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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, June 5, 2012

Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico Posted in: Blog, Random, Retirement, Travel|May 31, 2012


Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico

Pathway to Arrocito beachA visit to Huatulco, Mexico – part 1

I recently spent a couple of days visiting the Cosmo Residences in Huatulco, Mexico – what a beautiful place.  Quiet, serene with the most outstanding beach and ocean views and the town was beautifully clean and welcoming of the ex-pat community.
Getting there … I was travelling ‘off  season’ so there was no direct flight (that is about to change in the next couple of months which is great news) I flew to Mexico City & then caught the Interjet flight to Huatulco.
When I was making my reservations through Carlson Wagonlit, my consultant Annette advised that I should allow  around 2 hours between flights, I thought was a little odd especially as I was only going with carry-on luggage, etc.  However – thank heavens I listened!
Mexico City airport, whilst easy to navigate it is HUGE!  Everything went smoothly through the very efficient & friendly Mexican customs and immigration process (I didn’t have to wait for luggage so you would need to allow time for that).  I then had to get from the International to the Domestic terminal which was quite a hike and then check in for the flight with Interjet.  Being on the late afternoon flight was far less stressful – I knew that I had plenty of time to do everything without breaking my neck. I had time to relax and enjoy a late lunch before catching my next flight.  So a word of caution when you plan your trip if you have to make a connection – don’t even think of ‘cutting it fine’!!
Interjet was a great airline – I had not travelled with them before – I was able to book on-line, friendly staff at check-in and onboard, spacious cabin & seats, generous luggage allowance, plenty of leg room plus complimentary beverages (including alcohol) and snacks.  I would highly recommend using them if you aren’t able to get a direct flight into Huatulco.
The 1hr 10 minute flight had me arriving in Huatulco just before 6pm.  Huatulco was a very efficient airport.  It is undergoing expansion – new terminal being built and the runway has been lengthened to accommodate larger direct flights from Europe & Canada scheduled to begin later this year.
I was met by the concierge from Cosmo – Barbara.  She drove me to the hotel that was to be my home for the next couple of days the Camino Real Zaashila on Tongalunda bay – the adjacent bay to Arrocito bay where Cosmo is situated.
The drive took approximately 30 minutes from the airport to my hotel.  The drive will be shortened with the opening of the new 4 lane highway that is under construction and scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
Barbara droppeView from my room at Camino Real Zaashilad me off at the hotel shortly before 6.45 pm – letting me know that Shaun (the owner/developer) would be picking me up at 8 for dinner!
My room at the hotel (Camino Real) was upgraded!  The bell boy loaded me & my ca bag onto the golf cart and we went careening off into the sunset on a golf cart, winding around and down towards the beach.  In a couple of minutes I found myself being escorted into my room and the drapes being pulled back to show me a fabulous beach front view complete with my own private splash pool!  WOW – however, no time to enjoy the view or the pool – I needed to shower and get myself presentable for dinner!
Right on schedule,  Shaun picked me up and we went to dinner at the Viena Restaurante & Bar, owned by a couple of ex-pats (Austrian I believe). It was wonderful to sit on the raised patio, enjoying the much needed breeze as we enjoyed an excellent meal – it wasn’t Mexican but wonderful none-the-less!  Judging by the number of ex-pats at the restaurant it is obviously very popular with the ex-pat community.  Throughout the evening members of the ex-pat community would come over and say hello – Shaun is obviously known in the community – everyone enjoys living in Huatulco; it was fun to listen to each of them tell their stories; some were retired, some in the process of establishing businesses, some with young families, some living part time others living there full time – all obviously enjoying the lifestyle that living in Huatulco affords as well as the year-round almost perfect temperature.
Huatulco enjoys 6 months with no rain; in May the humidity starts to build as it signals the approach of  the rainy season – which lasts a couple of months.  It is not a constant downpour – a good storm once a day for a couple of hours – good time for a siesta. Nobody seems to be bothered by the approaching rainy season – they look forward to the ‘greening’ of everything – most of the surrounding area was certainly showing signs of needing rain – except of course for the golf course (5 minutes from Cosmo) which was a lovely shade of green where ever you looked!
Stay tuned for more  of my adventure in Huatulco…

Monday, June 4, 2012

The History Behind 'For Greater Glory' (3733) During Cristero Rebellion, Mexico was ‘a kind of collective Christ,’ says the war’s principal historian.


Daily News

The History Behind 'For Greater Glory' (3733)

During Cristero Rebellion, Mexico was ‘a kind of collective Christ,’ says the war’s principal historian.

 06/04/2012 Comment
Courtesy of Jean Meyer
– Courtesy of Jean Meyer
When a young French graduate student named Jean Meyer arrived in Mexico in 1965 to write his doctoral thesis on the religious war known as the Cristiada, the topic was virtually unknown to historians. A conflict between Catholics and the government that had claimed the lives of approximately 250,000 people between 1926 and 1929 remained cloaked in official silence, and the archives of Church and state related to the struggle were closed to investigators.
The work done by Meyer would ultimately help to provide the general framework for the new movie For Greater Glory, although the movie deviates substantially from the documented facts of the war’s history.
After five years of research and interviews with hundreds of eyewitnesses, Meyer completed his work: La Cristiada, a three-volume account of the war and its historical antecedents.
To his surprise, a Mexican publishing house of a decidedly Marxist bent, Siglo Veintiuno Editores, agreed to publish the work, beginning in 1972, and it has been in print ever since, having passed through more than 20 editions.
Meyer eventually became a Mexican citizen, and today he lives in Mexico City, working as a professor and researcher at the Economic and Teaching Research Center.
With La Cristiada, Meyer established himself as the principal academic historian of Mexico’s epic war to save the Catholic religion.
Meyer, 70, spoke with Register correspondent Matthew Cullinan Hoffman to discuss the Cristiada, its historical ramifications and his own personal odyssey. The interview has been edited for readability, and some Spanish and French grammatical forms and vocabulary have been modified for English-speaking readers.

