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Off the Beaten Path Paradise! Everyone is welcome at Zipolite!
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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.
The Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce has put on display a collection of 44 watercolors celebrating Mexico’s Pueblos Mágicos (magical towns) program, all of which are by local artist Jorge Monroy, whose mural Under the Wings of Mercury can be seen in the chamber’s foyer.
Mexico’s Secretariat of Tourism launched the magical towns in 2001 in recognition of the fact that tourists come to the country not only to bask in the sun on a beach, but to experience Mexican hospitality and culture.
Thirty-two towns were originally selected for the program and over the years the number has grown to 121. Last year it was announced that President López Obrador would cancel the program, but in February of this year the tourism department said it would continue “more strongly than ever.”
All of the paintings in the Guadalajara exhibition originally appeared in the Sunday edition of the newspaper El Informador which, over a period of some 20 years, has published around 1,000 of Monroy’s works.
“The Chamber of Commerce wanted to celebrate the Pueblos Mágicos,” Monroy told me, “so they asked the Jesús Álvarez de Castillo Foundation to lend them around 50 of my paintings representative of the most beautiful magical towns in every state of the republic. Of course, they made sure to include all of those in Jalisco, which now number eight.”
Aqueduct near Mineral de Pozos in Guanajuato.
While accompanying Jorge Monroy through this outstanding collection of canvases, I discovered that the painter could not only speak about every one of these sites, but could recall minute details of his visit, down to what he had eaten for lunch when he was there and where he had eaten it.
When I asked him to name his 10 favorite Pueblos Mágicos, he said it just could not be done because “each one is different” and I suddenly realized this was the same answer I have always given to people who ask me to name my favorite hiking trail.
“OK,” I said, “why not just tell me a bit about a few places where, after visiting the streets of the pueblo itself, I can wander out of town and find even more attractions to enjoy.”
“Here’s a good example of that,” said Monroy, stopping in front of one of his paintings. “This is the town of Huasca de Ocampo in Hidalgo and by chance it was the very first town to be designated a Pueblo Mágico, back in 2001, by the Secretariat of Tourism. Not only is the town itself beautiful, but it is surrounded by spectacular historical and natural attractions.
“In colonial times it was important for its mines and, in fact, mining still goes on there today. Great riches were generated for Spain and as a result, lavish haciendas were built. Two of the most notable are San Miguel Regla and Santa María Regla, both of which are now luxurious hotels. Then, just minutes away, you have the Basaltic Prisms, which are polygonal columns with five or six sides, ranging in height from 30 to 50 meters, among the longest in the world and much admired by Alexander von Humboldt in the early 1800s.
“The whole area is so extraordinary that it was recently incorporated into the Comarca Minera Geopark, a new member of the UNESCO Global Network of Geoparks.”
Basaltic Prisms at Huasca de Ocampo in Hidalgo.
As we continued walking along the long corridor at the Cámara de Comercio, we came to Monroy’s painting of the magical town of Coatepec in Veracruz. Its streets are beautiful and well-preserved, he told me, and it is located at so high an altitude that both the town and its surroundings are often shrouded in fog.
“This whole area,” he said, “is dedicated to coffee production and on the outskirts of the town you find fincas cafeteras, beautiful coffee plantations surrounded by exuberant vegetation. Many of the local mansions have now been converted into hotels and all around you find gorgeous waterfalls. One of the nicest in my opinion is the Cascada de Xico.”
While we perused his collection of paintings, Jorge Monroy pointed out many other Pueblos Mágicos where the magic continues beyond the confines of the town. One of these was Mazamitla, which is located in Jalisco, 28 kilometers due south of Lake Chapala at an altitude of 2,240 meters.
“The streets are charming, the church is remarkable for its elements of Chinese architecture, and the town is located in the middle of the Sierra del Tigre, famous for its log cabins hidden away in a beautiful and peaceful pine and oak forest.”
Not to be missed, said the painter, is the 30-meter El Salto waterfall just south of Mazamitla and the curious Los Cazos cauldrons carved into the bedrock apparently for fermenting mezcal.
Over the years, Monroy continued, “I’ve learned that some of the most interesting Pueblos Mágicos — with plenty to explore on their outskirts — are the old mining towns, such as San Sebastián del Oeste in Jalisco, Real de Catorce in San Luis Potosí, Real de Asientos in Aguascalientes and Mineral de Pozos in Guanajuato. Actually, a visit to any of Guanajuato’s many ghost towns is always an adventure.”
Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.
At the end of the Cámara de Comercio’s U-shaped art gallery we came to the last painting in the exhibition, showing the magical town of Bacalar in Quintana Roo. “All I can say is that this town is situated on the shore of the most beautiful lagoon in the world: La Laguna de los Siete Colores (the Lake of Seven Colors). Its beauty is simply indescribable, but I hope I have caught a little of it in my painting.
