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

Saturday, October 19, 2013

20 Days Until My Next 2 Week Adventure Begins! ivan

Cusco (Cuzco) Peru Adventure Travel | Budget Travel Adventure

larkycanuck / 2 days ago

TOP 5 REASONS WHY NOT TO VISIT CUSCO (CUZCO), PERU

Cusco (or Cuzco) is the second largest city in Peru, and once upon a time, the largest city in South America during the era of the Inca Empire. Cusco was the central capital of the Incas. While most budget adventure travelers spend much time in Cusco (it is after all the base point for all Machu Picchu travels), the Larkycanuck does not recommend spending more than 2 days in Cusco. Here are the top 5 reasons for not doing so.

View of Cusco City from the airplane

1. Altitude

At 3,400 m (11,200 ft), Cusco is higher in elevation than Machu Picchu ruins, which stands at only 2,430 m (7,972 ft). Unless you are accustomed to such altitudes, or have acclimatized to it by spending 2 days, you are likely to feel symptoms of altitude sickness ranging from anything mild like dizziness, nausea to extreme like faint spells, cramps, severe breathing problems. Consult your doctor at home before undertaking a trip up here.

2. Tourist Trap

With over 1.5 million tourists visiting Cusco any given year, if the UNESCO had an official list of World Tourist Traps like it does for its Heritage Sites, Cusco would be in the global top 10. Which is good. But also bad. As one can only expect of tourist traps, the place is bustling with mostly overpriced hotels, restaurants, clubs, and souvenir shops. If you are likely to be ripped off anywhere in the world simply for being touristy, this place is it. While you may convince yourself that any purchase made serves the local economy and handicrafts, think twice! Make that thrice! Most souvenirs and handicrafts are not actually made in Peru, let alone by the Andean handicraft workers. Although official tourist staff will “recommend” authentic locations, beware. Recommendations don’t mean much from any stranger, official or not. It helps to know aninsider, like an international tourist guide, to suggest where the bargain stops are. And most genuine guides will be upfront in not recommending Cusco.

Saksaywaman

3. Not much to see

Besides a few notable exceptions, the city downtown itself does not have much to offer in terms of things to see in Cusco. There are some ruins outside the city centre, but once you have done Machu Picchu and Pisac, these local ruins are tiring at best to visit. Extremely boring at worst. So I recommend touring these local spots (Saksaywaman, Qorikancha, Tambomachay, Kenko) and others before departing for Machu Picchu trek. There are some notable tours to take within Cusco, but most local operators do not offer it, which is sad. It is a behind the scenes Cusco tour offered by select companies.

4. Dining options are blah!

I will admit that I did not spend enough time in Cuzco to be the authoritative source on dining options. But two meals and several walks along the plazas to find Starbucks, McDonald’s, and other fast food delicacies of North America is enough to hint at what to expect. Don’t waste your money on fine dining or expect authentic experience unless you go with a local. There are many other places in Peru to indulge.

Tambomachay

5. The crowd

See point #2 above. The visitors are not just foreign tourist. A good part includes Peruvians from other regions and other Latin Americans. The crowds can get bothersome at certain times, especially if you take a local tour that caters to mostly Peruvian crowd. We took such a bi-lingual tour in Cuzco. While the guide was really good and gave a different (local) perspective of the sites than a tour guide catering exclusively to foreigners, we were delayed extensively by locals who were on the tour bus (one did not show up for 30 minutes and was finally left behind by the group).

My fans familiar with my budget adventure travel stories will of course find my top 5 reasons to not visit Cusco as facetious. It is partially true. Cusco does have some spectacles worth visiting. Check out some of these photos below, and I will let you decide.

Disclaimer: A portion of this tour was sponsored by Gate1 Travel. Check out their other incredible tours in Peru.

http://larkycanuck.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/089.jpg?w=660

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Friday, October 18, 2013

Moderate earthquake – Oaxaca, Mexico on October 18, 2013

Click on the “I Felt It” button behind the corresponding earthquake. Your earthquake experience is not only important for science, but also for people in the area ...

earthquake-report.com/.../moderate-earthquake-oaxaca-mexic...

