Paradise at San Agustinillo

This is a picture of paradise. That's me standing on our breezy veranda, reading my Spanish grammar of course. Ange had waded out into the water to take the photo just to show how close we were to the thunderous sound of surf (not at that moment obviously). Our veranda catches the breeze being up a bit and so is cooler than most places here - it's VERY hot.



The trouble with extravagance and paradise is that you get used to it. It just raises the bar. You want to live like this for ever. We have moments, sitting on our veranda, sipping passable wine in the cool evening breeze, asking the question - could we afford to stay here for months?




We have amused ourselves sitting in the shade of palm leaf shelters, reading novels, doing crosswords and staring uselessly at our grammar cram cards, sipping corona or margaritas. Ange has done lots of body surfing, I bob in the surf. The water is the warmest outside a bath I have ever been in. We have also caught up on our blogs, emails etc because we have wifi in our room... How did we ever get it so good? Here is another picture of our room with me working.




Here are more photos of the room and the view from our balcony of the surf and the rocky outcrop between beaches. We are on the edge between two beaches opposite the rocks. The high tide makes them an island and then late in the afternoon you can walk out to them. Last night there was an huge tropical storm . We sat on our veranda watching a man sit in the pouring rain on top of the rocks. It has been so hot he was probably just enjoying the cool. Being the scientists we are we were a little worried about his capacity to be the most likely conductor if the lightening came too close.

Finally we watch the fishing boats come and go from our balcony. They often come in with big plastic tubs full of fish - tuna, sharks and lots more we can't identify. We eat fresh fish almost daily - in soup (a whole fish cut in half in a tomato broth) fried with garlic, or with spaghetti.

A couple of days ago we went out early in the morning with them. They wait between waves and then shoot straight out. Coming back it is reversed - they drive straight for the beach, up onto the sand and rollers logs.

Once out on the water, we went to see Roca Blanca - indeed a big white rock because so many birds roost there, then we went out further and saw lots of turtles on the surface of the water. They are mating at the moment and the male hooks on to the females back for 24 hours!! The poor females have their heads under the water a lot of the time but I was assured that they wouldn't drown. We also saw lots of dolphins playing in the waves.

Tonight we are going to see the turtles laying their eggs on the beach. It started last night and only goes on for two or three nights apparently. It is at a marine reserve about half an hours drive away.

Tomorrow we reluctantly move away from paradise. We go to another beach for a couple of days and then take a huge bus trip (12 hours) to San Cristabel higher in the central mountains and near jungle. After that it's across to the Caribbean coast. Excitement calls. It's not just extravagance to remember it is adventures too.

Ange’s Birthday week 27 July - 2 August- Oaxaca, San Jose del Pacifico, San Agustinillo

The bus trip south from Mexico City to Oaxaca went through some mountainous areas, past a huge canyon and hillsides covered by cacti. It was suurprisingly spectacular.


Cactuses on hillside enroute to Oaxaca >>>>>>>Huge canyon enroute to Oaxaca




We had decided to go to Oaxaca and do a walk in the Sierra Norte for Ange’s birthday. The guidebook made Oaxaca City sound like a place to settle for a while and learn some more Spanish. We spent our first day walking the hot streets selecting an expedition. To the north we found the city very picturesque but it seemed to have a high proportion of American tourists, and to the south, where our budget hotel was, seemed to be for the Mexicans but fairly ugly and noisy. However later that afternoon Ange got incredibly sick - as sick as I’ve seen her - vomiting, diarrhoea and a very high fever. After some tense hours wondering if we should be decamping to the nearest hospital it abated - but that was the end of plans to walk.



The next morning we decided to go to the mountains. We wondered if it was partly heat stroke (all that walking in the morning heat). Ange found a lovely place with cabanas in the book and with truly awful Spanish we called them and found that they did have one available. So we took a mini bus up to San Jose del Pacifico at 2750 metres. The trip up was spectacular - green swathed mountains with vertiginous drops from the winding road. The bus driver dropped us off at the door and we were soon settled into our cabin with incredible views to valley and it was so cool that we could have a log fire.