“Bacalar is enchanting all by itself: it was a fortress and the old cannon are still there. All around Bacalar there are amazing archaeological sites like Kohunlich and Chetumal; there’s the enormous Biosphere Reserve of Sian Ka’an, which stretches all the way to Tulum; there’s dazzlingly beautiful Mahahual beach and then, just to the south, you have Belize: more than enough magical sites to keep even John Pint busy!”
• Jorge Monroy’s paintings of the Pueblos Mágicos will be on display — without charge — at the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce until March 20.
The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.
Yalitza Aparicio not the only talent in the family: sister Edith a budding singer
Her new YouTube channel has been well received
Friday, March 8, 2019
Oaxaca actress Yalitzia Aparicio is not the only talent in her family. In fact, she owes her success on the silver screen to her sister: it was she who planned to attend the casting for Alfonso Cuarón’s award-winning film, Roma.
But Edith Aparicio couldn’t make it because she was pregnant at the time of the auditions. Instead, Edith encouraged Yalitza to attend in her stead, and the rest is history.
In an interview with the newspaper El Universal, Edith said her sister had never imagined becoming a movie star.
“Never, never! It’s actually funny for us because it’s been me who has expressed herself in that manner the most, what she liked the most . . . was reading, poetry, painting . . . she never said she wanted to be an actress.”
Edith Aparicio is the opposite: “I’ve sung and I’ve danced and I like it a lot. I’m getting a lot of work and I go wherever they invite me or pay me.”
Her audience has grown since January when she created a YouTube channel, where she has posted eight videos featuring traditional songs accompanied by a mariachi band or by a guitar that she often plays herself.
The videos have earned over 255,000 views, receiving positive comments from users who have encouraged her to continue to pursue her dream.
The 'Yalistour," a 438-kilometer roadtrip from Mexico City to Tlaxiaco.
In Oaxaca, ‘Yalitza effect’ triggers move to revitalize Oaxacan culture
Indigenous art, culture and domestic workers' rights get new attention in the state
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Oscar-nominated actress Yalitza Aparicio is an international agent of change, according to the governor of Oaxaca, where her fame is prompting authorities to act.
The success of the 25-year-old Mixtec star of Alfonso Cuarón’s film Roma has triggered a swift reaction from Oaxaca authorities, who have announced plans to revitalize the artistic and cultural life of the state’s indigenous communities and pledged to improve the labor rights of domestic workers.
Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat has also announced a new tourist route from Mexico City to Aparicio’s home town of Tlaxiaco.
The preschool teacher-turned-actress missed out on an individual Oscar at Sunday night’s Academy Awards but Murat still described Aparicio – who plays the role of a domestic worker in Roma – as a winner and a star who is capable of helping to change discriminatory attitudes towards indigenous people around the world.
The governor said that state authorities are looking at proposals to improve the labor rights and benefits of domestic workers, stating that the government will provide them with social security, a retirement pension and housing credits.
Murat added that his government will seek to create a culture in which people treat women working in their homes as another member of the family rather than just an employee.
The governor also said the people of Oaxaca are very proud of Aparicio, the success of Roma at the Oscars and the fact that Cuarón continues to help promote the state as he did in his 2001 film Y Tú Mamá También, which features the Oaxacan coastline.
Murat explained that there was a possibility that the state government would invite Cuarón, his production team and the cast of Roma to Oaxaca to work together on a new project.
“The important thing is to speak to them, with Yalitza . . . with Cuarón to see what they wish to do,” he said.
Murat said that he had already collaborated with Cuarón’s production team after it requested that Roma be screened in Tlaxiaco.
Oaxaca Culture Secretary Adriana Aguilar said that Tlaxiaco, located around 160 kilometers northwest of the state capital, has a lot of potential as a cultural destination because it is not only the birthplace of Aparicio but also singer Lila Downs.
Aparicio with her mother, Margarita Martínez, at the Oscars on Sunday.
She added that the city will be invited to participate in this year’s Guelaguetza, an annual festival that celebrates Oaxacan culture, with a specific focus on Tlaxiaco’s food and architecture.
Aguilar also said that state authorities will seek to reinvigorate the Mixtec artistic, cultural and music scene and, with the support of the National Autonomous University (UNAM), work to preserve the native languages spoken in Oaxaca.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Tlaxiaco has announced that the municipal government will bestow its highest honor on Aparicio in recognition of her status as a distinguished citizen.
The actress has also inspired at least two murals, one in the market of her hometown and another in the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa while singer-songwriter Humberto Reyes has composed a ballad called El Corrido de Yalitza Aparicio.