Earthquake - Magnitude 4.1 - OAXACA, MEXICO - 2013 October 18 ...

Earthquake - Magnitude 4.1 - OAXACA, MEXICO - 2013 October 18, 02:43:45 UTC earthquakestoday - recent and latest earthquakes, earthquake map and ...

www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=339668

4.1 magnitude earthquake near Miahuatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico and ...

10km NE of San Cristobal Amatlan, Mexico - 4.1 EARTHQUAKE - Oaxaca, Tehuacán, Minatitlán, Coatzacoalcos, Córdoba, Orizaba, Veracruz, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, ...

earthquaketrack.com/quakes/2013-10-18-02-43-45-utc-4-1-68

You felt this earthquake. Tell us!

Magnitude	mb 4.1
Region	OAXACA, MEXICO
Date time	2013-10-18 02:43:45.0 UTC
Location	16.39 N ; 96.34 W
Depth	69 km
Distances	448 km SE of Mexico City, Mexico / pop: 12,294,193 / local time: 21:43:45.0 2013-10-17 83 km SE of Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico / pop: 262,566 / local time: 21:43:45.0 2013-10-17 10 km NE of San Cristóbal Amatlán, Mexico / pop: 3,539 / local time: 21:43:45.0 2013-10-17

Source parameters provided by:

National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey -- Golden, USA (NEIR)

Global view

More information at:

USGS/NEIC Denver, USA

GeoForschungsZentrum (GEOFON) Potsdam, Germany

Zipolite chill out

PARTIAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON - TODAY, visible from Zipolite if the clouds allow!

Only Sam M

7:05 am Oct 18

PARTIAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON - TODAY, visible from Zipolite if the clouds allow!
..... Enjoy http://www.timeanddate.com/ eclipse/lunar/2013-october-18

Oct 18 – Oct 19, 2013 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

www.timeanddate.com

The Penumbral eclipse on Oct 18 – Saturday, October 19, 2013 - Are you able to see it

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Geo BalZipolite The best sunsets in the world not to mention the beach today with full moon super breaker ..... I mean super romantic

Geo BalZipolite

The best sunsets in the world not to mention the beach today with full moon super breaker ..... I mean super romantic

Barefoot youth basketball team wins Mexico’s heart The impoverished youths from an indigenous tribe went undefeated in Argentina. By CHRIS CHASE – October 16, 2013

Barefoot youth basketball team wins Mexico’s heart

The impoverished youths from an indigenous tribe went undefeated in Argentina.

By CHRIS CHASE – October 16, 2013 at 4:29pm EDT

A group of Mexican youths from the small population of indigenous Trique Indians are being hailed as heroes in their home country after going undefeated at a youth basketball competition in Argentina. Their heritage is only part of their story.

Because many of the boys can’t afford to buy sneakers, most of the players on the team play barefoot. That didn’t hold them back at the International Festival of Mini-Basketball, where the team went 6-0.

The AP reports the boys’ success earned a one minute ovation on the floor of the lower house of Mexico’s Congress.

Mini basketball is pretty much exactly what you’re thinking. The court is smaller, the free-throw line is closer to the backboard and the baskets are lowered.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Kitchen or Cocina Posted on October 10, 2013

The Kitchen or Cocina

Posted on October 10, 2013

17 Comments

The kitchen has to be in the top 1 or 2 rooms one would pick as a favorite. It is mine. I have no man caves so it is the kitchen for me.

First off there is equipment (the garage is not really part of the house and does not count guys). We have blenders, coffee makers, coffee grinders, Cuisinarts, vacuum seal machines, colorful Kitchenaid or otherwise mixers, shiny woks, pots and pans and all kinds of knives, spoons and forks not to mention wine and beer openers etc. I mean the kitchen is a place to marvel at technology (forget about the computer station). And our kitchen comes with a pretty woman who spends most of her waking hours in that room (lucky me).

