Shore to Shore: Santa Cruz to Playa Entrega

I struck another item off my to-do list yesterday, swimming all the way from Santa Cruz to Playa Entrega, something that local athletes do routinely and a lot faster.  I know a student who can make the return trip in 45 minutes or an hour but he's a tri-athlete in a completely different league from the rest of us mortals.  For me, this was completely epic.  I have never swum this kind of distance so far from shore.

Will and I had warmed up a few days earlier by swimming to the distant buoy and back.  He has this high tech waterproof watch that measures distances and confirmed that the buoy trip is the same length as Playa Chahue, about 800 meters return trip.

Will had the plan.  Several people had agreed to go as a group for safety.  None of us were triathlon type swimmers so a bunch of swimming buddies would allow us to stay in a comfort zone when we were way out there.  Will had even planned for a paddle board as a safety net for anyone who got too tired but when he went to pick it up, the young guy at the surf shop doubled the price he had quoted the week before.  So much for that.  Maybe they have different weekend rates.

We waited around for an hour for people who never showed up.  It was seriously early for the first Saturday morning after exams.

Our first resting point is the buoy.  At this point, I hadn't realized that two of our party of five had changed their minds.  I thought they had already left us behind.

Jasmine and Will explain how to find the upcoming video in Spanish to a man who joined us as far as the buoy.  Pen and paper are things no one thinks to bring for a big swim so hopefully he remembered.  I think he would have liked to join us for the whole trip but he had a job to do somewhere.

This is where Will and Jasmine turned back.  Jasmine had foot cramps and Will wanted to see her safely back to shore.   That's what sensible people do.

I experienced 4 foot cramps myself before I reached Entrega but they didn't impede my swimming. 
They hurt as my big toe and its nearest neighbor twisted together but I could still kick and they disappeared after a few strokes anyway.

There is nothing like being alone in open water to make you feel small.

None of the passing boaters returned my wave, which doesn't make them snobs.  They just didn't see me and that's something to keep in mind when you're out in their playground.  It also means they are watching straight ahead as they should so it isn't too bad. 

A lot of this traffic can be completely avoided if you leave early enough.   Later in the day, jet-skiers
will be out and, fueled with beer and adrenaline, they might not be as sharp-eyed as professional tour boat operators.

That's Entrega, closer now than Santa Cruz.
 

At this point, I wasn't suffering muscle fatigue but I felt depleted.  That peanut butter sandwich at 530 in the morning was only a memory.  I didn't like the idea of swimming back in a weakened state.   I'd anticipated we'd probably want snacks at Entrega so I had packed some pesos in a plastic bag with a rock to keep it from floating away.  I had cab fare.   Otherwise, the only other alternative to swimming would have been walking 40 minutes along the hot road without a shirt in bare feet.

 

 

 

 

Whoo-ee!  Playa Entrega!

 

 

 

It's still early in the morning.  I don't think Entrega restaurants open for breakfast.  But wait.  Who's that.  Will and Jasmine came around by land to make sure I arrived.  With water!

 

 

It's nice to know people who would actually call the coast guard instead of just wondering "Whatever happened...?"

 

That's the whole adventure.  Back to Santa Cruz the easy way.  The return trip can wait for another day.

 

 

 

 

Finally, the video shot with the Sony Action Cam.  I recommend full screen on Youtube.

 



Exploring the park in downtown Crucecita, Huatulco

I've been living in Huatulco for over 6 years and ridden past at least one of three entrances to this park every day without entering. This park has no apparent name unless its called Parque Rufino Tamayo but my tourist map says it is distinct from the public performance park across from Pemex.

Parque Rufino Tamayo

 

 

This section of Parque Rufino Tamayo is a small short cut on my way to work

 

so I've been passing this intriguing entrance almost forever

 

 

as well as the second one.

 

 

The third is on the other side by the canal.

 

Last Sunday, after years of postponements, I finally stepped inside.

 

 

 

I love the concrete slides built into the hill.  I want to ride them some day when no one else is around.  Wheee!

 



 

While not exactly a maze, there are countless trails and connections.   You could pick different routes for months.   

 

I took the first left.

 

And up.

 

 

 Keep going.

 

 

First landing.  Up or down?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several of these landings offer barbecue grilles.



 

Sadly, they don't always get the love they deserve.  Eventually, the Fonatur maintenance crew will pick the trash up but it's a big park.   

