Los Adobes

Mazunte is a small layed-back town on the Pacific coast. The water is blue-green and clear as can be. One can easily forget what year it is by the amount of hippies floating around. A typical night in mazunte consists of sitting under an umbrella, toes in the sand drinking Corona and eating an unbelievably delicious Pescado Empapelado (fish in a bag,) grilled to perfection by one of the sturdy El Pescador family girls! We Stayed at a place called El Posado Arcitecto, designed and run by an Italian guy. Our room with a view was built into the cliff directly in the center of the two beautful beaches. The room had some unique features including a swinging bed, proving to be more interesting than comfortable! We played a nightly game of vollyball against some very impressive five foot tall mexican girls...they beat us everytime! After spending a couple lazy days in Mazunte, we headed an hour north to the hot-spot Puerto Escondido.

Once a small fishing village whose economy was enhanced greatly by selling turtle meat and shells Puerto is a now a popular tourist destination for surfers and beach goers alike (and a safe haven for turtles). The Puerto Escondido area consists of five beaches. Playa Zicatela, where we stayed, is famous for the Mexpipe, a world renowned wave. Only the most experienced surfers or experienced idiots dare to risk their lives for an incredible ride. Surfing has quickly become my favorite spectators sport.
















Just as our trip was nearing an end and we were still not completely sure of our next move, an opportunity presented itself to us here in Puerto. A small hotel called Los Adobes was recently put on the market. A middle aged couple bought the land and built this quaint hotel with a swimming pool and garden 10 years ago. They made improvements little by little and maintained it beautifully. Unfortunately, the couple has been plagued with health problems over the years and the wife has recently passed away leaving the hotel in the care of her children. By happenstance we arrived to see the hotel just before the children came down to sort out loose ends and prepare it to be sold. We had a chance to stay at the hotel for a week, meet with the children, who are both in their 30's, several times and also with the real estate agents(two Americans that have been living and working in Mexico for 20 years).

This small hotel is what we have been searching for. It has an excellent location just a short walk from the beach, restaurants, bars, internet and shopping. It is beautifully designed with adobe walls and a palapa (palm) roof. With a few touches and a lot of energy we know we can have Los Adobes overflowing year round.

We are moving ahead with the support of the family, the real estate agents and the hotel staff (Estella, who has worked there for 9 years) to raise the money and take the necessary steps to be the new owners.

From here we're stopping in a mountain town called San Jose on the way to Oaxaca where we will reunite with Abigail, Angie's dear friend from home. After a few days there we are going to Mexico City as our last stop before two back-to-back family reunions in Colorado. We'll be fine tuning our business plan along the way and keeping in close contact with the family and real estate agents. Keep your fingers crossed for us and before you know it you may be relaxing by our pool in Puerto Escondido!!!!

Mexico!

At last we are in Mexico! In Tulum we got our first glimpse of the Yucatan`s Caribbean coast and we were blown away. The sand is whiter and the water brighter blue than we have seen. Our Experience here, however, was quite bitter sweet. The long strip of gorgeous beach had a number of overpriced, poor quality bungalos. We opted for the cheapest one and that was a mistake!

Our bungalo was the most atrocious excuse for a hut we had ever seen. It mainly consisted of sparsly arranged sticks leading to a poorly made palm roof and a half sand, half concrete floor. We thought it was pretty bad but decided to ruff it for the night. The worst was yet to be discovered when we payed the twenty bucks, more than we had payed almost anywere else in all our travels. Before bed we scoped the place out for whatever strange animals may be lurking, blew out the candles and it began. Smack, smack, smack! We were under attack! Mexican mosquitos were shockingly persistant. No amount of deet could desuade them from their feast. Not even the sand storm blowing in from the spaces between the sticks could distract them from their mission to devour us! Instead of sleeping, we spent the entire night fighting for our lives.

The following day we deliriously viewed the impresive ruins of Tulum. Those Mayans sure knew how to pick a spot! The rock temples look out over drastic cliffs onto stunning turquiose water. Iguanas sunbathe all over the ruins keeping a watchfull eye and giving an even more ancient feel to the splendid sight.

After exporing the ruins we high-tailed it out of there on the first bus to Mahahual, a rapidly developing fishing village. There were few tourists but apparently during the high season three cruise ships a day stop and fill the place with thousands of people....glad we weren`t there for that. The day we arrived there was a fishing tournament and Mexican families filled the restuarants and beaches, drinking, eating and having a good ol´ time. Men were posing with giant sword fish and various other beautiful fish while others cheered. We watched one woman impress her family by opening a beer bottle with her teeth. We happily joined in with margaritas, tacos and even a shot of Tequila on the house! We spent two relaxing nighs in a very comfortable, clean, mosquito free bungalo and took an over-night bus to Palanque.

Palanque is said to be the most amazing of the Mexican Mayan ruins. Tourists have been coming for years so it is very well set up. The town itself is 8 klm from the ruins and is typical with street food, a popular central plaza called a ¨zoculo¨ in Mexico and people out and about everywhere. We stayed at an old hippie/backpackers spot on the edge of the ruins called Panchan. Panchan is a group of bungalo operations set in the jungle. Our second floor bungalo was screen on all four walls with a deck and jungle surrounding. We observed two beautifully colored tucans chatting with each other for five minutes on a neighboring tree.

We Spent an entire day climbing temples and catching blurps about where we actually were by nearby tour guides. The ancient city of Palanque is actually 15 square Klms but only 7 have been escavated and made availabe to viewers. Although very touristy, one feels set back in time while experiencing the spectacular crumbling buildings set deep in the jungle.

We toured some of the areas incredible waterfalls en route to San Cristobal de las Casas. The drive was five hours up very winding, steep roads. San Cristobal is in the heart of Chiapas. High in the mountians, the town is buzzing with a young, excited crowd. The constant music and art create a very colorful atmosphere. San Cristobal has a wonderful indiginous market with beautiful hand-weaved blankets and other crafts. We have spent most of our days walking around taking in the rich culture and drinking the region´s famous hot choclate. We have also spent many hours philosophizing with a group of recently inspired Isrealis. The three of them just completed a four month yoga/meditation retreat in Guatemala and are full of very interesting concepts about the earth and it´s people (everyone will instantly attain enlightenment sometime after 2012 once NYC is buried under water). Two of them are joining us on the 12 hour bus ride to the Oaxacan coast tonight. Back to the heat!