Huatulco 2014
Every winter there is a time period in Vancouver where you just need some sunshine, the rain and dark days kind of get you down, and even though we had just got back from a Hawaiian Christmas, I started thinking about a Spring Break Sunshine getaway... the day after we got back from Hawaii. Norine's work has a 2 week break in March, so all we had to do is figure out where.
We started thinking about some ground rules; Relax, Sun & Sand, no connections through busy airports, not too expensive. So we reached out to our friend Yvonne at Flight Centre and she started sending us some ideas, Cancun, Los Cabos, Mazatlan. Beautiful big resorts during Spring Break... new ground rule; no big giant resorts during spring break, we want a vacation, not a College frat-house party scene.
I reached out to some other friends that I know travel to Mexico a lot, they gave me some great ideas of more traditional destinations in Mexico that weren't the big resorts, and I started doing some investigating... a small typo resulted in me finding a cool little place called 'Villa Escondida' instead of Puerto Escondido, it was awesome. Rated very highly by Trip Advisor and located on a small beach in Huatulco, only 4 suites in the complex, a pool, no crowds, and Air Transat has a direct flight from YVR to Huatulco that fits in the 2 week window we had.
A couple phone calls and mouse clicks later and our flights were booked, and we had a cool place to stay, or so we thought.
The next day we get a call from the booking company, The Villa Escondida was accidentally double booked at the same time we were booking, they felt terrible and offered up some alternatives. We could stay at this other place called Villa Vidu for part of the stay, then move to Villa Escondida. They would offer the other place at 1/2 the cost for that time period due to their error. Disappointed we decided to check out this other villa, it was amazing! Not only 1/2 price, but we would have the whole villa to ourselves, and it was on the same beach. I let them know how "disappointed" we were, and would they consider letting us have this place for the entire 2 weeks at the same discounted price... they agreed. So now we just had to wait for March to roll around, so we could pull out the shorts and sandals, and escape the rain.
Huatulco (pronounced wah-TOOL-co) is one of the most southern of the Mexican destinations nestled in the region known as Oaxaca on the Pacific Ocean, and is still considered a little bit of a secret destination when compared to Puerto Vallarta, Cabo and Cancun. Hopefully our destination is even more of a secret and we can just relax and unwind.
As we fly over the Grand Canyon and down into Mexico, the landscape is changing, and all I can think about is the Weather report for the next 14 days. 30 plus during the day, dropping to 20 at night... this should be a nice change from Vancouver's winter.
I always know I have arrived somewhere special when the doors of the plane open up to sunshine, and you have to walk down stairs to the runway. The Airport terminal in Huatulco sets the stage for the change of pace we were about to encounter.
Playa La Bocana
We pre-arranged for a driver to pick us up, and very quickly we were on the road to our town, but not before the little airport sniffing dog ratted us out for having a couple Subway sandwiches in our bag. They told us there would be no food on the flight, there was. Oh well.
Playa La Bocana is a very small surfing town, there is 50-70 residents, and no big hotels. The cobble stone street goes straight from the highway to a turnaround at the seawall on the beach. If we wanted relaxing and quiet, this looks like the right place.
We did have one night of transition, as we arrived on a Friday and had to wait for the people staying at our Villa to leave. The first night we stayed in the apartment above the Santa Clara restaurant, right across the street from the entrance to our Villa. It was a quaint little Mexican style place, with great views and really good traditional Mexican food.
After settling in we wandered through the entire town of Playa Bocana, after those 5 minutes were up we headed out to the beach. It's an interesting town, there is 3 restaurants, Santa Clara where we stayed, La Bocana Restaurant and Los Gueros Restaurant. La Bocana is only open for lunch, Los Gueros was only open one night that we were there, and Santa Clara might be open for Breakfast, lunch or dinner, depending how busy they are... one night we had tuna sandwiches because all three were closed. To be fair, Mario at Santa Clara said he would have stayed open if we told him we were coming for dinner.
1 block away from the beach is a fairly new and brightly coloured little marketplace area, there is a variety of booths setup for local crafts people, a center display area advertising aerial acrobats, an Iguana display area, and a bar/restaurant. All of it has been abandoned because the cruise ship crowds never came. Someone still tidies up and takes care of the flowers though.
