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Zipolite, Mexico

by TheDangerz on January 20, 2013 in Mexico, Van

I often find it hard to update the blog when we are sitting still…   In fact I often go through the same questions even when we’re discovering new places: who cares, why would they want to know, or what is the right amount of detail… but then i remember our promise to ourselves that this blog would simply be a…

Zipolite, Mexico

by TheDangerz on January 18, 2013 in Mexico

We are spending our days exploring the small coastal towns and beaches of Oaxaca….and loving it. We spend most of our days (before and after the sun reaches its sweltering peak) walking the length of beaches and meeting locals.  First we were hoping to find an area for camping or a restaurant that would allow us to stay beside them…

Life and Death on Playa Zipolite

by TheDangerz on January 16, 2013 in Mexico

We had read that one of the much debated translations of Zipolite was “beach of the dead”.  Sadly, today we found out why.  We awoke to the calming sound of waves breaking just out the open doors of our cabana.  As morning arrives the mosquito net surrounding our bed adds a gentle glow to the beachscape beyond.  Jen has already…

looking back at 6 months on the road

by TheDangerz on January 14, 2013 in Mexico

Wow, time flies… We’re half a month late on the release (thanks to the rally, breaking down on a belizean beach and the absence of wifi), but thought it was worth a synopsis post after our 6month mark and making through mainland mexico. We have fully adapted (most days) to life on the road at this point and as we…

Zipolite, Mexico

by TheDangerz on January 14, 2013 in Mexico

My attitude has improved dramatically from yesterday.  Nothing a good night’s sleep and a day without driving cant cure.   There was nothing luxurious or fun abut the last few days and we feel completely lucky to have run into friends to at least break up the 3 days of driving.  It’s funny how a long drive gives you an opportunity…

Life as a Mexican Truck Driver

by TheDangerz on January 11, 2013 in Mexico

We could simply caravan with Kent and Lynn forever but we wake up knowing that our desire to be on a pacific beach is only growing. We both pack up our rigs and head out after a plate of breakfast nachos.  The mansion turns east for tulum the riviera maya and we aim west for oaxaca.  My brain just cant…

Mexico. What? Yes, Mexico…

by TheDangerz on January 11, 2013 in Guatemala, Mexico

Sitting at the bar last night with another overland traveller we find out about a border crossing that (he thinks) leads to mexico without having to go all the way to the pacific and just like that our plans change again.   We have been antagonizing about whether to travel the main highways all the way to southern Guatemala or backtrack…

Sunset at Zipolite beach (2)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/toddkeister/8395261163/

Zipolite, Mexico by TheDangerz on January 20, 2013 in Mexico, Van

http://overlandsphere.com/overland-travel/americas/north-america/mexico/zipolite-mexico-3/115525?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=zipolite-mexico-3

Zipolite, Mexico

by TheDangerz on January 20, 2013 in Mexico, Van

Overland Adventure Travel - Read the original post on the overlanders website: theDangerz | theDangerz.

I often find it hard to update the blog when we are sitting still…  

In fact I often go through the same questions even when we’re discovering new places: who cares, why would they want to know, or what is the right amount of detail… but then i remember our promise to ourselves that this blog would simply be a collections of photos and stories for us to look back on and remember these days, as it’s already hard to remember those from only a few months ago.  Problem solved.

It seems after our long stay renting in Punta Mita (combined with the rushed drive to finish the rally) the nature of our trip has changed a bit.  We are no longer feeling the rush to see something new every day or scratch a new state/country on the wall of the bus.  These days we are enjoying things at a slower pace and even the days when i’m a bit bored i’m really enjoying the slower nature of each of them. We’ve been in Zipolite now for a week, and are aware that we could have easily torn through this town without so much as stopping to sleep on the street, fill our water and grab a coffee before moving on.  Instead, we are getting so much time to soak up the local atmosphere (which we love), meet new people and even walk into the hills with several locals to look at lots for sale.  Don’t worry family and friends, this doesn’t mean we have found a place to stop- this is actually an old habit for us.  For years we have found ourselves checking the market and asking prices in almost every destination we visit, but until now we haven’t slowed down enough to do so on this trip.  Why we do this i’m not sure- but probably the same set of reasons why we used to always visit open houses on weekends, even when we had no need or desire to buy.