 

 

Second entrance.  Walking by this entrance on my lunch break one afternoon, pressed for time, I considered taking an experimental short cut but remembered a student telling me she had been lost inside for two hours.  I'm so glad I passed on that plan.  I would have been late for work for sure.

 

 

I've been told there are some great views of town from the higher points of the park during dry season but we've received some good rain recently and everything is green.  This was the most that could be seen.

 

 

I didn't encounter too many people on my hike.  The isolation made me feel vulnerable.  It felt like a good place to get mugged.  If you ran into the wrong person on some of these trails, there would be no witnesses so I felt a bit wary when I heard the occasional person approaching from around a bend.  

 

 

 

This is the boundary of the Cocoa industrial park.

 

 

The only dead end I came across.

 

 

 

At what is probably the highest point in the park is this interesting structure that has seen better days.

I scared a young couple coming up a different stairway as I walked the perimeter.   They startled me too so fair is fair.  They immediately turned around  for a quick retreat but settled down when they decided I didn't look threatening and smoked the reefer they'd brought to enjoy in isolation.

 

 

At least now it serves as a reminder that the park can be a haven for vagrants at night. All of my pictures turned out blurry but this video shows the place pretty well.   

 

If you can imagine what this place looked like before nature and vandals trashed it, it's clear that the original designer had big plans for a picturesque sanctuary for the community.  I like to picture it the way it was planned; bustling with carefree picnickers and joggers;  everybody carrying out their own trash at the end of a happy day, enjoying the shade, maybe holding special community events.  The cost of maintenance and security would be huge.  It would have to be patrolled by police and double at night.  This poor old bathroom is proof of that.  Just imagine if the city budget had no bottom.

 

The park is locked up at night but very easy to break into.  Friends were walking their dogs there one night and found themselves  locked in.  It wasn't a huge problem.  The dogs squeezed through some gaps  and their owners just jumped the fence.   

 

This eyesore is the worst of the place and the park is really quite beautiful and otherwise well-maintained.  I'd recommend a visit some day if you felt like breaking up the beach routine but go with friends if you plan on exploring the trails beyond the wide open entrance areas. 

 

 

 

 

 





UMAR Huatulco upgrades and downtown development

It has been almost three months since I visited the campus.  It's quickly changing into an entirely new world.  I'll have to visit it more often or I might not recognize it when I return from sabbatical.

Check here for before and after comparisons.  http://alackofcleardirection.blogspot.mx/2015/03/moving-earth-at-umar-huatulco.html

Our newest building has taken shape.  The construction workers are already busy on the second story.

The street in front of Centro de Idiomas has doubled in width.  The original one lane might have been more park like but this is so much more practical for high traffic days and deliveries.

I've been meaning to take photos of this new hotel coming up near the bus station.  At least I think it's a hotel.  I like the design of an elevated arrow shape with a connecting skywalk.  Previously, I'd thought that lot was too small to build much but they have really used the space well.

  

Rough Day at Chahue May 2015

Yesterday was one of those occasional days where it's as hazardous to step on the sand as to go in the water.   The waves swept over the entire beach and rushed back with an undertow that could pull away anything not anchored down.

 

A disappointed skim boarder watches waves crashing over the pier.

 



 

The wheelchair access ramp lying in a pool of flood waters.



 

 

 

The first time I've seen police emergency tape at the beach.

 

 

Probably a wise precaution as there were lulls that could have lured an unwary vacationer on to the sand. 

 

Here it looks like the water may have reached all the way to the road.

That red flag has to be cemented to the rock.  I watched it take pounding after pounding.

 

The entire stairwell buried under sand.

 

 

I just checked the news and learned it has been a scary business all the way up the coast from Chiapas to Guerrero.  In this disturbing time lapse webcam video, you can see little objects being swept out to sea.  Let's hope those are just lawn chairs and umbrellas.   

 

Reports are all over the news about a young man who disappeared from Playa Violin here in Huatulco.

http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2015/05/04/1022264

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/2015/mar-fondo-huatulco-desaparecido-1097269.html

 

http://www.tiempoenlinea.com.mx/index.php/using-joomla/extensions/components/content-component/article-categories/41919-desaparece-joven-por-ola-en-mar-de-fondo-en-huatulco-hay-danos-en-municipios-de-tonameca-y-pochutla

 

I got out this morning for a splash in Santa Cruz.  The wave action is not completely over yet but SC is our calmest beach  and it was low tide but I suspect the restaurants are going to have to move their beach front tables in out of harm's way before the day is through.