Although Aparicio’s success has triggered a negative reaction from some, many people are celebrating the actresses’ emergence as a new –and different – role model and her representation of Mexico on the world stage.
Congratulating Cuarón for taking home three Oscars, federal Culture Secretary Alejandra Frausto wrote on Twitter: “Congratulations, you made the world see the diversity of the country we are.”
Yalitza Aparicio once was a newly qualified pre-school teacher living in a dusty mountain town in Mexico.
Now, the 25-year-old is the star of Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and an Oscar nominee - a fairy tale marred by racist barbs the indigenous actress has encountered along the way.
Aparicio - who is part Mixtec and part Triqui - grew up in Tlaxiaco in the southern state of Oaxaca, home to about 40,000 people.
She had never even seen a movie on the big screen until she was 15 and went on a school trip to Puebla, a city some 350 kilometers away.
Tlaxiaco closed its only movie heater years ago, explains Miguel Angel Martinez, who runs the small city's tiny cultural centre. Even then, it had only shown films that had screened everywhere else years before.
The theatre's demise was hastened by the advent of pirated DVDs, a flourishing black market that at least brought more up-to-date movies to Tlaxiaco.
Now, in an open-air market next to the church and clock tower, a stall advertises Romaon sale for 20 pesos, or one dollar.
In the film, Aparicio plays an indigenous nanny living with a family in Mexico City - a tale drawn from Cuaron's own childhood in the 1970s.
In real life, Aparicio grew up in a tiny house among flowers, chickens and cows, before becoming Cuaron's unlikely on-screen muse.
RACIST INSULTS
Since bursting onto the big screen, her performance has been lauded from Europe to the United States, and her face has appeared on the covers of prestigious magazines.
She is the first indigenous woman to be nominated for a best actress Oscar.
But with her newfound fame has come a wave of racist comments on social media, and even some from fellow actors.
WATCH | The movie trailer for Roma
Sergio Goyri, a 60-year-old Mexican soap opera star, was caught on camera criticising the Academy for nominating an "Indian" - using a vile profanity.
Other actors have questioned her talent, sparking indignation from Cuaron.
"Yalitza is one of the best actors I have worked with. It is wrong and racist to think that she is only playing herself," he said.
"It sets such huge limitations on a woman, just because of her indigenous background."
MIXED RESPONSE AT HOME
But even in her hometown, Aparicio's work has often received a lukewarm response.
"I don't like the movie, and I like her performance even less. It's all very trite," said Rogelio Lopez, a seller of costume jewellery.
Others in Tlaxiaco are more supportive.
"I really want her to win an Oscar," said Catalina Chavez, a 39-year-old artisan.
"I'm very proud that she is representing us - as women, as indigenous people, as Mexicans, as country people and as domestic workers, as so many things!"
Gladys Morales, a 24-year-old who went to school with Aparicio, says she admires the down-to-earth way her former classmate has coped with the international limelight.
I personally always thought I could never be a part of this [showbiz]. It all seems like a fairy tale
Yalitza Aparicio
"I was here in December [for New Year's festivities]. I saw her just walking with her mom. They were doing some shopping," Morales said. "Everything here is as simple as ever."
Aparicio has defended herself against "offensive comments," saying she hopes "we are done with this idea."
"I personally always thought I could never be a part of this [showbiz]. It all seems like a fairy tale because all my life, I have been seeing women who didn't look like me on the screen," she told reporters.
'NOT HERE FOR THE CASTING CALL'
So how did this humble young woman reach the peaks of cinematic glory?
That in itself is a fairy tale of improbable casting.
In April 2016, Cuaron put out a casting call in Tlaxiaco and other towns to find the lead actress for Roma.
Martinez, the cultural centre head, said he thought the role would go to Aparicio's older sister Edith, explaining that she has a "magnificent singing voice" and is "very talented, outgoing, with a lot of charm and charisma."
The two sisters went to the casting call together, and Edith threw herself enthusiastically into the session, which consisted of a photo shoot and questions about her personal life.
But the casting official insisted that Yalitza also take part.
"I didn't come for the casting call. I only came to keep Edith company," Yalitza said, according to Martinez.
But Edith "took her by the hand" into the test.
She quickly found herself cast in Roma without even knowing who Cuaron was, said Martinez.
"She was a 'virgin' for these sorts of things - that's what allowed her to act so naturally," he said.
Jorge Monroy with his watercolor, The Lake of Seven Colors at Bacalar.
Edith Aparicio is an artist in her own right.
The 'Yalistour," a 438-kilometer roadtrip from Mexico City to Tlaxiaco.
