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A little about Playa Zipolite, The Beach of the Dead . . .

Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. A little bit about my favorite little get-away on this small world of ours.

Zipolite, a sweaty 30-minute walk west from Puerto Angel, brings you to Playa Zipolite and another world. The feeling here is 1970's - Led Zep, Marley, and scruffy gringos.

A long, long time ago, Zipolite beach was usually visited by the Zapotecans...who made it a magical place. They came to visit Zipolite to meditate, or just to rest.

Recently, this beach has begun to receive day-trippers from Puerto Angel and Puerto Escondido, giving it a more TOURISTY feel than before.

Most people come here for the novelty of the nude beach, yoga, turtles, seafood, surf, meditation, vegetarians, discos, party, to get burnt by the sun, or to see how long they can stretch their skinny budget.

I post WWW Oaxaca, Mexico, Zipolite and areas nearby information. Also general budget, backpacker, surfer, off the beaten path, Mexico and beyond, information.

REMEMBER: Everyone is welcome at Zipolite.

ivan

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

“Crocodile Hunting in Mexico” Posted on November 9, 2011 by Sherry



In the small Mexican beach town of Mazunte in the state of Oaxaca, there are no cruise ships calling, no college-age hooligans binge drinking, and no towering hotels along the sands. Instead, life is much simpler. Locals come here to dip in the ocean. Kids play beach soccer with sticks in the sand as goal posts. People lounge on hammocks, their homes, just a few hundred yards from the beach.
Though there are a number of flights available from U.S. cities straight to Oaxaca, the road to the coast going to this town is a rough one. And after a seven-hour, white-knuckled drive on narrow mountain roads, we made it! Just in time for me to have my first encounter with crocodiles in the wild.
In this area, crocodiles live in lagoons along uninterrupted stretches of beach. Trips to see them are offered by two cooperatives in La Ventanilla, a small enclave of roughly 100 people – a five minute drive outside of Mazunte. For about $30 USD you can go on guided boat tours into the crocodile’s natural habitat.
“People can get easily lost here but I won’t” our guide Manuel Valdez says, as he paddles through water channels lined with mangroves. During the tour, Manuel delivers facts like a talking encyclopedia. He informed us that at last count, there were 140 known crocodiles in the area, the biggest of which is about 15 feet long. Though to spot them, you have to be patient and alert.
Crocodiles are the main attraction here, so Manuel does his best to lure them out for us, using chickens and whistles. He even goes as far as entering the water near the predator to attract it. After some effort, we finally catch a crocodile’s attention about 25 yards away on land. Fiercefully, it displays its teeth. All of us were very intimidated. “I earned my tip today,” Manuel says. Indeed.




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ivan