Puerto Escondido weekend

Here are some pictures from a run to Puerto Escondido a couple of months back. It's such a beautiful place but I don't get down too often.

Last trip there was a lot of street construction in Zicatela. That's all been completed now except for a few finishing touches. Check out the spanking new public shower building. It looks ready for business. It's still locked up for now though.


I arrived in plenty of time before sundown to check out Zicatela beyond the paved road.
Those clouds ahead moved in quickly and turned dark, putting a little pressure on to find a room for the night.


All the affordable places in Zicatela were packed for a big surfer competition and a lady advised me to move on to Carazilillo.

There isn't too much accomodation in Carazilillo to choose from but I found my sanctuary after a few misfires. First I tried a nice looking place with a bell to ring for service. A maintenance man came along and called the front desk on his cellphone. I didn't even know if I could afford that place and five minutes and several warning rumbles of thunder later, we were still waiting for a response and the sky had turned black.

I moved on to Shalom. The gate was open and I gave myself the complete tour of the premises without seeing a soul. The first rain drops had started to fall.

I ended up in a nice place with an ocean view and a pool I had completely to myself during the day until a huge family returned from the beach for 150 pesos. It was a great place to watch the heavy lightning storm.




Here's a great view of Carazilillo from the balocony of another hotel I couldn't afford. I checked the place out anyway.

I left early Sunday morning. No one was awake to open the gate at the hotel. I pushed the scooter through the pedestrian door.

I bombed around town before breakfast and found a whole section I had never seen before, full of palatial hotels.



I nearly always have breakfast at Cafecito's in Zicatela when I'm in town. I felt like a change. Some of these other places had to be worth a try. When I saw the giant shark mouth for a door, my decision had been made.

What could be more inviting?

The food was very simple and cheap. They weren't as organized as Cafecito's. They're new after all. The menu was a choice of 5 set breakfasts and they were running out of almost everything by the time I got there. But they have a giant shark mouth for a door!

The rest of the place was two stories made up like an old wooden ship. Great panoramic beach views.





Riding home, the highway was a cool tunnel of green, merging ahead at the vanishing point and I almost smashed through this fallen tree.

After the rain

It rained long and hard on our first day of vacation. A friend had to postpone a trip to Merida because bridges and roads had been washed out. The next day started out cloudy but I was determined to get outdoors even if just to walk around town with an umbrella. By the time I was ready, an umbrella wasn't necessary.




Blue sky returns to Chahue.

Several of these rockslides about. I've been told a huge tree fell across the trail to Playa Organo and there's no way to crawl around, under or over it.

Gushing canals.

School's Out

I first heard about this event at lunch time on the last day of school. A student tried her best to explain but I didn't quite get it. I showed up anyways. All would be revealed. The only snag was that it began at 7 pm, clock out time. I rode home, parked the scooter, unloaded my backpack, headed to the rendez-vous point and arrived around 7:20. Everyone was still there and more stragglers were still arriving.

Everyone was in a great mood. Spirits were high.

This was Calenda, a happy drinking and dancing parade weaving its way through town.

I took a turn wearing one of the mascot costumes. I don't think I did a very good job. Most mascots jump around and dance. I tried not to bump into people. That thing is top heavy. You grab on to the strong wire mesh inside. If you tip a little, the mascot dips a lot. Eventually a better person took over the job.

Time for another dancing break, this time in the center of Infonavit.

We even had a police escort. There was a moment I felt a bit self-conscious about walking in the middle of the street with a beer in one hand and tequila in the other with a flashing police car behind me but it wasn't a problem. Their job was to ensure that nobody interfered with my public drinking. Fun.

Friendly UMAR people on standby in the back of a truck, making sure nobody was left without a cold beer.

There was so much booze. I had to start declining generous offers of mezcal. Eventually the party weaved right by my apartment complex and I dropped out. I was beat. I'd had a full night already but the party continued on without me. What a great tradition to celebrate the end of a grueling semester.

My motorcycle gang

A lot of people may think this blog has been abandoned forever. Not true. In fact, I feel the urge to upload peictures even though they're far from current.

These are from a scooter excursion my friend David arranged at school for teachers and students months ago, a nice little day trip to Rio Copalita and back.



It's hard to get everyone in one shot. Someone has to hold the camera.



Half of these pictures are courteous of Omar, the man in the front.


It must have been raining in the hills to make the water so brown. I've passed over that bridge in the background quite often and the water has been crystal clear. Lots of people head down there to cool off and relax without the need to worry about treacherous ocean currents.