There’s something that can be learned when talking with people about their home (what they like about it and what they hate) that is a very quick and raw truth about a place.  It also allows me to engage that part of my brain that immediately starts redesigning every space I walk into.  Sorry again to all of you who I started telling to rip walls out of your new home before i realized it might be taken as less than positive… i’ve learned to wait until asked    We spent a bit of time the last few days walking barefoot around the hills above zipolite and looking at the town from a slightly different angle.  The vistas overlooking the beaches are fantastic and it’s fun to see the same beach from so many different perspectives.  If anyone is looking to throw some cash at a beachfront investment opportunity let us know, otherwise we’ll keep looking as it’s a bit out of our price range.

Yesterday we went into Pochulta for a much needed new muffler.  It turns out “stealth” camping is a bit more difficult when someone can hear you coming ten minutes before you arrive.  The difference is astounding and we had completely forgotten how quiet an engine is supposed to be.  I have to keep myself from turning the key again to restart the bus because i cant hear it running.  Sadly, while the muffler is great, the bus actually felt more ill than before we went in and we weren’t sure we would even make it back to our campsite in zipolite.  Today i got the points and valves adjusted and at least got us back to running the way we did before yesterday.  Tomorrow i’ll see if i can actually get us running on 4 cylinders- something that hasn’t happened for longer than a few days at a time since before the rally.  I feel like i still know almost nothing about working on the bus, but it’s amazing how them mindset has shifted to a point of simply taking it apart to see if i can figure out why its not working… a far cry from being afraid to change the oil when we left.

We have camped in three different spots in town now. 2 outside of locals’ home and now in an empty lot that allows people to pitch a tent for as long as they want to stay.  Which, for most we’ve met so far in Zipolite is at least several months. Yesterday the group that “lives” here gathered for some african drumming and dance.  Jen hopped up and took an hour or so of group lessons on shaking her parts accordingly before retiring to the beach with me and the other onlookers.  We love free entertainment!

Today saw us apply for our first housesitting post.  Pretty much what it sounds like- watching over an expats’ home/pets/plants while they return north for the hot part of the year… No idea if it will fall into place and it would actually mean turning around and driving way north to Jalisco, but we’ve talked of trying this for some time and of the benefits/savings that might come with an extended stay in one place.

We also just got news that a very dear friend is considering coming to visit in a month or two. We couldn’t be more excited!  As soon as she books a flight we’ll start counting the minutes until we get to pick her up at the airport, drive her around (whatever town is home at the time) and soak up every second we can before we make her hitchhike back to the airport.

Giancarlo Bruniera Vende naranja De Vera Cruz

Giancarlo Bruniera

Vende naranja
De Vera Cruz

Lizard Mazunte

H500C - C - KodakPortra400 - Lizard Mazunte | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
H500C - C - FujiReala100 - Chrurch Hallstatt · H500C - C - FujiReala100 - El Chelito Mazunte · H500C - C - KodakPortra400 - Lizard Mazunte · H500C - C ...
www.flickr.com/photos/47380189@N03/8385386137/

Charlie Puth & Stephen Puth Singing "You Can Close Your Eyes" by James

ZIPOLITE 2013 SURFISTI AL TRAMONTO - YouTube Spettacolari surfisti alla puesta del sol en Zipolite. ... ZIPOLITE 2013 SURFISTI AL ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzwOEZN1Nx8

ZIPOLITE 2013 SURFISTI AL TRAMONTO - YouTube Spettacolari surfisti alla puesta del sol en Zipolite. ...ZIPOLITE 2013 SURFISTI AL ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzwOEZN1Nx8

San Agustinillo, Oaxaca México

4 Day strike mission to Puerto Escondido on 170 degree south swell Read about surfers, latest news, videos, surf wallpaper, surfboard buyer's guide, subscription information and more at SURFER Magazine online. www.surfermag.com/.../4-day-strike-mission-to-puerto-escond...