The Mexican Kitchen Can Be a Real Social Meeting Place – BYOP – Bring Your Own Paddle

We have a park bench in our Casita kitchen. A seat to watch the action and the pretty lady in motion. Better than a seat in the park I would say. I spend time on that bench just marveling at the devices and the processes that go into preparing more than a 1000 meals a year.

I am the first to admit some of our accommodations are not the glitzy fancy type. We have no bidets or sparkling porcelain tubs or grand pianos. We do not have television screens the size of the one at the drive-in. Things are pretty simple around our houses. But we do make an effort to have the tools and provide the space for where food production occurs.

If there is any one room that will show you are no longer in a 1st world country it is the Mexican kitchen. I mean a bedroom is pretty much a bedroom as is a bathroom, living room or den. You will probably not see a molcajete, a tortilla press, or a tall bottle of propane in that U.S. kitchen of yours – no not likely. The sinks and cabinets are usually simpler. Mexican kitchens usually appear more utilitarian (we are discounting Tancho’s kitchen here) I have yet to see a store selling Wolf stoves or Sub-Zero refrigerators.

We have seen wood fired cooking areas and baby chickens scurrying about. We saw one more or less outdoor kitchen area with a large cement tank/sink that served not only to wash dishes but as a watering trough for the family horse. I kid you not.

We have been challenging our fellow Bloggers in our Mexico or Bust community of Blogs to showing their living condition. No holding back – even the laundry and bathroom did not/will not escape our peering eyes.

The Calypso Couple have four very modest houses. We will confine our kitchen exploration to the casa we are currently at in Xico, Veracruz. Ask us again when we are in Puerto in a few weeks.

Background: We have owned this Casita for 8 years or so. For the first 4 or 5 years we utilized the kitchen built into a 9 foot Lance truck bed camper which rests comfortably on Mexican dirt here in Xico for these many years. In the beginning there were three of us – mostly living in that camper. We eventually restored a couple of rooms in a Casita. We now have an office/bedroom/living room upstairs and a new, by a couple of years, kitchen that we built on a deck we had built when we first moved in.

If you have been following along for a while you watched and read about the cocina construction. It is in here amongst the many 100’s of 1000′s of words. Check back in May and June of 2011 by going to the right – look in the monthly archives.

But alas here is our cocina/dining room; well kitchen with park bench is more accurate:

If you look carefully you will see a propane gas tank in the corner. Under a Silpat mat we have a one burner induction stove top. Then we have a two-burner propane gas stove-top – very crude, but functional. Also note the mocajete – not often seen in a U.S. kitchen where as nearly all have and use one here in the Hood. Guacamole made in a mocajete – mm – you will never go back to a mixing bowl.

Induction Stove Top, Gas Two-burner and even a French Press

Nothing fancy in the sink area – kind of upscale for the Hood at that.

Señora Calypso at the sink.

We have refrigeration in the Hood

You might have noticed the refridge is hiked up on blocks – probably seldom seen in First World kitchens. Here it is a matter of possible water rising up on the floor and the fact that Mexican appliances are made for short people – there are none of those little people at the Calypso Casa.

Plastic shelving as opposed to lovely wood cabinets is a necessity in a humid area. At the beach the hinges will rust to needing replacing in a year. Air flow and plastic instead of metal wherever possible.

We do have a microwave with convection baking, nearly all the tools that a modern U.S. kitchen might have – just resting on a cement floor in the tropical jungles of Veracruz, Mexico and stacked on plastic shelves. We even have a recently added Keurig coffee maker.

So OK our cocina is pretty simple and definitely sports a Mexicano flavor. Now we are sending out the challenge to show us your food processing work stations. This has already been in discussion (with my ongoing threatening). So Laurie has put in her two cents HERE (she is such a good sport) and Felipe reminded me that his cocina has been on the Internet for viewing for several years. I think it really represents what a gringo can put together here in Mexico when money is no object – I mean wow – just keep me out of there when I have a hang-over!

Our water bottle sits on the floor – this does shame me.

And Felipe claims he doesn’t even know what a Wolf Range is – woof, woof! But then we have not seen Tancho’s Kitchen Kastle – because if memory serves me – it probably cannot be topped – Tancho?

