a spiral staircase that winds up until it disappears to nothing, stone hands almost 2m high, thick columns with no purpose, a mosaic snake and buildings such as the “House With Three Stories That Might be Five” and “The House Destined To Be a Cinema”. Only one is in any sense livable, a hideaway apartment four stores up where James spent much of his time. With so little complete, there are all sorts of unprotected precipices: take care. In 2007, the Fondo Xilitla consortium (which includes CEMEX and the San Luis Potosí state government) bought the site for US$2.2 million, with the aim of turning it into a world-class attraction; plans are still at an early stage (and any development is likely to be slow-moving), but check the website for the latest.

For now at least you can see everything in an hour or so, but plan to spend the better part of a day here bathing in the pools and just chilling out; the restaurant is usually open Wed–Sun. You can also take a guided tour (in English), which can be a good way to get to grips with what’s on display. Back in town, call at the Museo Edward James, behind the Posada El Castillo, which showcases James’s life and particularly his work here. Photos of the construction are particularly worth perusing. Getting to Xilitla can be time-consuming. Eight twisting hours through the Sierra Gorda from Querétaro (7 buses daily), it’s perhaps most easily accessed by bus from the unexciting but sizeable town of Ciudad Valles, on the highway between San Luis Potosí and Tampico (1hr 30min), some 60km north. There are also one or two services direct from Tampico (4hr) and San Luis Potosí (6hr): all pull up outside one of two bus company offices close to Jardín Hidalgo. There’s no tourist office, but everything else (including several banks with ATMs and the post office) is easy to find on the streets nearby. Here, too, you’ll find several serviceable restaurants and superb views across the palms. You’ll also find plenty of taco stands and simple, clean accommodation around the plaza.