Puerto Escondido and San Cristobal De La Casas: 13th November to 22nd November, 2016.

The bus ride from Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido was long, but thanks to the reasonably high standards of the ADO buses, it wasn’t too arduous or uncomfortable. The trip was so long as there are some very windy roads and mountains that need to be crossed in order to get there. This did make sleeping a little tricky. When we finally did make it to Puerto Escondido, we finally found out what Mexican heat is all about. It was like a smack in the face.

Our hostel, thankfully, was only a couple of hundred metres away. It was located right in the heart of the town and was a thankful sight. After a cool shower to wash off the bus grime, we found a place to eat and got our bearings.

The following day we found somewhere along the beach for breakfast. We then decided it was time for a swim. The beach in Puerto Escondido is gorgeous and was reminiscent of some of the beaches in Australia. Only, this beach had many fishing boats, people trying to pedal their wears and deck chairs spread all over it.

Thankfully it was low season, so there weren’t crazy crowds right along the beach, but it was a little busy as there was a deep sea fishing tournament on and there was a massive stage set up for music and entertainment to entertain the out-of-towners.
After a frolic in the waves, we had a wander around the town. Due to the heat being extremely oppressive, it wasn’t long until we were back at the hostel for a cool shower. For the rest of the afternoon we caught up on sleep and had a few beers.

The next day was much of the same. Breakfast or brunch and a swim at the beach, followed by a nice cold shower. However, we really needed to get some washing done, so after we found a laundromat, we went and did our washing, The only problem was, due to our very poor Spanish, there was much confusion about how to use the machines, which ones we could use, how to use the dryer and so on. Anyway, we got there in the end. It was kind of a comedy of errors.

That night, the bands and DJs kicked off. It was very loud and could be heard through the whole town. It wasn’t too bad to start with. However, over the following three nights, the music got progressively worse. Now, credit where credit is due. A Spanish speaking band, covering songs in English, deserves some respect purely for that fact! However, when they covered Pearl Jam,  Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, etc. they destroyed the songs. Even the guy running the hostel was vocal in how bad they were, but the 33 cent Coronas certainly helped make them less terrible.

The next two days followed a similar pattern to the previous two. Late breakfasts, time spent at the beach, taking in the local scenery. At night there was always local markets to wander through, with a man dressed as Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, complete with soundtrack blaring from a boom box. Adrian particularly loved Gandalf.

We did try to book a tour on one of the previous days, but due to confusion on the companies part, the tour was cancelled that morning without notice. So after some ringing around by the amazing owner/operators of The Mayflower Hotel/Hostal, we were booked on a cheaper and more reliable tour for our last day in Puerto Escondido. It was just lucky that our bus wasn’t departing until 9pm on our last day in Puerto Escondido.

So on our final day in Puerto Escondido, we caught a tour to a wildlife reserve just outside of Puerto Escondido, called Lagoon Ventanillas. It was as the name would suggest, a lagoon. It also met the ocean and was a place teeming with wildlife. Our first encounter being a friendly croc and a dog. The crocodile was just casually sitting on the side of the lagoon, right near the boats we were hopping into. The dog, being curious as they are, just plopped down only a metre in front of the croc. Thankfully the croc didn’t seem at all interested and just let the dog be!

It was then time to board our boat. We firstly did a little circle around and looked at the beach and some of the local birds in the vicinity. These included herons, sandpipers, kingfishers and a beautiful looking bird called a purple gallinule. We then went looking for crocs. Along the way we saw many black river turtles, but only one more crocodile.

The highlight of the trip was the iguanas. Green iguanas to be exact and not just two or three iguanas, there were hundreds. Big, little, green and orange. The males turn orange for mating season. The iguanas even tried to get into our boat. I think if we were close enough, they would have. It was a pretty incredible sight to see!

Once we had finished marvelling at all the wildlife, we were ushered back into our van and off we went to a town called Mazunte, where we were taken into a wildlife sanctuary where they specialise in breeding and reintroducing turtle’s into the wild.

As it stands at the moment, the majority of turtles around the world are on the endangered species list. At the sanctuary they educate the public about this and what we can do to help stem the problem. They also had tanks with different kinds of fish and crocodiles to check out.

After a brief visit to the sanctuary it was time to visit a couple of beaches. One was very pretty with cliffs on either side and was clearly the place to be. However, it was a little crowded so we opted to head on over to Porto Angle to have some lunch and a swim at the beach there. Lunch was good, we sampled some local seafood, but the swim was great. Much needed after a very hot and humid day of exploring Porto Escondido and it’s surrounds.

As we were swimming, many of the outside fishing boats began to bring in their daily catches. It was interesting to see them come toward the beach at full speed and launch their boats up in to the sand banks. Then some of the other locals would come down to the boats with wheel barrows to take the fish, I am assuming, to market. At one stage we even went over close enough to see what they had caught. The fish were huge, and included sword fish and mahi mahi. Adrian was lucky enough to hold one and it was so big it took both arms to be able to support it.

