8 strange foods to eat in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico Posted by Michele Peterson on Jun 3, 2014 in Food and Drink, Mexico, Mezcal, Puerto Escondido | 10 comments

8 strange foods to eat in Puerto Escondido, 

Oaxaca, Mexico

Posted by Michele Peterson on Jun 3, 2014 in Food and Drink, Mexico, Mezcal, Puerto Escondido | 10 comments

There’s no better way to dive into a culture than by sampling  the local cuisine. Here are a few strange foods in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. Are they delicacies or fear-factor dining? Take a bite ( or a sip) and decide!

1. Salsa de Chicatanas: At the beginning and end of the rainy season, locals gather baskets full of flying ants as the insects escape from their flooded nests. The black ants are then toasted on a clay grill called a comal and ground in a molcajete to make salsa de chicatanas, a treasured spring delicacy. The ants are so prized you won’t find them in the market so your best bet is to sign up for a food experience with Gina Machorro at the Information Booth or befriend one of chefs at a restaurant such as Las Margaritas, that specializes in local cuisine.

A tasty trio of grilled chicatanas (ants), ants a la Mexicana and ant salsa for tacos Credit: Gina Machorro

2. Tamales de Tichinda: These warm tamales are stuffed (and accompanied) by fresh black snails. Look for them near the Colotepec River or try them in the towns surrounding Chacahua Lagoons National Park.

3. Chapulines: Crunchy, toasted and spiced grasshoppers are delicious in tacos or on their own as a quick snack. Take a food tour with Gina’s Walking Tours for an introduction to these crispy critters or buy some in Benito Juarez Market and experiment with them as topping for your favourite dish.

Pick up some toasted chile grasshoppers called chapulines at Benito Juarez market

4. Cuitlacoche: This unique black corn fungus is so revered for its earthy flavour that it’s known as the Mexican truffle. Appearance-wise, the delicacy may be as appetizing as a lump of coal, but the black gold fetches top dollar in local markets.

5. Mezcal: There’s a reason that artisanal mescal, tequila’s quirky cousin, is steadily earning its place on bar shelves worldwide. While tequila production is restricted to only one type of agave, skilled Oaxacan mescaleros craft mezcal blends using up to 20 different types, resulting in subtle nuances in flavour ranging from citrusy to smoky. For an adventure in taste, try a shot of Don Franco, a potent local  liqueur or indulge in mezcal made with pechuga (raw chicken breast).  Worm salt will make it taste even better.

Mezcal production in Oaxaca, Mexico

6. Nopal: Visitors are likely to raise an eyebrow when first spotting the prickly plant on the menu, but nopal cactus is one of Mexico’s most iconic ingredients.Try it for yourself at the market, where you can watch Zapotec or Mixteco vendors remove the spiky spines, peel the rind and then stack the shiny paddle-shaped leaves to go. With its delicate, tangy flavour, cactus is versatile.

Shop for nopal in Puerto Escondido’s Benito Juarez Market

7. Mole: This staple, which can refer to a variety of traditional sauces, takes hours to make and is a must-have at any Mexican celebration. Though Oaxaca is known as the Land of Seven Moles, if you’re forced to choose just one, go for the mole negro: a rich, spicy and smoky-sweet sauce made from tomatoes, almonds, raisins, chocolate, plantain and chilis, including the rare chilhuacle variety, grown only in southern Mexico.

8. Paletas: Icy paletas, made by freezing purified water with sugar and fruit, offer a quick and delicious way to cool off in the heat. Expect to find watermelon, guava and mango along with exotic creations like tequila, gooseberry or jicama with chili and gardenia petals.

Fresh fruit paletas or popsicles in Oaxaca Mexico

Travel Planner

Oliver Dawson and Alvin Starkman go local during The Spirit of Oaxaca Mezcal and Beer Lover’s Tour of Oaxaca, Mexico

Sample plenty of artisanal mezcal, authentic Oaxacan cuisine and craft beer during the 7-day  Spirit of Oaxaca Mezcal and Beer Lover’s Cultural Tour, taking place on November 1, 2014. While the tour doesn’t go to Puerto Escondido ( yet), it goes deep into the countryside of Oaxaca to meet local mezcal producers.

You can also sample artisanal mezcal at the special  dinner events hosted by The Mexykan Supper Club.