4 Day strike mission to Puerto Escondido on 170 degree south swell
Read about surfers, latest news, videos, surf wallpaper, surfboard buyer's guide, subscription information and more at SURFER Magazine online.
www.surfermag.com/.../4-day-strike-mission-to-puerto-escond...

Skydive Puerto Escondido

Solar Install From our very first conversations about what was needed in the bus and what was merely a luxury item, it was clear that Jen would go anywhere as long a cold beverages were a possibility. Whats not to love about this girl? Being that we also want to be as far away from society as we possible (we aren’t really the KOA type) for as long as possible… solar clearly became our option for staying off-grid and keeping food and bevies cold. We did a ton of research here and also got a bit of help from a local who had done a few RV and marine installs (last thing we wanted to do after dropping the change for a solar panel and batteries was to hook something up wrong and fry all the components…). After running calculations for our power draw needs online and taking into account everyone else’s setup and feedback, we ended up going with a Kyocera 135W panel. According to most blogs and posts we’ve read from other VW owners using solar this should be clear overkill for a weekend away, but should allow us to stay gone as long as we want and might even work here in the less-than-sunny pacific northwest.The solar panel feeds two 12 volt batteries running in parallel and stored under one of our seats. Since we didn’t have a method for storing the batteries outside of the bus, we had to go with AGM (sealed) batteries as they don’t off-gas like common batteries and can be used in confined and low ventilation areas (like our bus).For the solar controller we went with a Sunsaver Duo, which seems to be the controller of choice with the added bonus of being very affordable and easy to use. The handy panel tells us how much energy we are pulling off the sun, how much we are drawing at any given time and how much power we have left to draw. We also hooked everything up to the starter battery so that we can track its power level and recharge it from the sun as needed. An isolator ensures that the starter battery wont draw down and leave us stranded simply because we stay up late and leave the lights on like motel 6.We also installed an inverter to make sure we could convert the DC into AC for an outlet to charge our phones, ipod and other necessities while out and about. This should also let us run a lighting system and we’ve started looking into LED lights that will work for our needs. We purchased a Truckfridge 49 a few months ago and have been dying to use this thing in the bus. All works as planned and the system is smooth. We still haven’t really tested how long we can survive off a charge but the fridge runs fine even on wet days here in VAN and our drink are cold as planned! We have a ton to learn/discover about the real workings of the system, but our learning curve has already been huge. In case it’s helpful, here’s our whole system (a diagram I pulled together well after this post now that i really know whats going on)

http://www.thedangerz.com/solar-install/

Solar Install

From our very first conversations about what was needed in the bus and what was merely a luxury item, it was clear that Jen would go anywhere as long a cold beverages were a possibility.  Whats not to love about this girl?
Being that we also want to be as far away from society as we possible (we aren’t really the KOA type) for as long as possible… solar clearly became our option for staying off-grid and keeping food and bevies cold.
We did a ton of research here and also got a bit of help from a local who had done a few RV and marine installs (last thing we wanted to do after dropping the change for a solar panel and batteries was to hook something up wrong and fry all the components…).
After running calculations for our power draw needs online and taking into account everyone else’s setup and feedback, we ended up going with a Kyocera 135W panel.  According to most blogs and posts we’ve read from other VW owners using solar this should be clear overkill for a weekend away, but should allow us to stay gone as long as we want and might even work here in the less-than-sunny pacific northwest.The solar panel feeds two 12 volt batteries running in parallel and stored under one of our seats.  Since we didn’t have a method for storing the batteries outside of the bus, we had to go with AGM (sealed) batteries as they don’t off-gas like common batteries and can be used in confined and low ventilation areas (like our bus).For the solar controller we went with a Sunsaver Duo, which seems to be the controller of choice with the added bonus of being very affordable and easy to use.  The handy panel tells us how much energy we are pulling off the sun, how much we are drawing at any given time and how much power we have left to draw.  We also hooked everything up to the starter battery so that we can track its power level and recharge it from the sun as needed.  An isolator ensures that the starter battery wont draw down and leave us stranded simply because we stay up late and leave the lights on like motel 6.We also installed an inverter to make sure we could convert the DC into AC for an outlet to charge our phones, ipod and other necessities while out and about.  This should also let us run a lighting system and we’ve started looking into LED lights that will work for our needs.  We purchased a Truckfridge 49 a few months ago and have been dying to use this thing in the bus.
All works as planned and the system is smooth.  We still haven’t really tested how long we can survive off a charge but the fridge runs fine even on wet days here in VAN and our drink are cold as planned!  We have a ton to learn/discover about the real workings of the system, but our learning curve has already been huge.

