Mexico Trifecta! (Chapter Three: Puerto Escondido)

The beach, the BEACH!

Yes indeedy – following the many amazing new sights and experiences that I enjoyed in Mexico City and El Día de Muertos in Oaxaca, I thought I’d tack on a few days wiggling toes in the warm sand and gazing at the ocean to round out the program.

However… the truth is, (unlike many) I’ve never been much of a “beach person”.  The sedentary nature of lounging on a beach has never been of much interest to me.  Rather, when it comes to my precious travel time, I much prefer wandering the backstreets of tiny far-away villages, bartering with local market vendors, eating street food, and mingling with the locals of the countries I visit (or better yet – give me some yaks to milk, or some pigmy elephants, wild orangatans, or those “Gorillas in the Mist” to gawk at).

So… beaches?  Not so much.

Yep, plenty of beaches for the young TravelnLass…

That is not to say I’ve not enjoyed my fair share of luscious beaches over the years.  In the early days of my life-long wanderlust, as an int’l tropical tour operator for more than two decades, I practically lived on the beaches of Belize and Costa Rica.

The Bay Islands in Honduras?  check.  Those yummy San Blas Islands in Panama?  Youbetcha (I still say it’s the most idyllic tropical corner of the Planet!)  And then of course there was Greece…

And that’s before I headed to all those sweet beaches in Asia.  The sublime sands of Bali.  The Sunshine coast in Oz, not to mention snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef off Lady Elliot Island.  Island hopping in Malaysian Borneo, and dozens of sun-kissed beaches in southern Thailand.

So it’s not like I’ve not had my fair share of browning to a crisp when I was younger.  But anymore… more than a day or two of sipping a giant tropical cocktail on a sun lounge under a palm-fringed palapa and I’m DONE.

Nonetheless, I thought Puerto Escondido (w/ no less than 7 different beaches) would be a nice way to wind down a bit before I headed back to my beloved home here in Cuenca.  And so it was…

7 DIFFERENT BEACHES
My first dilemma in researching my stay in Puerto Escondido was deciding which… of 7 different beaches to base myself.

• Playa Carrizalillo (167 stone steps up/down, nothanku)
• Playa Manzanillo (fishing village, snorkeling, popular with locals/families)
• La Punta (full-moon parties, hippie vibe)
• Playa Bacocho (upscale beach clubs, 25 kilometres long)
• Playa Coral (secluded, edge of town, few food/drink options)
• Playa Principal (heart of town, narrow beach, “…zone of souvenir shops, beach bars, um… nothanku2)
• Playa Zicatela (home to the epic Mexican Pipeline, an unforgiving wave break that draws surfing aficionados from around the world; better yet: “…best place to watch the sunset”

Decisions, decisions… which to choose?

Suffice (as evidenced by the featured pic at the top of this post) I opted for the latter, Playa Zicatela for my 6 night stay in Puerto Escondido.  Those breathtaking waves (and dangerous undertow) encouraged this dodderin’ to limit her “surfing” to but ankle-deep wading in the shallows of course.  But I’ve never been much of a swimmer anyway, and just gazing at those waves proved a constant mesmerizing delight.

Indeed, I rented an a/c apartment on Playa Zicatela with a hammock on the rooftop terrace, and spent most every morning sipping my java (made in my own kitchen) and watching the youngsters dare to chase the “lip of the curl”.

And my nights?  Never one for “partying the night away” (be it on a beach or otherwise), rather – I happily joined the hosts of my beach digs, along with a handful of other guests each evening for “Sunset Hour” on a beach blanket with a single can of cerveza.

A most delightful way to while away a week for sure.  But other than stuffing fish tacos, fresh “pulpo” (my fave!) and all manner of ceviche into my mouth morning, noon, and night…

Unlike my usual travel sagas, I have precious little to report here.  It was just too H.O.T. to do much else during the height of the day.  Rather (as I learned from my year living amid the soggy heat of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam) – 10 am to 4 pm is best spent huddled in the nearest air-conditioned space (namely: my beach digs reading a book and napping).

But I do have one (truly EPIC) Puerto Escondido memory to share here – the opportunity to revisit one of my earliest travel adventures…
 

THOSE ITTY BITTY TOOO CUTE, BRAVE BABY TURTLES

Waaay back when I first started my “Imagine Travel Alternatives” biz, I initially offered small group trips to Belize (in the late 80’s – back when few had even HEARD of that tiny Caribbean nation).  But it wasn’t long before I opted to expand my tour offerings to Costa Rica.

And on one of my first exploratory research trips to Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, I participated in a wondrous after-dark search for giant Leatherback sea turtles laying their eggs along the beach at Playa Tamarindo.  As you can see from the few photos I have of that long-ago adventure, Leatherback sea turtles are HUGE – the largest of the seven species of sea turtles in the world, often more than 6 feet long and weighing some 2,000 pounds!

Needless to say, such a close-up encounter with these amazing creatures is among my fondest travel memories.

So no surprise that – as Puerto Escondido likewise has sea turtle research stations at several nearby beaches – I was especially eager to again have a close-encounter with a sea turtle or two.

As I said, I seek more in my travels than perpetually lounging under a palm-fringed palapa sipping yet another tropical drink in a pineapple.  I enjoyed plenty of those of course, but the absolute HIGHLIGHT of my entire stay at Puerto Escondido, was a sunset tour I took to visit a private stretch of beach (between Playa Delfin and Playa Punta Colorada) and personally participate in releasing a tiny, newly hatched Olive Ridley turtle into the sea.

Not only do the tour proceeds help support the on-going sea turtle protection program there, but the scene of the project was exceptionally spectacular, and the turtle release affair proved personally thrilling.

And for good measure, we have a short “Vamos! Vamos!” video clip of me nudging my somewhat reluctant/momentarily confused? little tortuga:

Toodle-loo little tortuga. “Viaje seguro!” (Safe journey!)

NOTE: The “OMG!” exclamations near the end of the video clip, were when a sea gull swooped down and gobbled up one of the bitty turtles we were releasing before it could make its way to the (relative) safety of the sea.

Yes, heart-breaking. 🙁  But nonetheless, a good reminder of the many predators (including humans!) that these little fellas face.  Sadly, only about 1 in 1000 of them will manage to live to maturity to return to this exact same beach in 15 years to mate and lay their precious eggs in the sand.

For more information on sea turtles, their endangerment, and the many folks that work tirelessly on beaches ’round the globe to protect them: All About Sea Turtles
 
 

 
 
 
 
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