George and Deborah's Great Adventures: 02/13/14

Doreen, Randy, Deborah and I decided it was time for a road trip. Our target was the Huatulco area, about 75 kms southeast of Puerto Escondido on highway 200. We rented a Scala Renault from the Three Kings in PE for $80 US, (all insurance and taxes included).

Ready to Go!

Map in Hand!

On the Road!

Most of the drive is along the immediate coast. The area is often called the Mexican Riviera. We targeted the service towns of Pochutla and Santa Maria to visit along the way and Santa Cruz (center of Haulticulco region) to overnight.

Highway 200 is a fairly good dual track mostly paved road but one has to be aware of topes (raised speed bumps) that will scratch the bottom off your car, regardless of speed, potholes that will dent a wheel rim in a split second, and large washouts that will devour an entire car if given a chance.

Our first stop was at kilometer marker 179. There is no village or town but a great many iguanas. Sister Rita had recommended stopping for a cold beer and a good gaze of the iguanas eating from the beer house porch. Just after our arrival our host dropped an armful of green leaves from the deck and soon the ground became alive with iguanas of every size and colour. They crawled from beneath rocks and dropped out of trees. A few chickens that eat the bugs off the lizards as the iguana's ate the leaves. The green iguanas are vegetarians while the others are more flexible and are known to eat meat of all kinds. Doreen’s Spanish managed to get us much information about what we were seeing.

I Don't Think the Chicken Knew The Iguana Was a Meat Eater.

Next stop was Pochutla, located at the junction of the highway to Oaxaca City, the capital of Oaxaca state. It was market day in Pochutla and every Mexican from the surrounding hills seemed to be in town. We found a place to park and wandered the zocalo (city square) and found a lunch spot where some sweet old ladies made us some Chiles Rellenos and served us some cold beer. Oddly, we were serenaded by Jingle Bells blasting off the back end of a motorcycle in the centre of the square. Only in Mexico.

Got Lost - Found This Backyard - Disturbed Child's Bath

Mexican Puppy in Restaurant

Zocala

After a wander through the town we got back in the car and drove to Santa Maria Huatulco (not to be confused by the tourist town Huatulco). It is a small place, 12 km off highway and we stopped for a few moments to explore the municipal hall off the city square. There really wasn’t much going on but the place is quaintly Mexican and is worth a look. According to Wiki, the word Huatulco means, “Where they worship the tree”.

A Little Odd - Lear Jet in Front Yard by the Pool

After Santa Maria Huatulco we were ready to find a hotel and get organized for the evening. We checked into the Hotel Mission de Los Arcos in La Crucecita Huatulco (Santa Cruz) and immediately asked for directions to a sunset bar. Little did we know, you cannot witness a sunset over the ocean from the bars in La Crucecita so walked about 2 kilometers and settled for a view of the ocean and the best Margaritas we have enjoyed thus far.

Usual Evening Pose

Best Margaritas Thus Far!

Many tourists have heard the place name Huatulco. Huatulco is not a real place in terms of history. The resort area was built specifically for tourists. It didn’t exist before the airport was built and the cruise ship terminal came into being. The area is very beautifully landscaped and is unlike anything else we have seen in Mexico. We were told that there is no unemployment among the Mexican citizens in the immediate vicinity.

After an evening of a few good drinks and food we reconvened for breakfast in the morning. We jumped in the car for a little local touring and jewelry shopping before venturing northwest to beach village San Augustanillo. We also visited the Las Brisas Resort a short drive from La Crucecita. Our friends are arriving there next week for a two-week stay. We managed to talk our way past the guards at the gate and take a few pictures along the way. It is a beautiful place.

Cruise Ship Terminal

Jane Looking For Tarzan

La Crucecita Colours

Doreen's Divorced Eggs for Breakfast

Downtown Colour

Las Brisas Resort Drive

Las Brisas - A Tennis Mecca

In San Augustanillo we met Rita, Mike, Kirsten and Burke for lunch and snorkeling. As we arrived, the group exited the water on Rita’s reported sighting of a Coral snake in the ocean depths. Randy, Deborah and I gave the snake a good hour to escape before entering the coral reef for some fantastic viewing of many multi-coloured fish. It was some of the best snorkeling so far.