For some folks this pun holds true but as much as I try and as many beaches I've visited, I am still not a beach person! My Airbnb hostess in Oaxaca convinced me to go to the Oaxacan coast, so I obliged. I don't know how or why I picked Huatulco over Puerto Escondido but I did.
There are three ways to get to the coast from Oaxaca city; fly on a itty bitty plan over the mountains about an hour plane ride, take the "collectivo" (a cheap van that crams about 12 people in it) and has the fastest route over the mountains but it is guaranteed to make you car sick even if you're not prone to car sickness. They drive crazy through the switchbacks but you get there in about 3.5 hours or you take the bus which goes around the mountains and takes about 8 hours. Guess which I took.
I watched a couple of movies, listened to entire audio book, chatted with some crazy Canadian wannabe surfer girls and took several cat naps. All in all not a bad trip. Oh and the first class buses in Mexico are spot on! It cost me $35.00 USD
Huatulco is where the Sierra Madre Sur foothills meets the Pacific ocean. Once a sleepy little fishing village it has been since turned into a beach resort. I heard it was suppose to be the next Cancun but I don't think it really ever took off in that direction. It is super laid back and unless you want to sit out on the beach all day, snorkel or scuba dive there isn't much else to do.
I met up with Laura who I met in Texas and lives in Mexico and we shared lodging in this house with five or six other "roommates". There was a communal kitchen and living area and private rooms with bathrooms. It was an interesting crowd from all over. I even met a young couple from Bern! What are the odds?!!
We did visit an incredible eco botanical garden called Hagia Sofia. We had this really nice breakfast of organic fruits grown on the property and an authentic Mexican lunch cooked over the open stove. We had a wonderful tour of the gardens and took a dip in the natural waterfall on the property at the end of the day.
We took a boat tour of 7 of the 9 bays around Huatulco on our last day. Some beaches you can only get to by boat. The crowd consisted of Mexican families and it was fun watching them all have a great time.
We spent 5 days in Huatulco and then hopped on a plane to head to Ajijic where Laura lives. She was gracious enough to invite me to her place for a week so that I could take care of some business. The last day in Oaxaca resulted in a very rookie mistake for me, I left my debit card in an ATM machine! After quickly calling my bank and blocking the card, I made arrangements to have a new card sent to Laura's house. More on Ajijic in another blog post.
Despite my "not a beach" person perspective, I did manage to seas the day and make the most of it! Go ahead, shake your head over my puns, you know you want to!
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