Finding peace in Huatulco


I just realized that I haven't written a blog post since last July. If you read my last blog post, you will probably understand why I haven't been traveling or why I haven't been real inspired to write lately.
Never the less, I am back to writing because I actually have something inspired  to write about.

From the movie, "Y tu mama tambien" at Boca de Cielo beach.
If you have ever seen the movie, "Y tu Mama tambien" with Gael Garcia and Diego Luna, you will know that in the movie, there is a beach that they invented to impress the lady of the  movie. They called the beach, " Boca de cielo" in the movie. There was something about this place that they went to, this Boca de Cielo ( Mouth of the sky) that drew me into it and told me that some day I needed to go sit on that beach and really feel it.


This beach, which is actually called, Playa Cacaluta ( Zapotecan for: Beach of the black birds ) is in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in Mexico but it is one of the most fascinating, culturally rich and intense states I have experienced and it is also one of my very favorite places on earth.

I had never been to Huatulco, Oaxaca. This city is probably one of the most touristy towns in Oaxaca outside of Oaxaca City. Huatulco is not touristy like  many places in Mexico. It is no where near what Cancun is, not even close to what Cabo, Puerto Vallarta or Mazatlan are; no, Huatulco is entirely different.

I purposely chose a simple hotel that wasn't on the beach because I wanted to be in the heart of everything.  We stayed at Hotel Villablanca which is perfectly situated for exploring the beaches of Santa Cruz, and walking to the Crucesita where there are loads of restaurants, shops and everything in between. The hotel actually sits on a pretty busy road but as soon as you enter into the hotel, you feel like you are far, far away from it all. The hotel was filled with mostly retired Canadians,  a sprinkling of Minnesotans and a few Europeans who call Huatulco their go to destinations in winter months.  A simple, but amply sized swimming pool sits in the courtyard where retired folks read books, play cards or just shoot the breeze. I wasn't in the mood for a mega hotel and screaming kids so this crowd was perfect for what I was after on this trip: peace.

One of my main goals was to explore some, if not all, of the 9 bays and some of the 36 beaches in the area so we hired a driver to take us to some local beach towns that were on my list of places to experience while in Huatulco. The drive wasn't more than  1 1/2 hours before we found ourself at the sleepy, laid back hipster town of Mazunte. I could probably move here build a commune, set up a taco shop and live happily ever after, barefoot, sun kissed and happy. I seriously loved this town.

Tlayuda!
After Mazunte, we headed just a short ways to check out Playa Zipolite, the known nudist beach in the area. This is where we decided to spend our day, not because it was a nude beach but because the vibe was so free and laid back. Yes people were nude, not all of them, but many were. Some were stretching on the beach, playing frisbee, or swimming but it was quite refreshing to see people entirely comfortable with themselves enough to carry on happily with their nude selves. We spent the day here eating giant Tlayudas ( the Oaxacan pizza as they say), drinking beer and staring at the sea. This was exactly what I was needing.



Sunset at Punta Cometa
After we spent the day doing nothing, we decided we'd catch the sunset from the best vantage point in the area, Punta Cometa. We hiked up to the top of a rocky cliff over looking two different bays and found ourselves perched at the edge waiting for the sun to set. We were by no means alone because Punta Cometa is THE place to catch the sunset. Dred locked millenials selling home made granola shared the cliff top with us as  did several patchouli wearing, pot smoking people from all walks of life and even a bongo and clarinet player joined in. Despite the people on the cliff and the trance like bongos and clarinet playing, it was remarkably quiet except for the crashing of the waves on the rocks below. Sunsets bring people within themselves, it's a time to reflect on the day, your life, your future, it's a time to just be and that is exactly what we did. We just /were/and it was lovely.
Click on this link to get a taste of it:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu2O6aIhy-X/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I was too excited to get the tail coming out but it did!!
We decided that we wanted to access some of the  more of the many beaches but we also wanted to do it by boat so a couple of days later, we hired a boat driver and headed out to go to some hidden beaches but more specifically, Playa Cacaluta, the beach I told myself I needed to go to some day. Our captains name  was  Primo and he came equipped with a cooler of beer, water and a half a bottle of Captain Morgan rum. He was jovial, simple, kind and a good captain. 

We snorkeled around for a little bit  and then I saw a sting ray and swam quickly back to the boat as I wasn't about to end my trip with a deadly sting before I got to Playa Cacaluta. As we were driving, we were blessed beyond measure to witness several whales swimming along side of us. They were roughly 20 feet away and several were breaching with their big beautiful tales coming out of the water.  The bays of Huatulco are filled with  tons of aquatic life and are the migration point for several types whales. 

The Cacaluta ( black birds ) of the beach.
After the insane emotions of seeing so many whales on our boat trip, we finally got to the place I had been wanting to visit for years, Boca de cielo or Playa Cacaluta. It was just as beautiful as it was in the movie and there wasn't a soul there, except for the gigantic black birds looking over us.

Our captain, Primo, pulled up to the beach, let us out and told us he was going out fishing so there we were. Just myself and my friend on a beautiful, deserted beach and nothing but time on our hands. We walked, each of us in our own direction doing our own thing in our own time. I sat on the beach and reminded myself that I can do whatever I put my mind. Sometimes our goals take some time but the wait is always worth it.


Here I am on Playa Cacaluta.

After our time well spent on Cacaluta, we meandered over to Playa Organo. We sat around, drank rum from a water bottle, swam in the warm waters and simply enjoyed ourselves, again, with no one else around us. We finished our day off at a busy little beach spot where locals like to go. We disembarked the boat, grabbed a table and enjoyed some local cuisine and a couple of beers and agreed that this day was indeed another good day in Huatulco. We returned to our sweet little Hotel Villa Blanca with all the retirees excited to hear about our days adventures and we were equally as excited to share our stories with them.

Huatulco is small city that is easy walkable and totally safe to do so. We walked everywhere both day and night and never ever felt unsafe. When our legs were tired and swollen from walking, we'd hail a taxi and pay a few pesos to have him haul our taco and beer filled bodies back to the hotel. It was just so easy to go anywhere that it was impossible to refuse the temptation to explore the area.

Huatulco is a place where you go to get away from tourists. It's a place where you go to feel welcomed by the locals. It is a place to get away from all of the consumerism that we deal with daily. It's a place to connect with yourself again and realize that bigger isn't always better and more isn't always worth it and that the sounds of the ocean waves, the birds above and a warm breeze might just be what you need to find your peace.



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