A Feast of the Senses in Chiapas

Our travels over the past few weeks have provided a rich feast of the senses. Vistas across high mountain roads and through thick jungles, huge ornate flowers, ancient Mayan temples, and native locals with their beautiful colorful wares have filled our eyes, accompanied by the sounds and smells of the jungle – ripe and rotting mangoes, howler monkeys, bird and insect orchestras, thunderstorms, the scent of soil and greenery after the rain. We have tasted fresh mangoes, lychees, several varieties of bananas, fresh local coffee and chocolate, countless numbers of coconut popsicles, and of course copious varieties of tacos and empanadas. Our skin has been variously soothed, assaulted, and subjected to fresh cool rain, intense heat and humidity, scratching and poking by thick jungle foliage, and innumerable insect bites, covering our legs and feet with polka dot patterns. This is Chiapas.

This morning we awoke to the hooting of howler monkey and this view out the back door of the van. Life is good.

This morning we awoke to the hooting of howler monkeys and this view out the back door of the van. Life is good.

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Oaxaca

The state of Oaxaca offered a very welcome change from the heat of the Pacific Coast. We drove narrow, winding mountain roads with breathtaking views, enjoyed the food, coffee, markets, and culture of the city, found a great climbing area, and mingled with rural villagers.

Along the highway to Oaxaca.

Along the highway to Oaxaca.

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Taxi Blockade

After a particularly long, hot day of driving, we were held up by a traffic jam a mere five kilometers from our destination by some bored taxi drivers.

Because we were finding the Pacific coast of Mexico so hot this time of year, we decided to book it from Acapulco to Puerto Escondido so that we could high-tail it to the hills. It was a slog of a drive. We were fed up with the topes that each little town we went through had put across the highway, which require us, in our loaded down van, to slow to a crawl and uncomfortably bump up and over before accelerating back up to speed only to find the next tope. Needless to say, we were excited to finally be pulling in to Puerto Escondido with the RV park we planned to stay at dialed into the GPS so that we could get off of our sweaty backsides and tilt back a cool cerveza. The taxi drivers had something else in mind.

Traffic jam

Traffic jam

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Sol, Arena, y Olas – The Pacific Coast of Mexico

For two weeks we basked in the sun (sol), dug our toes into the sand (arena), and played in the waves (olas) as we traveled over 1000 miles down the Pacific coast of Mexico from Mazatlán to Puerto Escondido.

Our first stop was near the little town of Teacapán, where we had a lovely campsite right on the beach. Alas, there were no waves, but the water was warm and we were visited by some egrets and treated to a lovely sunset.

Camping on the beach near Teacapán.

Camping on the beach near Teacapán.

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