This would also be the first time we met our adopted dogs, I'll refer to them as Panchita and Cisco. While the rest of the dogs are sleeping off the sunny afternoon, Panchita and Cisco are just getting revved up. They have collars, are well fed, and seem to be the happiest dogs in the country. She is a white and tan something-something cross, he is a brindle chocolate something-something cross with the cutest white feet. Every afternoon we would watch them go running down the beach between 4 and 5, chasing each other, wrestling, splashing in the water, greeting people, and then heading back home. it was the highlight of our afternoons to see these two buddies having so much fun... Toy Story's "You've got a friend in me" is running through our heads each day as they frolic on the sand. I don't have any other pictures of them, because they just never stopped moving.
The beach here is quite unique, Playa La Bocana is where the Copalita river (Rio Copalita) meets the Pacific Ocean. Bocana translates to "Mouth" in english. Last year there was an hurricane that completely changed the beach, never mind that it damaged the seawall. It used to have a surf that came in very close to the Villa's and restaurants at the end of the road. Now there is a winding river (that raises and lowers with the tide) that you have to cross to get to the beach, to get to the ocean.
Bocana Beach before the Hurricane 
Bocana Beach after the Hurricane
Copalita River coming from the mountains The newly formed Copalita River lagoon
After spending part of Christmas on the beaches in Maui we are struck by one major difference at Playa Bocana, there really isn't any people here. A couple fishermen, a few surfers that come out early in the day and late in the day, and a few tourists, oh and birds, lots and lots of birds... Pelicans, Egrets, Cormorants, Gulls, and Vultures, yep, Vultures.
Playa Bocana is not a swimming beach, it's definitely a surfing beach, but you do have the warm and calm waters off the river if you just want to float. After wandering the beach from end to end, we worked our way back to the Santa Clara Restaurant for one of their advertised "Coldest Beer's" and a nice Mexican lunch while we waited for access to our Villa. 2 rather well dressed women walked up to us, "are you the Warfield's?", "Are you ready to go see your house?". Why yes, YES WE ARE! Mario from the restaurant grabbed our luggage, and we crossed the street to officially check-in to our home for the next 2 weeks.
VILLA VIDU
Almost hidden between the La Bocana restaurant and a small business ("Masajes y Bano de barro" literally translates to "Massage and Mud Bath") is a rather large wooden door.
The door opens up to a unique cement stairway/garden leading into the house... known locally as Villa Vidu. At the top of the stairs is a little wooden bridge crossing a rock pool that leads right into the main area of the house.
As you enter the house, on one side of you is a nice open living room, on the other side of you is a nice open kitchen...
but in front of you is a jaw dropping infinity pool overlooking the beach!
It was hard to leave the pool deck, but upstairs was even more surprises, a giant bed (hard as a rock mind you), and a view from the bed that couldn't be beat, from your pillow you look out onto the beach and the sunrise every morning.
On one side of the main bedroom there was a combination walk-in closet and office space, on the other side a giant bathroom with a new take on the rain shower idea. Above the shower area was completely open, if it rained, you were having a shower.
The design of the house was planned to allow the ocean breezes to flow through and keep the house moderately cool. On each floor there was an extra bedroom and bathroom, making it convenient if there was more than two of you, or you just needed to go to the bathroom a lot.
Throughout the house is unique art and decor, from local carvings, to a giant tree limb which is a symbol of the washed up trees on the beach. There would be a few challenges when it came to navigating the all Spanish satellite TV and the all Spanish Microwave oven.
The villa is directly on the beach, (one of only two villas on this beach) although now it is directly on the river-formed lagoon behind the beach. The view over the river and onto the beach from almost anywhere in the villa is just breath-taking.
As the sun starts to go down we are treated to a moon-rise, each night the moon would rise about an hour later until it was perfectly dark, and ideal for star gazing with clear views of Jupiter, Mars, and the Milky Way.
As it gets darker, the villa also takes on a tranquil look with strategically placed lighting.
