Trips to Barra de Navidad from Melaque
My first trip to Barra I walked the beach for about 45 minutes to the other side of the Baía de Navidad (Bay of Christmas). Barra feels bigger to me, even though it is the same size. It seems to have more shops and restaurants focused on tourists, both in country and out. It feels almost “resorty” with bars on the sidewalks! At the end of the bay, a lagoon begins which provides protect water play space. Atop the hill in the distance is the Grand Bay Resort, which I find can be quite picturesque! The next time I went to Barra was with two couples from the Villa Estrella, one walked and the other rode the bus – I went for the bus this time. I do enjoy the local buses -they are cheap (less than $20/$1 USD), filled with local people navigating their daily life. I wouldn’t have known how to catch the bus without being told by others. Soon after we arrived, a wedding was taking place in the local church. We felt honored and impressed as we watched and listened. The singing was amazing, the white flowers outside the church were beautiful! Later we wandered down to the many boats along the shore of the lagoon. We took one for free that took us out past the Grand Bay Resort, and the luxury yachts, to Mary’s Restaurant. We nearly had the whole thing to ourselves! We were assisted off the boat and we took a table with a lovely view over the lagoon. We enjoyed a lovely meal – I seem to be ordering shrimp everywhere I go – and headed back after dark. It was great to share this with my friends from the Villa Estrella.
The lagoon in between Melaque & Barra 
The Grand Bay Resort 
Looking towards Melaque 
Local church wedding 
Approaching Marry’s Restaurant 
Helped off the boat 
Our dining party 
The Grand Bay Resort
Trip to La Manzanilla from Melaque
Another bus ride took me to La Manzanilla. I met a lovely woman from Colorado who is also traveling on her own. She has made this trip many times and gave me some tips and directions. I heard many amazing stories of close encounters with crocodiles, but only saw a few at a distance. This beach is captivating – peaceful with a slow curve and a long shallow slope. It was a lovely contrast to Melaque’s short and steep shore. La Manzanilla sand seems to have a lot of mica and it seems to make it shimmer with gold. Upon recommendation from Hal, I stopped at Pedro’s and enjoyed a great margarita and guacamole before I returned by bus.
Doesn’t it look like gold specks? 
The Final Good-bye to Melaque
Shortly before I left, we had strong rains – it felt like Melaque was telling me it was time to leave. To commemorate, I had a fancy meal out. Like many, this restaurant was open air and on the second floor. I was glad to see that my waitress was my favorite one from the coffee shop I love. The creative menu was presented on a large blackboard. I ordered Shrimp Curry and the flavors were fantastic! I didn’t finish it all because I wanted to try the amazing chocolate dessert topped with warm cream. I was not disappointed! My last night in town, Mike and Mary (from
Vancouver Island) invited me to dinner with Viqui and David. We enjoyed a candlelight dinner while we laughed and talked. Later, Kim and Wayne brought a beautiful cake which we share with more residents of Villa Estrella. I have so enjoyed getting to know this good people. I do hope I see them again.
Shrimp Curry 
Molten Chocolate with warm cream 
Creative access to the coffee shop! 
A wet walk on the beach 
Meeting Ellen and Oaxaca!
On Wednesday I flew from Manzanillo to Mexico City and me Ellen, a friend from home. We then traveled on the same plane to Oaxaca and found our way to our very interesting Air BnB home! The next morning we walked for 40 minutes into town, for our first tour, and it is so nice to be able to appreciate beautiful doors and windows again!
First Tour Day – Art Galleries & Dinner
Ellen is only here for five full days, and two travel days, so I booked her up with five days of tours. She has a strong interest in art, so that has been the focus of the tours. Be began with a three-hour tour to seven art galleries in town led by local artist, Emiliano. We were most impressed with the variety and beauty we saw at each one we went to!
We went out to dinner at Casa Oaxaca, one of the most famous restaurants in town. We enjoyed an excellent meal of local delicacies. My favorite was when the waiter blended the salsa at our table with grasshoppers – yum!
On our way home we stopped by the church and enjoyed it’s beauty, including the almost full moon over it’s shoulder. Walking home we encountered the night market in the Zocalo – such amazing colors!
Emiliano and Ellen at our first gallery 
Ellen is checking out this piece for the Common House! It is made from candy wrappers! 
This is a print shop for the local artists. It was beautiful top to bottom! 
Ellen sampling the salsa made at our table 
It has a beautiful terrace right downtown 
Markets at Zocalo Oaxaca
Second Tour Day – Bicycling to Tule Tree & Teotitlán del Valle
Our second day began with a 10K bicycle trip out to the Tule Tree in Santa Maria del Tule. This tree has the largest circumference of any tree in the world – 62.5 yards. It’s age is estimated at more than 2,000 years old. It is well maintained by the town and is remarkable!
After our tour we took a taxi to Teotítlan del Valle, a very interesting town known for it’s rug weaving. The taxi driver took us to a home for a demonstration. Thought we did not know what we were getting into, it was an excellent experience! Josephina Méndez López invited us into her home where the entire family were busy with various phases of the family business. She pulled up two plastic chairs in the center of a dirt floored room with an interesting assortment of products used to dye the wool. She proceeded to demonstrate, live and in color, how they derive all the colors they use for their wool from plants and animals. She showed us a nopal cactus with white spots which were live cochineal bug. I squished it and it turned deep red. She added lime and it turned orange. She added lyme and it turned turquoise! More color variations came with the use of white, or variations of gray, wool. We were transfixed!
We spent the rest of the day wandering the village, including their Community Cultural Center Museum. For a small donation we enjoyed their beautiful building with amazing displays: of textile, their way of life, food, and candle making. They own everything in common and government leaders serve without pay and rotate through their citizenry (much like cohousing?). We waited an hour for the local bus which was fun and interesting.
Tule Tree from afar 
Tour guide Ivan and our tour group 
A view of the massive trunk 
Can you see the deer? 
A look at it’s seeds 
Church in celebration mode from February 2nd Dia de la Candelaria 
The church door 
The municipal buidling 
Josephina demonstrating spinning 
Josephina showing the color variation using different color wool 
The museum display of all the colors derived from natural products 
A bowl of fermented & compacted Añil plant and the resulting colors 
A bowl of dried cochineal bugs and the resulting colors. 
A sample of the homemade candles this community makes and uses
My México Travels 
It’s really fun to read your blog and look at the gorgeous photographs. They bring warmth and color to our grey northwest winter! Lesley
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