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
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