Huatulco 2014
A couple more days relaxing, and we started amping up the home cooking. We were a little limited as the Super Che had "no Huevo", no eggs, what kind of supermarket has no eggs? So breakfasts and lunches were a little more bacon and tortilla focused. We were very excited to BBQ up some fish, and decided to try breading some fish filets. With no eggs we dipped them in milk (leche) and coated them in breadcrumbs. placing them on a foil tray on the BBQ, they started browning up nicely. When I flipped them over the bread crumbs stayed in a perfect filet shape on the foil, and the fish flipped over easily. Grilled-non-breaded fish filets it is, still a pretty good meal if I do say so myself.
Cascadas y café
Our final big adventure was a trip to some famous waterfalls in the Sierra Madre mountains, we wait out front for our bus, and a Chevy Suburban pulls up, "Beunos Noches, I am your guide Adelino". It was just Norine and I on this trip. Super interesting as you wind your way up from the coast into the tiny towns and pueblos of the Sierra Madres, over an hour of winding up, up and up. Quickly pavement turned to gravel, and wide roads became narrow roads, occasional cars/trucks became cows and chickens.
Our first leg stretch of the trip was the cute little town of Santa Maria Xadani, over 400 years old, out here in the middle of the mountains down a dirt road. There is a beautiful historic church that has a unique contrast from one end to the other as you see the brightly painted structure and doors on one end, and the historic stones and rock of the other end that wasn't damaged by earthquakes of the past.
We met the new mayor, and one of the locals yapping away in a local dialect. He is telling us about the deer on the hill, the chickens on the road, and Adelino says to us "and the Mescal in his belly". He was almost a caricature of the town drunk you see in old western movies... it wasn't even 10am yet. So we say "Adios", and load back into the suburban for our first scheduled stop.
The La Gloria Estate or Ranch, is a family owned coffee plantation and ranch, founded by a german man who emigrated to Mexico after WWII. We are shown some of the basic tools of the trade as well as some coffee plants, and given a cup of coffee or Hibiscus Iced Tea as well as some fresh baked cookies. Apparently we are early, so our guide is given a hard time by the locals.
Norine enjoyed the coffee, and I enjoyed the Iced Tea, but we came here to see the waterfall. As we are getting into the truck, I notice Adelino chatting up some young local girl. Turns out she is a local guide and will be coming with us to the waterfall, her name is Jacelyn.
From the parking lot it is a short hike to the falls, Jacelyn makes sure both of us have walking sticks. They say the true sign of a healthy ecosystem is butterflies, if that is the case, this might be one of the healthiest places we have seen. All around us as we walk butterflies are flitting about, they never sit still long enough for me to take a picture. Yellow, Blue, Green, it is just amazing to see them all..
A Zig-Zagging trail takes us down the hillside and we step into a beautiful oasis. Llano Grande Waterfalls are the upper part of the same Copalita river that washes out to the Ocean by our Villa, the same river we did our River Rafting tour on.
The magic of the day is that we are the first ones to arrive, it is just Norine, Jacelyn, Adelino and I.
Jacelyn shows us a small pool called the Jacuzzi, there is tadpoles swimming around us as we enjoy the cool waters.
While I enjoy a personal massage from the rivers falls, Jacelyn gives Norine a Mud facial. Adelino tells us this mud is way better then the mud down the river... animals probably peed in that part. As we sit there enjoying the whole experience, a dragon fly lands on my hand, just looking at me. Such a beautiful and tranquil spot.
Aside from a couple frogs, we had it all to ourselves for a couple hours, when the tourists started showing up, it was time to go.
After drying off, we headed back to the ranch where they had prepared an amazing lunch for us, and since everyone else was now at the falls, we got to have lunch with just the locals at the ranch and Adelino. Carnitas (pulled pork), Polle Mole (Chicken in a chocolaty brown sauce), Pepinos (cucumbers), Tortillas... so much good food, all kicked off with a shot of a local Mescal tequila to prepare our stomachs. They practically had to roll us back to the truck. Waving at the local school kids we headed back down the mountains.