Suzanne Barbazet, the About.com guide who’s a wealth of information about Mexico, also offers custom and specialty tours of Oaxaca through Discover Oaxaca Tours. Read about my unforgettable experience with Discover Oaxaca Tours during Day of the Dead in my postCemetary-tripping in Oaxaca City Mexico. 

Download the Puerto Escondido Travel Essentials mobile travel app with 185 insider tips on restaurants, hotels, vacation rentals and activities. It’s available for $2.99 for iPhone, iPod, iPad and Andorid in the App store and on Google Play.

    

Related posts:

1. Beer Lovers’ Cultural Tour of Oaxaca launches
2. Virgins, mermaids and Frida Kahlo arrive in Puerto Escondido
3. Body + soul: massage therapy in Puerto Escondido, Mexico
4. Beginner’s guide to Puerto Escondido beaches

- See more at: http://michelepeterson.com/2728-8-strange-foods-to-eat-in-puerto-escondido-oaxaca-mexico/#sthash.kCMc9toM.dpuf

The Beauty of Routine MARCH 31, 2014DALENE

The Beauty of Our Routine in Puerto Escondido - Hecktic Travels

Hecktic Travels ⋅ Dalene

In Puerto Escondido we were thrilled to establish a routine for the first time in a very long time.

The Beauty of Routine

MARCH 31, 2014DALENE

I expect that the title of this post is confusing (and maybe even off-putting?) to some. It’s not what one might expect from a couple who sold it all to travel – who perceptively eschew the routine of a corporate/suburban life in favour of the carefree nature of a road less taken.

And for the most part, that is true. But it does sometimes happen that we absolutely crave routine.

It is one reason why we love house-sitting so much. Not only do we get an entirely new type of worldly experience, but it gives us a chance to relax and recharge our travel batteries.

We’ve been going non-stop since our last house-sit in September. We’ve been bouncing from place-to-place, living in some places that weren’t so great, and then humbly borrowing beds in others (hi Mom)! Upon our arrival to Mexico, it had been almost six months since we had been able to claim a space all our own, to comfortably unpack and settle in with full amenities at our disposal.

We were due.

And hallelujah, we arrived here.

With this beach just steps away in one direction, and shops and restaurants just steps away in another, we settled into an apartment and were sold. Within five minutes of our arrival, we had decided to add more than another week to our two week stay.

We were ridiculously happy about so many little things. A blender to make fresh fruit smoothies every morning, a giant veranda/work space, *decent* wi-fi (most days), even a hammock! I read a book, a whole book, for the first time in a very long time.

Our blissful routine for most days became this:

6:30am – Early wake-up courtesy of either the bright sun, cacophony of dogs barking, or that wretched rooster next door (if he hadn’t already woken us up even earlier).

6:45-7:30am – Pete would get his morning run in along the beach. I would sometimes join him and walk part of the way, spread out a blanket and meditate to the sound of the waves. (The days I didn’t join him was likely because I was too grouchy and cursing the rooster).

7:30am – 3pm – Work! Fueled by smoothies and other random fresh goodies, we settled in for hours of undisturbed work. Which may not sound exciting to some, but when you love what you do, and when you can do it with the sound of waves crashing in the background, life is all good.

3pm – ? – With our brains sufficiently melted by the creeping heat, it was time to cool down. Barring any conference calls or other pressing issues, we would head down a dozen stairs and directly into a shady corner of the plunge pool. Our time spent here would vary, depending on how hot it was and how cold our beers stayed. Then it was back to do a bit more of work, or answer the call of that blessed hammock.

Our evenings would vary – some would include watching the sunset on the beach, others would see us head to town for dinner, or we’d cook for ourselves and eat by candlelight on the veranda. One last dip in cool water (a shower!) to cool us down, and then it was lights out by ten at the latest. At the latest. Lame? Yes. Ashamed? Not at all.

While this relaying of our daily routine may just register as the most boring “travel” post we’ve ever written, it has been one of the most purely satisfying for us.

Where we stayed

There are so many options in Puerto Escondido, and without knowing anything about the city, we bookedaccommodations in La Punta, a neighborhood on the far edge of town most popular with the surfing crowd.