View from our room >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> View of our cabins from the town of San Jose

In front of our fire >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>On the verandah of our cabin

The only down side was that they had a room for two nights but not for the night of the 31st July - Ange’s 50th birthday! Oh no! Another change of plans.

On Friday, Ange’s birthday we left most of our luggage and just took small bags on another three hour minibus trip down the other side of the mountains, this time to the coast. The journey was just as spectacular and just as scary. We made our way form the bus station at Pochutla to the coastal town of San Agustillo by both sitting in the front bucket seat of a taxi doing 90 along a highway - did I mention that there were no seat belts? Ange commented later that we were like Aunt Augusta (Travels with My Aunt) not waiting to inch, day by day, towards the “final wall”, but out there doing it. Just as well our parents are not still alive - although they are safely ensconced within us, still whispering in our ears.

We decided on San Agustillo on the advice of Brenda a friendly and slightly overenthusiastic American who lives in Mexico with husband and two teenage sons. They were in San Jose and heading for San Agustillo. She found us a room right on the beach - the view out the door was across the sand to the waves of the Pacific. Not bad for a birthday!

Ange at our cabin door >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The beach outside our door

We lazed away the afternoon on the beach and in water so balmy it was like a bath. Ange even caught some waves. Many of the beaches along here are really too dangerous for non-surfers (surfers love it) but this one is protected by outcrops of rocks on both sides and is doable.

Best of all, that night we found a place right on the beach, Restaurante Linda (linda means nice in Spanish!), where they made the second best margaritas in Mexico - we had a second one just to be sure. (see photo)

Ange's birthday margaritas!!

Then we had a lovely dinner of fresh fish with a reasonable glass of wine.

We slept very well that night - well until the 3 o’clock hour when you lie awake swearing never to drink so much again. They next day was spent on deck chairs on the beach eating more fresh fish but drinking just one margarita, swimming and reading in the shade of palm trees. Well someone has to do it!

The following morning we came back up to the mountains again for another five nights here. But before we left we booked a very spiffy (expensive) place right on the beach as a belated birthday present for Ange (next week). Now I will quote Aunt Augusta from Travels with My Aunt: “You must surrender yourself first to extravagance. Poverty is apt to strike suddenly like influenza; it is well to have a few memories of extravagance in store for the bad times.”

At San Jose we have had walks each day through the forests in the crisp mountain air, studied our Spanish, wrote our blogs, read our books in front of log fires, and generally rested. Our second cabin has an even better view of the valley than the first. (see photo) Unfortunately it has been back to bistec and frijoles and beer (no wine and of course no Ms). There is a butcher in the village about half a kilometre away where the meat is cut and hung out to dry (see photo). On Friday we return to our extravagance on the coast.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >View from our window in the mountains

Ange studying Spanish! Me reading by our fire (two photos to come when the connection improves!!)

view from one of our walks >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Meat drying inSan Jose del pacifico

Mexico City - “Searching for ‘artists, intellectuals and writers’”

Our hotel, the Emporio de la Reformas, was on the Paseo de la Reforma, the main wide boulevard that runs from the historic centre to a large green space (a little like Central Park in New York) called Bosque(forest) de Chapultepec in the south east. On our first night we walked up to Zona Rosa, a large commercial area undifferentiated from any other large city mall in the world except for the very large proportion of young boys walking along holding hands! A very gay friendly area - truly Zona Rosa (pink)! We ate the ubiquitous “bistec and frijoles” because that was about all we could find even here.

The next morning we set off for the Roma - an area described in the guide book as a place for ‘artists, intellectuals and writers'. It has a couple of streets with buildings that could be in Paris - large windows and impressive facades. In the Plaza de Rio de Janiero to the north of this area, where a fountain played water over a statue of David surrounded by seats around the edge of garden beds, we thought we spotted an intellectual. ‘He looks intelligent,’ we said and analysed the outward signs - reading a newspaper, neat, glasses, thin, sitting quietly. Probably a banker on a break.