We found out Adelino lived in the main town of Crucecita, so we asked him to drop us there to do a final bank attempt. The benefit of this meant he would take a different route back down so we got to see different sights and small villages.
Terrible picture of the el toro (bull) blocking the road, he wasn't happy we wanted by.
Adelino drops us off right in front of the Banco de Azteca, it turns out that when you have the right combination of ID and actual money to exchange, it's quite easy to convert US dollars over to Pesos. Feeling more comfortable with Pesos in our pockets, we grab a few items from Super Che to get us through the week, and catch a taxi back to our villa.
Today was just going to be a beach day, we had wandered the beach, but spent most of our time overlooking the beach from our deck and pool. It was a day to splash in the waves, and just hang out on the sand. We waved goodbye to Judith and Camerino, and wandered off.
Turns out there is a reason this is considered a surfers beach... the surf. As fun as it was to be smashed into the sand, we decided to wander down to the river, and spent the day floating in the calm waters and watching the birds.
Eventually we worked our way back to the town, and grabbed some lunch at La Bocana restaurant (our neighbor). Norine asked if the shrimp had heads on them, "No, No, No" was the response, her lunch just had a few shrimp on the side. When it arrived, she gave me the shrimp, they still had heads... not something Norine can do. They were very tasty!
Since we had arrived we noticed people at the top of the rocky cliffs around the beach, stone walled lookouts had been created, and we learned from Judith and Camerino that it was an Archaeological park, just a short walk up the road. The walk didn't seem so short in 40° heat (that's 110° for my American friends). When we arrived, it was a beautiful complex with local gardens and well kept grounds, the security guard lets us in, telling us in Spanish we have time. Apparently it is only open until 4:00, and after our day on the beach it is already 3:30. As we are wandering up the path we are waved over by a lady, she points at her menu card, it is 80 pesos for the park. Even though we tried to explain it's almost closed, it was still 80 pesos... we don't need no stinkin' lookouts. It was just as hot walking back, first stop... cold drinks.
Re-hydrated we head up the hill to the other side of town, where there is a great lookout across the town and beach of Playa La Bocana.
It only takes about 10 minutes to wander through the other side of town, a mix of old and new, colourful birds and fragrant flowers.
The rest of the night was spent just watching surfers and chillin in the pool.
For dinner we headed back to Santa Clara restaurant, definitely our favourite. I decided to order something else off the menu, in Spanish it says "Carnitas" it translates to "Little meats" and is a pork dish. Little did I know, that is exactly what I would get, a giant plate of pulled pork, Mexican style... and tortillas. Nothing else, it was still really good.
Everyday as the sun starts to cool off a little bit on our beach, the dogs come our for a run, Iguanas wander around the rocks, colourful birds surround us, and those damn vultures keep coming back to drink from our pool.
On our last night in Mexico, we decided to truly immerse ourselves in the culture, we hopped in a cab and headed into La Crucecita. Tonight we would dine on the finest of Italian food, there is nothing more Mexican than that. Mama Giordana makes a mean lasagna!
We wandered through the town checking out the unique shops and restaurants before making the final trip back to our Villa.
Our last day was just as beautiful as our first day, sunny and warm. We spent the morning by the pool, then packed up our stuff before saying goodbye (¡Hasta luego!) to our new friends Camerino and Judith.
A very interesting drive to the airport, as our driver explains to us everything in Mexico that is %$#@ed.
Then we are there, in the quaint little Huatulco airport, getting ready to fly back home to the wet of Vancouver. Just as we are getting ready to board we spot the most colourful wooden carving, 2 hummingbirds suckling on a couple flowers. I guess we're taking some classic Mexican style art home with us. Everyday now as I come in the front door, I am reminded of the amazing vacation in Huatulco.
As the result of a little research and a few happy accidents, mispelling 'Escondido' and a double booked room, we ended up having one of the most relaxing and truly Mexican vacations we have ever taken. Here's to more Spring Breaks and Happy Accidents.