At first we were unsure of being out that far, but as stated above, we absolutely fell in love with our little apartment and our tranquil location. Casa Kalani offers a brand new and fully equipped studio apartment at tremendous value, and it was exactly what we needed. The owners were friendly, extremely accommodating and went above and beyond – taking us on a wee tour, constantly offering us food and bringing us poolside treats. We can’t recommend it enough.

BIBIS PUERTO ESCONDIDO

BIBIS PUERTO ESCONDIDO from Eli Matos on Vimeo.

Oaxaca's Refined Riviera - Puerto Escondido, Mexico - Oaxaca's Refined Riviera - MensJournal.com mensjournal.com Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Sometimes the name of a place perfectly sums up its appeal. That's how it is with Puerto Escondido, the "Hidden Port."

Oaxaca's Refined Riviera - Puerto Escondido, Mexico - Oaxaca's Refined Riviera - MensJournal.com mensjournal.com Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Sometimes the name of a place perfectly sums up its appeal. That's how it is with Puerto Escondido, the "Hidden Port."

EXPERT ADVICE

The World's 8 Best Beaches for Adventure

Puerto Escondido, Mexico

7 of 8

  

Courtesy Designhotels.com

Puerto Escondido, Mexico

Courtesy Designhotels.com

Sometimes the appeal of a place is right there in its name. That's how it is with Puerto Escondido: the "Hidden Port." Clinging to the tip of Mexico's elbow, on the country's sparsely populated southern coast (a.k.a. "the Oaxacan Riviera"), halfway between Acapulco and Guatemala, this formerly sleepy fishing village is slowly undergoing a tourist boom – but one that has avoided the crush and commercialization of its more famous neighbors. It's growing, but it doesn't feel overgrown.

I arrived near the end of November, the tail of the rainy season, on a prop plane from Mexico City. My hotel, the Villas Carrizalillo, was near an area called the Rinconada, a 10-minute walk from town. A grand old boulevard with a small art gallery and several amazing restaurants, the Rinconada used to be the town's airstrip, until the town outgrew it; still, these days, the airport is only five minutes away. The hotel, really a collection of 12 villas, is situated on a bluff overlooking the cobalt-colored thumb of Carrizalillo Bay. The American co-owner, New York-via-Georgia transplant Amy Hardy, found the place 10 years ago, abandoned by its previous owners, and she and her partner did a full renovation. It now boasts a nouveau-Mexican restaurant (sweet mango mahimahi ceviche, pineapple guacamole) and a private staircase down to the little-used beach cove, where you can surf a gentle beginner-friendly break, standup paddle with sea turtles and manta rays, or enjoy shrimp quesadillas or a cold michelada (beer with lime and spice) at one of a handful of beach palapas (thatched-roof gazebos).

Ricardo Maya, the bartender at the Villas Carrizalillo, grew up in Mexico City. The first time he came to the Oaxacan coast was in the early 1980s, when he visited nearby Zipolite. "I don't even remember Puerto then," he said. When he came back in 2004 to teach Spanish to travelers, he could hardly believe the growth. Still, he said, the place suited him: He'd lived near Aspen for several years, and – in both climate and down-to-earth demeanor – Puerto Escondido was pretty much the opposite. Then he poured us both another shot of Fidencio – Amy Hardy's line of organic mezcal, hand-distilled in Oaxaca by a fourth-generation mescalero who worked the same ground as his great-grandfather. (My favorite was the Fidencio Tobalá, distilled from 100 percent wild agave harvested during the new moon.)

There's a lot of this going around P.E. these days: a sort of Puerto Vallarta meets Portland vibe, fueled by natives and expats alike. There's the French woman from Montréal who opened a patisserie inside the mercado and the Italian who rents scooters out of his gelato shop. In Mazunte, an eco-tourist town (it's home to the National Mexican Turtle Center) a little way down the coast, a locally owned cooperative manufactures organic cosmetics, and closer to home, just off the main backpacker's drag, a young couple named Sabrina and Graco (she's Austrian; he's from Veracruz) gutted an old storefront and built out their own wood-walled restaurant called La Olita ("the little wave"), which serves the best fish tacos east of Ensenada.