The next day we decided to conserve energy and take a two day ticket on the Turibus, a large red bus that makes two loops around the city. The red loop takes you into the Zocalo, the heart of the historic centre

>>>>>>>>>>>>The Zocolo, a large square, with our Touribus to the left


and then down through to Chapultepec Park. Here we hopped off on the advice of a local who said that an art museum nearby had some very exciting works. They were interesting, very modern, and of course generated the discussion of what constitutes art- perhaps whatever someone with influence thinks is art. There were some confronting works - Sarah would love it. Then we walked on to the house built for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo - basically two square block houses side by side, his more grand of course, with a bridge between the two. It was designed by their friend and fellow artist Juan O’Gorman. Some of their works are displayed there but it is just interesting to see how they tried to solve the problem of such a stormy relationship. (see painting by Kahlo)
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>>>>>>>>>Frieda's painting deppicting her relationship with Diego!
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Back on the bus we circuited through the Colonia Condesa another area for “artists, intellectuals and writers” according to the pre-recorded information coming through our headphones. We hopped off in search of another sighting. While waiting we had lunch at a restaurant promising Vietnamese summer rolls (oddly filled with a lot of grated carrot) and Chinese dumplings; better and cheaper in Sydney. No sightings.

The next day we took the green route down through the south of Mexico City. We visited Frida Kahlo’s family house which is a wonderful museum for her works and contains a garden kept tranquil by a surrounding high brick fence. This is Casa Azul - the Blue House. This area of Coyoacan was once a separate town but is now joined to MC but it has a very different feel. Places to sit and enjoy the afternoon sun and a marguerita and watch the world go by. We partook. Of course Coyoacan was also described as an area for “artists….”.


One night when we had been searching the Zocalo for food with no success (tortillas and frijoles (beans) sound romantic but we had reached our limit) we hopped on our turibus going towards our hotel. Suddenly Ange said “We can get off here.” I was not sure she was right but, since she is nearly always right about directions, we got off. We walked through a park where a group of men, oddly, were practising military drills, and then along streets through the increasing darkness. We were starving. I thought we were lost and going to get mugged for sure. Just as the tears began to flow we happened across Cantina Latino. Cantinas are often drinking places for men only and rather seedy but we peered through the door and spotted several women, so with hunger driving us on we went in. We ate there three nights because every time the owner would swoop down on us, take us firmly under his wing, and tell us what we should eat and drink. He was very sweet and the his choice of food was delicious - the best we had had for ages. The bar had dark wood booths around the perimeter and tables and chairs in the centre. Best of all was a giant mural on the wall above the bar (see photo taken by our host). On our second night there was a soccer game; Mexico versus Porto Rico. The place became packed , everyone turned their seats to face the two giant TV screens. Luckily Mexico won by one goal scored in a penalty shoot-out after 0-0 score at full time!




We also spent a few hours at the museum of Modern art where they have a great collection of modern works largely by Mexican artists. (see photo of Ange at this Museum in a green shirt - but she had found a white seat)

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There was a special exhibition of works by Yishai Jusidman, who paints in a huge range of different styles. Watch out should you ever get a chance to see his works. We decided that Mexico has some incredible artistic talent. This conclusion was reinforced when we took a walk through the Jardin de Arte on Sunday. That day all the local artists gather together and chat and display their art. Just as well we have no space in our backpacks or we would have bought a lot.

Our room at the Emporio de la Reforma was like a warm blanket. Clean, tastefully decorated, crisp white linen, bath with 24 hour hot water, but best of all it is blissfully QUIET. The design of twisted passageways, soft carpets and double glazed well sealed windows means that we hear almost nothing once we close the door. We slept and slept - catching up on a month of sleep deprivation. On our last Sunday morning we were enjoying the huge buffet breakfast when we looked out the semicircular window beside us to see hundreds of people riding bicycles, roller-blading, skateboarding or just plain walking along down the Paseo de la Reforma. (see photo) On Sunday until early afternoon they close the street to traffic: families with children of all ages were out having fun and bonding, friends and lovers enjoying time together. It was great to see. We longed for a bike to join them.

We are off to Oaxaca in the south on Monday 27th July.