Puerto Escondido, Part III

The Adventures

Monday

So, once we got off our puddle jumper plane, we immediately could smell the ocean and see its deep blue majesty very close to the runway. We got a taxi, arrived at our hotel,which happened to be located right on the beach amidst huge palmtrees and gorgeous tropical flowers, had a delicious breakfast (of course), and rushed off to the beach. The water was very nice and warm, but the waves at "our" beach were a little rough for me (made me tumble underneath the water several times), so I stayed on the shore most of the time, while Meg did brave the current and played with the waves. Puerto Escondido is known as the Mexican "pipeline" and attracts thousands of surfers; they go to a beach several miles from "ours," but the current was still strong where we were. However, lying on the beach and bathing in the rays on the warm Mexican sun was delightful enough for me. We also managed to reserve some trips for the next few days, so we could enjoy our time without worrying about our schedule. Around 4, we went back to the hotel to shower and clean up for dinner to only discover that we became a lot more like red lobsters! We both were burned pretty bad, but fortunately able to find some aloe gel at a nearby pharmacy to help ease our pain. After eating a delicious fish dinner at a beachfront restaurant (see entry from March 15), we walked down the street in front of our hotel that gets blocked off to through traffic at night and gets filled with craft vendors and tourists. After spending some more of our money on souvenirs and enjoying the cool evening air, we went to bed content and a little sore from our sunburns.

Tuesday

Well, that was our morning to sleep in since our turtle watching exursion wasn't until 10am, but Meg woke up around 7, thinking that it was around 8 (her watch was still set to the EST), and shortly after I woke up. Well, we decided to waste our time before the exursion by eating another delicious breakfast. One of the main reasons I wanted to come to Oaxaca is because this particular part of the Mexican coast is famous for being the largest habitat for giant sea turtles. Needless to say, I was dying to see one. We were going further and further away from the shore, but weren't seeing any turtles. I was getting a little desperate till we ran into another tourist boat that had just pulled a turtle on board. After the people in the other boat finished enjoying the turtle, our boat driver put it into ours. Oh man, the next 3 minutes were some of the best moments of my life. The turtle just chilled in the boat while we took numerous pictures, petted her, and even tickled her so she would open her mouth. Our boat driver told us it was a female about 55 years old. I think giant turtles joined the list of my favorite animals along with dogs, llamas, and monkeys (oh and pandas of course).

After the encounter with the turtle, we saw some other pretty beaches and we dropped off at a smaller beach with mild waves where we could actually swim in the water. That afternoon we rested, read, and I took a walk on the beach around sunset while Meg was relaxing in the room. At night, we climbed over the rocks separating our beach from the surfers' beach and had another amazing taco dinner at a nice hotel restaurant. One more day left at the beach.

Wednesday

Another early morning, but again totally worth the pains of waking up. This morning we went to a nearby tropical lagoon where we also got to get in a boat and go around a lake and river while our guide would somehow see all sorts of birds in the trees, stop the boat, and tell us about the bird. We saw all sorts of interesting birds the names of most of which I already forgot, but it was very neat to see them. The river of the lagoon is formed by the ocean waters that overflow during the rainy season. We came to a point where the river and the ocean were separated by a narrow strip of land with huge palm trees along the banks, which really reminded me of the pictures of tropical paradise that I have seen in travel magazines before. On the way back, we were accompanied by little fishies jumping up from the water.

The afternoon was spent on the same beach as the day before, where we rested in the shade of umbrellas, played in the water, climbed the rocks, and ate quesadillas. At night, we walked on the main street again, bought some more crafts, and went back to our room to the sad duty of packing.

I love vacations!!!