Soon it was time to head back to the hostal . Thankfully we could shower and had a little time to try to dry our clothes once we got back. We even had time to grab dinner. After dinner we said goodbye to the lovely and gracious hosts of the Mayflower and made our way to the bus stop for our overnight journey to San Cristobal De La Casas.

We arrived in San Cristobal at around 10am after our 13 hour bus trip. Again it was pretty comfortable and we were able to sleep for most of it. After checking out our super cute hostel, where we saw humming birds for the first time feeding on the flower nectar, and storing our bags while our room was cleaned, we went and grabbed some breakfast. Straight away I could tell I was going to like this place. It was 10 degrees cooler and all the cobblestones gave it a strangely European feel.

  

Eventually our room was ready and boy did we relish the hot shower and a change of clothes. We then booked our tours for the next two days and had a better look around town. It had lots of really funky restaurants a cool central square and of course, a lovely Cathedral, much like most Mexican towns. We even saw some guys doing cool tricks on their bikes and ramps they had set up in the main plaza area.
After an early night, we awoke quite early to catch our tour to Sudamero Canyon. It was about 1-1.5 hours drive from San Cristobal. Once there we were put into our life jackets and shuffled into giant speed boats.

  

It wasn’t long and we were speeding up the river. On each side of us were canyon walls, up to one kilometre high in some points. The water was a beautiful aqua green, however, it was tainted by one very disappointing thing, rubbish.

Where the tide ran to, the rubbish gathered. Now I don’t mean just a smattering here and there. There was enough on each side of the banks to fill a football field. This however, is apparently great in comparison to what it was a few years ago. Now they have people cleaning it up. Sadly though, this rubbish issue wasn’t just isolated to the canyon. Right through Mexico as we had seen so far, rubbish was a big issue in many places.

  

Anyway, as we ventured further into the canyon, the rubbish cleared and we saw many beautiful birds and even a couple of big crocodiles. Also the canyon itself was breath-takingly beautiful. At one point we even stopped to see a beautiful little waterfall flowing down the side of a giant canyon wall, into a bunch of moss and hanging vines. With the sun shining on it, there was a certain mystical feel and looked like something out of a fairy land.

  

Once we returned to the shore, it was time to head back to San Cristobal. On the way back we stopped in another little town called Chiapa de Corzo. It too was pretty with a central square sporting a very cool pagoda and again some churches. We also had lunch here and a look around the markets. Then before long, we were back in San Cristobal, where we once again had a wander around town.

The next day was a very early start. We were off to see a waterfall and some very beautiful lakes. The journey to the waterfall took us about 2 hours. The waterfall known as Cascadas El Chiflon was a series of little waterfalls which all stemmed from a very large waterfall at the top of small mountain. The hike to the top of it is quite stunning. All the little ponds and waterfalls along the way are so pretty. They are covered by lush green trees and vines and the water is that gorgeous aqua blue colour, making for a very beautiful sight.

Once at the top platform, you can look back down over the beautiful blue streams. You can also get a great view of the main waterfall and a nice refreshing rinse from the falls spray. Another thing you could do when up there was a zip line. However, we knew we would be zip lining later in our trip, so we chose to save some money.

Back the bottom, we decide to have a little explore. Luckily we did. We spotted a few big iguanas sunning themselves. Also we spotted a beautiful birds which had not seen before, the black throated magpie jay. It was pretty cool.

After the waterfall we again set off for about another 1-1.5 hours, to the first view point to look at one of the Montebello Lakes. Sadly the rain had set in and instead of a beautiful turquoise lake, it just looked like any other body of water. So pretty quickly it was decided that we would have lunch and hope the sun would come out.

The rain did stop, but sadly, the sun did not come out. We then had a brief stop to see another lake. It was pretty and appeared to be a popular spot for kayakers. It was also popular for little market stalls. But time was scarce, so again we had to go.

We set off to the next lake. This particular lake was right next to the Mexico/Guatemala border. So after a brief viewing of the lake, which was pretty, we all clambered up the hill to the Mexico/Guatemala border. Here we could cross unchecked which we did and of course all got photos standing half in Mexico, half in Guatemala. It was kind of cool, especially for those people not getting to visit Guatemala further down the line.

  

Not too long after, the sun was beginning to go down and we were all starting to get very cold. We all piled into our van for the long journey back to San Cristobal, which was around 4 hours. (I would say, only do this trip if it's going to be a sunny day. The waterfall was extremely cool and the lakes were also nice, but probably not as spectacular as they could be due to the weather and thus not worth the time or money).

It was roughly 8pm by the time we had arrived back and sadly, our guide didn’t drop us back to our hostel, he dropped everyone off in the middle of the town square. It was freezing, so needles to say, we made a mad dash back to the hostel to get into something warm before dinner.

After a quick change, we headed out for one final dinner in San Cristobal. I was a little sad to be leaving so soon, but our next stop was waiting for us. Palenque.

  

Holly.