Puerto Escondido to Zihuatanejo

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September 14, 2000 – Puerto Escondido to Zihuatanejo
Continued from the Puerto Angel-Puerto Escondido entry

This was the last day of our return trip to our home in Zihuatanejo. Having over-nighted in a hotel along Playa Zicatela, Puerto Escondido’s popular surfing beach, we arose shortly after dawn and made our way across the road to the shore.

Puerto Escondido accommodations

There must have been thirty to fifty people in the water along the long strip of sand that comprises Zicatela. Some were surfers, others were expert boogie-boarders. Of just plain old swimmers we saw very few. The sets came in steadily, curling into both right and left breaks at distinct areas of the beach. We simply sat, watched, took photos and marveled at the power of the water for close to two hours before packing up our belongings, catching breakfast under a thatched palapa roof, and heading into Puerto Escondido for a quick walk through the downtown area in the daylight.

The town’s tourism booth on the main pedestrian street was able to give us a good amount of information about Escondido´s attractions and upcoming events, though again the streets were relatively quiet, as it had been the evening before. We strolled the town beach with its fishing boats, and then it was time to take off up the coast, and home.

Highway 200 was in pretty good shape going north from Puerto Escondido, despite it being nearly the end of the rainy season. Just north of the port are Laguna de Manialtepec and the Lagunas de Chacahua National Park, with tropical vegetation, mangrove swamps, and sand dunes that provide a wonderful reserve for a great variety of waterfowl, crocodiles and other wildlife.

Along the roadside we saw goats, cattle, coconut palms, papayas and citrus orchards. We crossed numerous wide rivers in flood, such as the Rio Verde. The horizon above the mountains to the east billowed with fluffy, high-flying cloud banks. After being waved through one of several military checkpoints, we did have to take a slight detour of a few yards to skirt a bridge that had been washed out and was still undergoing repair, but other than that, the highway didn’t pose any unusual obstacles, other than a number of horses, burros and cows that would sometimes appear as if out of nowhere in front of our vehicle.

We carried on toward Pinotepa Nacional and Oaxaca’s border with the state of Guerrero, passing through villages with sonorous indigenous names such as Jamiltepec and Huaxpaltepec. Just before reaching the Pinotepa Nacional bypass, that guides the traveller around town without so much as seeing it, we stopped briefly at a lovely waterfall bubbling with clear, cool water, just before crossing the Puente las Arenas.

After passing by Pinotepa Nacional, known for its typical, embroidered dresses, we passed by the marker announcing that we were at Kilometer 0 of the portion of Highway 200 that we had just traversed. From there on, we were again at something like Kilometer 220–we guessed that marker was measured from Acapulco or thereabouts.

We hit rain just past Pinotepa and just before reaching the Oaxaca/Guerrero border. Passing into Guerrero, we came into the town of Cuajiniculapa, where for a few minutes we followed an overloaded mini-bus, the rear-end of which announced not only “Caution–Frequent Stops” but an incredible “No Fear” mud flap.

Again we crossed river after swollen river, passed trucks full of fat pigs going to the slaughter and roadside stands selling melons and bananas. In Marquelia, next to yet another large river, the weekly market was in full swing, with brightly colored tarps and awnings protecting the vendors and the shoppers on the street from rain or sun.

Nearing Cruz Grande we spied an enormous Mexican Flag waving heavily through the drizzle in the distance. Approaching, we found that it was just one more military checkpoint, but one that seemed a bit more permanent than many of them are.

Then we passed Puente Rio Nexpa (Nexpa River bridge)… we didn’t know that there was another Nexpa in this area. The only Nexpa we knew up until now, also with its corresponding river and bridge, was on the coast of southern Michoacan near Caleta de Campos.

We were pleased that, even though we were now in Guerrero (notoriously bad for the condition of many of its highways), the road was smooth, relatively wide and well maintained. Very few spots were bad, and those that were already were undergoing repair work.

It continued to rain on and off as we drew closer to Acapulco. The skies became heavier and near the town of Bejuco we were confronted with some stunning views of massively towering clouds as the light began to falter.

Rolling into Acapulco, the rain began to fall in a much more serious fashion. Since it was still early enough for us to get home to Zihuatanejo in good time, and since the Acapulco-Zihuatanejo road was one we knew well even if dark fell before we made it back, we decided to make a quick shopping stop.

Acapulco, Mexico hotels and lodging

By the time we made it onto Blvd. Lopez Mateos there were rivers running across it. The traffic was backed up and slow, yet dozens of Volkswagen taxis still ploughed bravely through the several inches of water and more backed up into the low areas along the boulevard.

Leaving Acapulco again on Highway 200 north, we had steady rain all the way to Zihuatanejo. It was a full turn-around – one month and one day ago, we’d left Zihua in the rain. Today, we were returning, again in the most rain we’d seen during the entire trip except for that one night in August we’d rode the storm into Guadalajara (see the Colima City to Guadalajara entry).

Rain or no rain, it was good to be home.

Oaxaca al Gusto: An Infinite Gastronomy (The William and Bettye Nowlin Series in Art, History, and Culture of the Western Hemisphere)
Diario de Oaxaca: A Sketchbook Journal of Two Years in Mexico