You'll find a similar up-and-coming micro-scene in Tulum, on the Yucatán Peninsula, but Puerto has something the Caribbean side doesn't: killer waves. Tourism-wise, surfing is Puerto's bread and butter, and quality breaks can be found for miles in both directions: Chacagua and Puerto Ángel. The marquee spot, though, is Playa Zicatela, a thrilling three-kilometer beach break right in the middle of town, which draws so many top surfers from all over the world that it's earned the nickname "the Mexican Pipeline." The pummeling current isn't for novices, though; people have drowned, so if you're just getting comfortable on a board, proceed with caution.

One afternoon I drove out to the Laguna de Manialtepec, an unofficial nature preserve about 30 minutes outside town, where, for 75 pesos (about $5.75) an hour, the ladies at Restaurante la Flor del Pacífico rented me a kayak and paddle and even threw in a cold Bohemia. As the bottle of beer sweated in the cup holder, I spent two blissful hours kayaking around the lagoon – which I had entirely to myself, if you don't count the herons and hummingbirds and majestic black hawks, as well as the biggest flock of cormorants I've ever seen. Then the gigantic red sun (it somehow looked bigger than it does at home) dipped below the tree line, and it was just me and the water and the stars.

Back at the dock, I met up with Lalo Escamilla, an avian biologist who studies birds for a nearby university. When he's not counting egrets or tracking spoonbills, Lalo leads eco-tours on his 12-person boat. I was in luck, he told me: "The phosphorescence is here!" Three or four times a year, certain spots in the lagoon are visited by phosphorescent microorganisms, which glow silver and shimmery in the inky black water, transforming an already gorgeous nighttime swim into something truly otherworldly. It was only after we'd been backstroking around for about 10 minutes that a young boy on the tour who was visiting from Mexico City, asked if there were any crocodiles in the lagoon. "Yes," Lalo said with a grin, preparing a joke he'd clearly made before, "but don't worry." He pointed to the bioluminescent trails we all left in our wake. "You can," he said, winking, "see them coming."

Not far past Manialtepec, at the end of a bumpy road down a rugged stretch of coastline, is a possible glimpse of Puerto's future: the Hotel Escondido, which opened before Christmas. Operated by Grupo Habita, a boutique chain based in Mexico City (imagine a Mexican version of the Standard or the Ace), it comprises 16 individual thatched-roof bungalows, each of which has beachfront views and its own private pool. A spa and sauna and an underground music lounge (literally, it's underground) add to the feeling of rustic luxury; other high-design copycats might not be far behind.

But the surest sign that change is on the way to Puerto is a brand-new highway, 125 kilometers, cutting through vast fields of almonds, papayas, and mangoes, between Oaxaca City and the coast. When I was there, orange-vested construction crews were hard at work, on pace to finish the project by early 2015. When it opens, the highway will cut the travel time from Mexico City in half and make it possible to drive from Oaxaca City to the coast in a little more than two hours – down from six. Some of the expats I spoke with were a little worried that the road might destroy the town's quiet charm. But the locals were pretty excited. "Claro!" a taxi driver named Jorge – who was born in Puerto – told me. It would bring more visitors, more money, cheaper goods to buy. What's not to love? And if it meant slightly bigger crowds waiting for waves every weekend, or a few more overpriced hotels, well, no importa. Change was inevitable, after all. Puerto could take it.

Getting there: Fly to Mexico City; connect to Puerto Escondido.

By Josh Eells

Read more: http://www.mensjournal.com/expert-advice/the-worlds-8-best-beaches-for-adventure-20140210/puerto-escondido-mexico#ixzz2t6BvaAAq

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Zipolite Painting

XXL Barrels In Puerto Escondido – Mexico – Deep Water Pt 6 [5:32]

(PXM) Puerto Escondido Airport Arrivals

PXM Arrivals: Thu 19-Jan-2012 from All day

Choose Origin       -- All Airports --(MEX) Mexico City, MX   Show Codeshares     Hide Codeshares    What is a Codeshare? Choose Airline     -- All Airlines --(VW) Aeromar(VB) VivaAerobus

For details, click on Airport Code, Flight Number or On-time Rating

		On-time		Arrival		Term
Origin	Flight	Rating	Airline	Sched	Actual	Gate	Status	Equip	Track
MEX Mexico City	VW 537		Aeromar	11:45 AM	10:31 AM ~		Scheduled	ATR
MEX Mexico City	VB 3490		VivaAerobus	12:55 PM			Scheduled	733