The first morning in the villa and I am woken up at 7am by this warm burning sensation, I lift my head of the pillow to watch the sunrise through the huge open sliding door at the foot of the bed. Rather than fight it, I got up to sit on the deck and watch the waves. We may have to change our strategy of binge watching Season 2-6 of Breaking Bad before we go to sleep.
A perfect first full day of doing absolutely nothing, just hanging in the pool, sitting in the sun, and eating Mexican food at the Santa Clara restaurant. Here in Mexico they just call it food (comida).
As the sun goes down behind us, we see another regular sight, one of the local women comes down to sit on the beach at dusk with her little dog and watches the surfers until it is dark. Every night, like clock work... if she was late we would worry, "Oh, there she is!".
We watch the moon rise, and eventually head off to watch a few more episodes of Breaking Bad.
Once again I am woken up early by this view, why fight it... may as well get up and enjoy it. Another perfect day of doing nothing, oh wait, we need to do something, we need to buy some groceries. They did stock the place with basics for us, bread, milk, juice, eggs, water, but since we had a full kitchen and a BBQ, we needed to head into the town of La Crucecita and get some supplies.
Our maid Judith, did I mention we have a maid that comes in everyday to clean up after us? Showed us the secret of the Huatulco taxis. Typically it is 70 pesos for a trip into town, or back from town. But, if you walk up to the road and look for drivers wearing red shirts, they will take as many passengers as they can fit along the way and will drop you at the center of town for 13 pesos each (just over $1).
Off we go to the Super Mercado known as Soriana, a bit of a mix of Walmart and a grocery store. Things are different here, the writing is not in english, and the brand names are quite different for the most part... I question some of their name choices. Bimbo Bread?
We load up the trunk of a taxi, the 70 peso kind, because we don't want to have to walk into the town with the groceries, and head back to our villa. We are both just a little bit better at Spanish after this trip.
Back in the pool after our adventure we have to start dealing with the wildlife. The local birds are wanting to come and drink from our pool, or have a little bath, mostly it's the Great-Tailed Grackles, who are noisy but kind of cute, except for their constant poohing, these other birds are a little more intimidating. There's nothing quite like the feeling of a giant Black Vulture watching you in the pool, waiting for his chance to come down for a sip... and there is no way I am letting them stay there or start bathing themselves!. Have you seen a vulture poop?
As it starts getting darker, we get to watch a few more creatures. Sitting on the deck we are circled by bats swooping around our heads picking off insects, and everywhere in the Villa there is a light shining, there is a gecko (lagartija), there is dozens of them around our place. I am totally cool with both of these forms of wildlife, they serve a purpose and are protecting us from those pesky biting insects.
As we fall asleep to Breaking Bad (season 3 now), we close our eyes to the moon, and open them again to the sunrise.
Time for a Mud Bath
Maybe the bats and geckos weren't quite doing their jobs, but we did have a number of bites on our legs. We had heard stories of the magical healing powers of the mud from the rivers, so decided to check it out today. Every day a group of local women gather at the sea wall and sit there with a little coconut pail of mud. For 100 pesos (about $8) they will walk you down to the river, and give you a mud treatment.
It all starts with the women applying mud all over you, then you wait. You wait for the sun to dry the mud, until you are all crunchy and brown.
Once you are all dry, she does a massage/exfoliation of the dried mud, and then you jump in the river to clean yourself off. Immediately the bug bites stop itching, and your skin feels amazing, ready to bake in the sun for a couple more days.
Feeling refreshed we head back for another Mexican dinner, and watch the sky change colours before Breaking Bad time. That's when we notice some lights shining around the beach and rocks near our pool. The owners of the villa have a handyman that comes around every day and makes sure things are fixed, plants are watered, the pool is cleaned and running fine. Camerino even makes sure he has a sun umbrella set up for us first thing in the morning, then takes it down around dinner time. Much to our surprise, we discovered that Camerino has a little place underneath the pool where he stays during the week before taking the 3 hour bus ride home for the weekend, perhaps they should have told us that right away... a good chance for embarrassment or an outright scare. After I timidly asked who was there,
Camerino says "Buenos Noches Jeffe" and heads into his little hidey-hole.
The next day was going to be special, we were going to check out some other beaches and go snorkeling.