In case it’s helpful, here’s our whole system (a diagram I pulled together well after this post now that i really know whats going on)

Zipolite, Mexico
The main “street” through zipolite is a pedestrian corridor with a few fledgling bars and restaurants. As always, we picked the one with a gathering of people, ...
www.thedangerz.com/zipolite-mexico-2/?utm...rss...

Zipolite, Mexico

brydanger 01/18/2013 Karma the Dog, Mexico, VW Bus

We are spending our days exploring the small coastal towns and beaches of Oaxaca….and loving it. We spend most of our days (before and after the sun reaches its sweltering peak) walking the length of beaches and meeting locals.  First we were hoping to find an area for camping or a restaurant that would allow us to stay beside them with a view of the ocean, now it’s simply to soak up the local atmosphere.

The main “street” through zipolite is a pedestrian corridor with a few fledgling bars and restaurants.  As always, we picked the one with a gathering of people, then stopped for dinner only to realize the owner of the new establishment was the same guy thats helped us to our cabana a few nights back.  We enjoy sitting with the young entrepreneur and his friends, talking about life in Zipolite and getting the insiders’ perspective.  As we return to the candlelit ambience of our palapas, 100s of people now line the street sipping a beer/cocktail from the bar behind them or selling their handmade jewelry and sculptures on the curb.  Several musicians are playing/drumming and as we reach the end of the street we can see the twirling glow of the firethrowers behind us…just too late for the show.

We are no longer in our plush palapa cabana (that was only a two day treat) but have returned to the bus and are parked on the opposite end of the beach.  The west end was a collection of rustic chic bungalows as where here we are amidst rundown houses, tents and ramshackle palapas that look to be overrun with the group we left behind at the rainbow gathering.  Zipolite has become famous for its nude/free lifestyle and attracts hippies and backpackers (primarily from europe but) from around the globe.  The number of tourists we see here is higher than many other places we’ve been but they seem to leisurely fit in rather than taking over.  Its almost impossibly tranquillo here, which we find out later that it might have something to do with the amount of herb and mushrooms grown in the mountains nearby.

Further down this end of the beach we stumbled across a tiny pocket cove called playa amor (love beach).  This tiny secluded beach behind the point is your reward for scrambling up some stairs and down the other side.  It’s a gorgeous spot that attracts most of the nude sunbathers but also an amazing place to grab a rock and catch the sunset- something tells me we’ll be returning.  Yesterday we ventured north to see the beaches of mazunte and san agustanillo.  Each beach has its own beauty and vibe, but all are framed with beautiful rock outcroppings and points that hug the sandy shore.  We could stay in either of these for a while but we have already arranged a steal of a deal in zipolite parking on the beach for 50pesos/night, so we return to our new temporary home.

Wedged in between two locals homes on the beach, our view each morning is of the sun coming up over the point and its light filtering through the palapas built to hold hammocks for family friends and the occasional tourist in need of shade and a cold beer before continuing down the beach.  Im trying to remember the last time i saw anyone in north america see a mexican (or any other) traveller and stopped them to shake their hand and say “welcome to my country, i hope you love it here”, much less would let them park alongside their home and come inside to use their sink and bathroom or play with their kids.  Hospitality and community have a slightly different meaning here, and we are enjoying every second of it.

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