The Far Side of Santa Cruz

 Last Wednesday, I checked off an old item from my bucket list.  I've been whimsically toying with the idea of exploring the small beaches on the other side of Santa Cruz, past the cruise ship wharf, for years.  I mentioned it to William the previous morning and he was interested so we called Isaac and off we went.   The first beach gets a little traffic but not too much.  It's perfect for families with small children.  The water isn't very deep and they are no waves to speak of.

Even at 8:30 AM, it's very quiet here.  You can say that about all of Huatuclo these days but I think that's normal for this quiet little cove.  There's a great boat launch here for small craft.

The canal from the marina is right on the other side of that red beacon light.

Here we are prepping for our journey.  People can rent kayaks somewhere around here.  That's the usual way for visiting the series of tiny beaches.  As far as I know, people don't swim out there too often.

Here we are resting at the sixth beach.  Will doesn't rest for very long.

Will and Isaac both brought googles for the trip.  I wish I had too because once you're past the second beach, there is a coral reef all the way to the end and there is so much to see.  Will, sharp-eyed as ever, spotted a child's snorkeling mask with a broken strap at the bottom so I could just hold it up too my face and take short peeks of everything down there.  Next time, and there will be a next time, I'm bringing my goggles.

I think this is beach number 5.  Apparently all of these beaches have individual names but there was no one there to tell us and no signs.

Group shot.   That was a fun day.  Thanks, Isaac for sharing some of your great pics.

Turbulent Times in Huatulco 2020

For the longest time since quarantine, we could only see the ocean from a distance.  Here's Santa Cruz from the lookout point.

Santa Cruz was spooky.  Even construction had taken a break.

This strange empty place is Santa Cruz.

From an early morning bicycle ride up to the other Santa Cruz lookout, this is a so far undeveloped cul de sac that splits off from the main street of hotels and upscale homes.

And there is a welcome socially distanced peek at the ocean again.

I rode the scooter one afternoon down the oceanfront cul de sac that offers a view of Playa Chahue.  There wasn't a soul to be seen except for the lone policeman in the lifeguard chair, whose job was to keep people away from the beach.  He got on his megaphone and announced "Quedate en su casa!"  I think he meant me.  I didn't stick around to confirm that.

Finally, the beaches were officially re-opened but not all of them.  What a relief.  I found out later that some people had been swimming there for weeks ahead of official sanction.  Unlike Chahue, there hadn't been anyone stationed there to chase them away.   I knew some people were escaping to some of the hidden beaches like Violin.  You'd see cars parked in front of the trails.  Honestly, I had been tempted more than once myself but in the end, I didn't want to be responsible of a total breakdown of social distancing so I sighed and waited.

In the morning, there are so few people there.  It feels safe.

Open or not, they kept the banner banning access up for a few more weeks.  No sense in encouraging everyone.

In the evening, it's a bit more popular.  After all, what is better after a long hot day?  Nothing.  It's not exactly like the beaches of Florida we've seen in the news but I counted too many heads in the water for my comfort zone and I turned around to go home. 

Just as with other places that emerged from lock-down, it wasn't long before some people seemed to think the crisis is over and acted accordingly.  Yikes.  I decided to upgrade my personal security.

Opening the beaches was the best thing to happen to me.   I had a new routine of swimming early in the morning when there were fewer people splashing about. 

I had just returned from the beach and gotten comfortable with a coffee and a comic in my front patio when the earthquake hit.  There is no good place to be in an earthquake but I couldn't have been in a better place.  The plastic sun roof over my head would at least have deflected and delayed any crumbling chunks of concrete shaken loose.  Generally, people like to get out of their homes in an earthquake but the narrow street I live on wouldn't have offered much safety.  I would be worried of power cables falling on me.

Texting back and forth began immediately.  There wasn't a lot of damage to the house I live in but a lot more things hit the floor than the last big one in 2017.  A  friend assured me that 7.4 was bigger than the last time we all thought we were going to die.  The evidence was about two liters of cooking oil spilled all over my floor.

Another friend told me the precise location of where the earthquake began was about a 5 minute ride by scooter from where we live.  It really couldn't have been closer.

Naturally, all my neighbors were upset.  Most of us were still shaking even after we had reached some inner calm.

I had to ride my bicycle away from my street because I wanted a cigarette more than anything else and you could smell propane from at least one broken gas line.  When I returned, the firemen had it all under control.  These pictures can't convey how severe that earthquake was.  Huatulco in general didn't receive that much damage.  Mostly it was the terracotta roof tiles and I think everyone had a new crack in the wall somewhere.  I think that's a testament to how well these buildings are constructed.

Although the quake began in Huatulco, not every town was as lucky as we were.  Some small mountain towns were absolutely demolished.  Here's Berenice and two of her friends who helped organize a collection of emergency supplies for one of the hardest hit towns.

It's not over yet.  Stay cool, be patient and be careful.

Huatulco April 2020 Quarantine Days

It's the corona virus lockdown in Huatulco.  Not too much is happening.  Basically, it's like everywhere else.  More and more people are wearing masks.  It's not universal yet but I'm on top of this trend thanks to Matt Yamigawa.

The biggest advantage we have here in Huatulco is all the open space.  The chances of coming too close to anyone are slim and easily avoided.

So much emptiness does not feel natural.

Santa Cruz

The marina where we began and ended our swordfish adventure.

When the coronavirus situation escalated, we were given a warning to take anything from our offices at UMAR Huatulco we would need before they locked the university up tight.  Not surprisingly, after more than a week of very little human traffic, animals were reclaiming the environment.
This little rabbit was trying to be invisible right outside Centro de Idiomas.
 

La Bocana closed.

Conejos closed.

Downtown Crucecita.  Deserted.

I made an early morning visit to Soriana where I was greeted with a squirt of hand sanitizer gel.  The previous visit had been a spray of Clorox and water.  So now we seem to have lots of gel in town but not enough to put on the shelves for sale.  Just about every store you visit will have a big bottle to share with customers.

That beer is going to sit there for a long while.  There is a dry law until further notice.  Hard core drinkers may be able to find homemade mezcal somewhere to satisfy their needs.  The rest of us will keep our wits about until the dangers have passed.

There is no shortage of toilet paper in this town.

When I arrived, I just walked in,  By the time I was ready to leave, they had moved barricades of flats to limit traffic for the rest of the day.  That masked woman sanitizing the shopping carts offered me the hand gel on my way in.

I'm going through a lot more dog food now.  The street dogs have lost some of their regular food sources since the street food vendors have disappeared and they are ravenous.  

Here's Hank and the newest member of the breakfast club, Voight.  Krypto waits patiently outside.  The other two won't let here enter.   

Having devoured his share of the food, Voight decided he had a new home.  I chased him away so Krypto could eat.  Poor Krypto surrounds her dish with her paws now as if afraid someone is going to steal it.

As the song goes, it's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine...so far.  I hope you feel fine as well.  Remember to stay away from stupid people.  They have never been more dangerous.