Good-bye Oaxaca, Hello Puebla

Friday morning we spent shopping for souvenirs and more crafts (the Mujeres Artes Regionales de Oaxaca is below). We went to the zocalo for lunch, and unexpectedly ran into my parents, who had spent the morning in Ocotlan. We chatted briefly and went our separate ways; our plan had been to meet in the evening. After lunch we headed to the Museo de Arte Contomporeano (the Museum of Contemporary Art), however, as usual (we’ve gone by there before) it was closed.

Back at the house we spent a couple of hours packing. My parents brought us an extra suitcase for everything we’ve purchased down here, so that was extremely helpful. We have a few more days of our trip, but my parents return to Washington on Sunday.

Around 5 p.m. we met my parents at their hotel room and walked over to the zocalo. It was alive with protests (communist), vendors, mariachi music and all kinds of people enjoying their Friday evening. I bought the kids some bubbles and they played while we watched the activity and listened to the music. We had a wonderful dinner – tlayudas one last time – and as has become our custom, discussed our favorite and least favorite part of Oaxaca.

Rafael, Isa and Davis all agreed that swimming at Hierve el Agua was their favorite. Davis also really enjoyed the zocalo and great food. Rafael’s least favorites were walking and the ruins (although he seemed to enjoy some of them). Isa’s least favorite was going to so many markets. Davis’s least favorite were all the vendors at the zocalo. My folks agreed that both Monte Alban and the zocalo was their favorite part of Oaxaca; my dad also really enjoyed the markets. My dad’s least favorite was dealing with Hertz and my mom’s was the vendors. I had so many favorites: Monte Alban, the zocalo, my cooking class and the wonderful arts and crafts. Selso’s favorites were Monte Alban, the Rufino Tamayo museum, and both the Templo de la Soledad and Santo Domingo. Selso and I agreed that our least favorite was the water problems and quality at the house; Selso also didn’t like the vendors, and I was sick of city traffic and parking.

We were up bright and early Saturday morning and packed up the car; with an extra suitcase, that was no easy feat (go Selso!). The drive to Puebla took about four hours (including a couple of stops) along a very smooth freeway. We saw lots of agriculture along our route.

We are staying in a lovely hotel here, just a block off the zocalo. The hotel is a former Jesuit convent (above is the staircase) and right across the sidewalk is the Iglesia de la Compania, the Jesuit church. It is beautiful and airy.

Next we walked around the zocalo – which looked much like Oaxaca’s zocalo, with its balloon vendors, families and activity. A few blocks past the zocalo is the Museo Amparo, which houses pre-Hispanic and colonial era art. We’ve seen tons of pre-Hispanic artifacts in Mexico, and we’re starting to get a feel for the different styles of each area. Fascinating stuff.

We had some delicious churros (fried sweet light dough – I’ve never had a good one in the U.S.) on the walk back and then stopped and watched some clowns in the zocalo. We had dinner out at a pretty restaurant; I had mole poblano, Mexico’s national dish which originated in Puebla.

Final days in Puerto Escondido

The village of Ventanilla, which means “little window,” gets its name from the window in the above rock formation. This beautiful, and nearly isolated, place is home to many, many animals and the local people are very conservation minded.

Several sea turtle species lay their eggs on Ventanilla’s beach, and local volunteers take the eggs and place them in a protected area so they are not harmed by predators and more importantly, poachers. Once the eggs hatch, the baby turtles are helped back into the ocean. During February one of the turtle species lays their eggs, but it most frequently happens at night during a full moon, we were told, so we didn’t get a chance to see that.

The area is also home to a lagoon which was destroyed by Hurricane Paulina in 1997. The locals have replanted countless mangrove trees which are home to a large number of birds, iguanas and other animals. We took a boat tour of the lagoon and saw great white herons, gray toucans, woodpeckers and more.

Most exciting, however, were the crocodiles. In the above picture, you can see how close the crocodile was to our boat (that’s Davis’s arm on the right and the edge of the boat on the lower left). We saw four or five crocodiles in the wild.

The conservation group also has an animal sanctuary with deer (I had no idea there were deer in Mexico, but there are) and more crocodiles. The animals are threatened and the group is doing what they can to increase the wild population. Baby crocodiles are raised until they are a year old and then released into the wild. All of the kids got to hold a seven-month old crocodile.

As our tour of the lagoon ended and we arrived back at the beach, someone spotted whale spouts way out in the ocean. We saw two or three whales spouting, and even saw one breach. Amazing! We also saw a group of flying fish (I think) that kept leaping out of the water.

Tomorrow we leave Puerto Escondido for the city of Oaxaca. We have spent much of the day packing, getting the car washed and preparing to leave. We also spent a couple of hours on the beach and in the pool – making the most of our last chance to enjoy each.

This morning we talked about our favorite and least favorite things about our stay in Puerto Escondido. Rafael’s favorite things were: the pool and playing with Papa; his least favorite was the beach (too much sand!). Isa’s favorites were the beach, pool, turtles and crocodiles. Her least favorite was sitting in the car. Davis’s favorite thing was surfing, and her least favorite was getting sand everywhere. Selso’s favorites were surfing, watching Rafael learn to swim and spending time with his family. His least favorite were the mosquitoes. My favorites were swimming in the ocean and seeing all the wildlife. And my least favorite were the mosquitoes.

A quiet day

Isa and I were up well before dawn this morning with turista. Yuck! Luckily we are both feeling much better. Selso was also a bit sick, but somehow Rafael, the littlest one, isn’t sick at all. We had planned a quiet day today since so many things are closed on Mondays and we figured we’d be ready for a break in the frenetic pace we’ve maintained, so it worked out.

The kids got some much needed play time and Selso and I fine tuned our plans for the next few days, did some laundry and repacked. Very exciting stuff!

For lunch, we headed to a restaurant located in an 18th century manor house called Casa de las Azulejos (House of Tiles). The interior is beautiful – with a Moorish patio and (another!) mural, this one by Orozco.

On the way back from lunch, we paused by a couple of churches and just looked at the exterior. Take a good look at the building on the right. Many buildings in Mexico City are like this – sinking into the ground. Mexico City is built on the Aztec ruins of Tenochtitlan, which were situated on an islet in Lake Texcoco. Despite severe flooding on this site, the Spaniards opted to stay in this location and in the 1600s, the lake was drained. So the city is sitting on a lakebed and it’s not terribly sturdy!

We only have one more full day in Mexico City, so during lunch we discussed our favorite and least favorite parts of our stay here. Davis’s favorites were the museums and the Ballet Folklorico. Her least favorite is too much togetherness with her siblings. Isa’s favorite was the Ballet Folklorico. Her least favorite was riding the metro. Rafael’s favorite was the fighting portion of the Ballet Folklorico. His least favorite was walking so much (and he really has walked a lot – Selso and I have only carried him a little bit. This kid is a trooper!). Selso’s favorites are all the murals and his least favorite was getting sick and not being able to get a yummy salad. My favorites are the Rivera murals at the Palacio Nacional and the Ballet Folklorico. My least favorite has been missing my friends. I think the general consensus is that Mexico City is a great place, and definitely worth visiting.