We're back!

Just landed in NYC, exhausted, but safe and sound!

See y'all soon...

La última mañana en la playa

Well, we had our last breakfast on the beach today. Wriggling our toes in the sand, shooing away a few flies, we enjoyed a bowl of fruit, yogurt and granola (Brian´s was drizzled with honey) and a little cafecito. Mesmerized by the waves, we read a little, wandered on the shore a little, collected a few shells, and eventually gave in to temptation - a final splash in the Pacific!



We´re now sitting in Pochutla, waiting for a bus to take us to Oaxaca city. After a day there, we´ll take another bus to Mexico City, and the following morning, regresamos por avion a Nueva York!



Adios a la playa...

Buen Viaje!

Hannah, Sam y Pedro se fueron hoy! In a few days they'll be back in good ol' Nueva York. We miss them already...:(

Dolphins and turtles and blowfish... oh my!

Hannah, Pedro, Dawning, and Brian got up early to take a little boat ride. Our guides really knew what they were doing. They took us a long way out to what seemed like a pretty desolate spot of water (I mean, honestly, it´s all water out there!), but pretty soon we were able to spot turtles - BIG turtles! This is the season for serious turtle romance, though, so every pair we saw was... um... well, y´know... "engaged". Apparently they go at it for like a whole day. We drove further out, and next thing we knew we were surrounded by dolphins! They were moving in a huge pack (Dawning says the correct word is "pod"), slipping in and out of the water, and occassionally leaping in the air - pretty cool.


Our guides then set out to find a lone turtle for us to inspect close up. We were travelling in the water pretty fast when suddenly one of the guides leapt out of the boat! When we turned around to look at him, he was holding a giant turtle by the shell! Of course, Pedro was the first passenger to jump in the water, and next thing we knew he was communing with the tortuga (spanish for turtle).


After showing us some other sights, cool rocks, an airplane that crashed on the beach (actually, it was a drug-running plane shot down by the Mexican military!) they took us to a shallow cove where we were able to do some more snorkeling. One of our guides dived down near the rocks and came up with a blow fish in his hand. Not five seconds later, Pedro was back in the water, paddling over to hold it.


All in all, a great trip!

Comments made easy

Hey folks,

For those of you who've been ITCHING to post your comments on this blog, we just now figured out how to change the settings so you don't have to go through all of the 'setting up an account' business.

So, bombs away! Let your fingers do the walking... er, I mean talking.

We're off to see some dolphins (fingers crossed) and do some snorkeling.

Stay tuned!

After the beach,

and just before dinner, the weather is perfect for hanging out and
relaxing on the porch...

Mazunte: fireflies and shooting stars

As Hannah so aptly put it, sometimes the best things you find aren't the ones you came looking for. Tonight, walking home from a yummy fish dinner (consumed with the sand wriggling between our toes and the surfers still doing their thing in the last hours of sunlight) we came upon a hill where many thousands of fireflies were congregated. Amazingly, their flickering lights were coordinated to give the appearance of moving lights. Over and over again, the ones on top of the hill flashed first, followed by those below in a rapid, yet fairly precise pattern. This was not an accident - they did it at least a dozen times while we stood on the side of the road, taking it all in. Some kind of mating ritual, perhaps?

Last night we stayed up drinking Oaxacan Mezcal and staring at the stars - SO MANY STARS! - it's really breathtaking. The Milky Way is visible to the naked eye, and we all got to see at least one or two shooting stars.

City-slickers are used to seeing pigeons, squirrels, rats, and roaches. But here we're sharing space with countless gekkos, crabs, snakes, bats, and even tarantulas! There's something about seeing chickens running around the tables of a restaurant that cracks me up every time. Let's just say some of us have adjusted more than others...

Still, the air is fresh and fragrant, the beach is soothing and the water is remarkably warm and inviting. Today we rented a boogie board in the hope of riding some of the tremendous, incessant waves they've got here. We didn't exactly succeed, but there'll be more waves to conquer tomorrow.

Buenas Noches!

Brian

Sombreros para Brian y Sam

Que guapo, no?

Room with a view...

After an excrutiatingly curvy 6-hour drive through the mountains
(Pedro almost puked!), we arrived this afternoon in Mazunte.

It's beautiful here, and we booked a hotel overlooking the beach ...
with wi-fi! So, courtesy of my phone, below is the view from our room.

Fun in Oaxaca

We´ve had a lot of fun swimming, reading, and wandering around Oaxaca!

Photos from the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City

Before we came here to Oaxaca, we visited the Museo De Antropologia in
Mexico City. Truly amazing exhibits in a stunning space. Below are some of
the photos we took.