Hopefully many of you will contribute a photo(s) of your Mexican (or otherwise) kitchens. We will all be closer when we know where everyone is during the commercials.

Stay Tuned!

It Must Be a Guy Thing

Posted on October 15, 2013

A fellow Blogger providing Mexico driving tips, in reply to my suggestion of having a GPS device onboard, stated they use a map and don’t need a GPS – further that it must be a guy thing. This person who shall remain unnamed (obviously a woman) went on to explain that with the use of a map and then hiring a taxi driver to guide her through busy Mexican cities totally eliminates the suggested need for a Global Positioning System.

Need Directions? Just Ask!

The first thing that came to mind is the risks involved for a woman driving alone or any novice Mexico travelers to stop in dangerous border towns and even further into Mexico to hire a cab driver to lead them through the maze of these cities – incredible naiveté to dismiss a GPS for that method of getting around. But that is just the most obvious there is so much more.

Back in the early 80’s your escritor was paid a lot of money to explain to business owners large and small why they needed a computer(s). Most realized a possible small advantage with the help of spreadsheets and databases that could perhaps better help manage their accounting information. But few realized the incredible sales and marketing tool a computer system could be even then. I explained the potential; the why and how to implementing the new technology. This was way before Amazon or Ebay or computer dating; it was before even the Internet.

So now my fellow Blogger suggests that there is no need for a GPS because they have a map. I felt like I had just been dialed back in time. Those many folks that were content with their manual double entry accounting, columnar bookkeeping, declaring that was totally sufficient and they didn’t need no stinkin’ computer – oh my! Like I wrote, I was paid a lot of money to show them the error in their ways.

A Global Positioning System is one of the most forward thinking and useful computer technologies today. It has literally changed and marked the landscape of travel, brick and mortar outlets and even keeping our kids safe and traceable.

The GPS system is so much more than a mere collection of virtual maps. Need a hardware store, bank, Chinese restaurant or to know where the nearest Costco or Sam’s Club is in a town. Want to know how far to the next rest stop or how many hours or miles or kilometers to a certain destination and how many and where the next gas station is? Or need to find fast a hospital or police station? These are but a few of the many advantages of being able to refer to a GPS or GPS capable iPhone or tablet.

GPS technology can open your car door or call 911 for you from outer space.

In some cities our GPS will advise us about traffic slowdowns and provide alternate routes even before we reach the problem area. This in real time. In Las Vegas we were able to input any address public or private and have the GPS lead us right to the door with voice commands – never had to take our eyes off the road or pull over to check on a map (which wasn’t about to have personal addresses in any case.

In Xalapa, the capitol of Veracruz, a city of 600,000 made up of a maze of streets we were looking for a computer store. Our GPS not only was a map guide, it had a street level view of the store front which was very obscure. We saved a bunch of time with the visual aid.

Senora Calypso and I managed to meander through the city of Oaxaca at 1 AM trying to get to the south end of town. We might still be driving those streets had it not been for the GPS assist.

I challenge anyone to try and find a map that will get you through and around Tampico, Tamaulipas, one of the more dangerous cities in Mexico. The turns and trail to get from the north end to the south end of town is unbelievably complicated and fear instilling. Our GPS leads us through without missing a turn or twist – quite amazing really. More calming than a couple of stiff drinks (and much safer for continued driving).

We came to rely on our Garmin GPS any time we were in the car in Las Vegas – even when you knew exactly where you were going. There could be traffic snarls right then or seeing the estimated time of arrival was helpful. There are about four or five Sam’s Clubs – which one is closest? The GPS sorts and lists nearest to farthest. I suppose I could get a ruler and look up the addresses in a phone-book, and then decide; or just check in with the GPS in a matter of seconds – It will indicate the distance and time to each storefront.

So if you are running around with a glove box full of maps and misguided confidence that that is all you need – Please get with the 21st Century and buy a GPS or learn how to get this information on your cell phone or tablet computer device. Embrace this technology because it is not going away any time soon. Coming to Mexico? It is simple; a GPS may be a guy thing – But don’t leave home without it!

Stay Tuned!