When you began researching the Cristero War and the Church-state conflict in the early 1960s, few works by academic historians were in existence. How did you discover this conflict, and what brought you to commit so many years to writing about it?
It was a kind of accident. I visited Mexico in ‘62. I was 20 years old, and I spent two months during the summer wandering all over Mexico, and I really loved the country. I decided to go back, and I didn’t know how. When I finished my historical studies in Paris, my professor offered me a doctoral thesis on the history of the United States, on U.S. isolationism, but I told him I was more interested in Mexican history. As he was a very generous man, he told me, “I don’t know about Mexican history, but I can protect you in the academic administration. I will give you my signature and okay.”
And so, I went with another professor who was doing a seminar on Latin American history, Pierre Chanu. And I presented the project on Emiliano Zapata, and I was very lucky. A Mexican Jesuit priest was preparing a thesis on Mexican history in the same seminar, and so he attended the seminar, and he told me, and he told everybody, to the audience: “Zapata is very interesting, but some very good books have been published already. There is a lot to study, but it’s not quite new. If you want a totally new, blank (slate) on the historical map of Mexico, you have La Cristiada.”
I didn’t know what the Cristiada was. He told me briefly, and I was intrigued. And it was in ‘64, and I spent a year in Paris reading everything I could read on Mexico, Mexican history, and there was almost nothing on the Cristeros [the rebels who fought for Christ the King] — just some small mentions that they were all bandits or paid by the great landlords or just stupid, manipulated by the priests. I came to Mexico in ‘65, working as a teacher and researcher in the Colegio de Mexico, which was a great opportunity for me to make a living in Mexico and to spend almost five years in my investigations on the subject.

How many books and articles have you written about this conflict in total over the years?
I can’t remember, because really, really, the most important book I have written in my life is La Cristiada, in Spanish three volumes, in French one (volume) and English one (volume). … After that, I tried to leave the subject, but I never could. I worked in other fields, even on Russian and Soviet history, Latin American history in general; but I always had to come back to the subject, because they opened archives that were closed for many years or because I had to change my point of view.

How did the writing of this history and the research affect you personally?
Well first, it made me a Mexican. It made me a Mexican because I worked in a very strange situation for a historian at that moment; at that moment, the whole history [of the conflict] didn’t exist. It was not accepted in the academy. But in ‘65, when I came to Mexico, the religious conflict was too recent, so the archives of the Church and the archives of the state and the archives of Rome were totally closed. And I found myself in a very difficult situation as a historian prepared to work in archives on documents, to have almost nothing. [There were] newspapers, but they were not very credible.
So I had to work as an anthropologist or as a journalist, a newspaperman: Go — find the people, the survivors. The youngest at that moment, the youngest ex-Cristero, was 60 years old. Now they have all died. So I had to travel all over Mexico and to come to know the popular Mexico, what some anthropologists call the “deep Mexico.” That made me a Mexican.
I came from a Catholic family, from Alsace in France, a province that was always very religious, as is Brittany or the Basque country in the south of France.
And, by the way, a very strange story: When I left France in 1965, I went to Alsace to say good-bye to my grandparents, because they were very old and I thought that I would never see them again. … And so, with my grandfather, we paid a visit to his brother and sisters in the small village of Alsace called Itterswiller, and those men that were still there, they never left the land. They were peasants, didn’t speak French. They speak Alsatian.
And one of the ladies, my great aunt — everybody was afraid of her because she was a matriarch and authoritarian mother -- said, “Hey kid, why are you going to Mexico? Mexico! President Calles! Padre Pro!” And she went for her prayer book, and she had a photograph of Father (now Blessed Miguel) Pro. So, even in deep France, people knew about the religious conflict in Mexico.

I think I read somewhere that you had, to some extent, a conversion yourself, in terms of philosophical viewpoint.
As a historian, I was a Marxist; so the agrarian problem was the key to everything, and I came with the idea, as I told you, that the few mentions of the Cristeros were that they were just the puppets of the landlords in order to impede an agrarian reform. Very quickly I discovered that it was not true. So I left my Marxist ideas and accepted more the … thesis that the superstructures may change the structures and not only the structures determining the superstructures.
And the deep Christian faith of the Mexican people confirmed my own Catholic faith personality.
I was educated as a Catholic in a very practicing family, and I never stopped being one, but I discovered a new dimension, because in France — in my France, because I was born in the south of France in Provence — in contrast with Alsace, in Alsace the churches were, it’s not true today, but 50 years ago, 100% of the men and the women went to Mass on Sunday … everybody was very religious.
But in Provence, it was very different. In Provence, maybe 20%, 30% were practicing. A very, very high practice for today, but I think that today 8% or 10% only. So, the Mexican people confirmed me in my Christianity.

How many Cristeros did you meet, and what were the Cristeros like?
Well, I think that I interviewed more than 300 or maybe 400. I have a collection of tapes. … If you see the movie of my son, The Last Cristeros, the beginning of the movie, everything is dark, and you have only the voice of a very old man: And they say, One day in the morning, I was just passing by the church, and I saw that there was a paper on the door of the church, and I went there, and I read: “I, President Plutarco Elias Calles of the United States of Mexico decree: Article One: Everybody that ...” and so on. The beginning of the persecution. I recorded that in 1969. The movie begins with a historical record — and perfectly conserved.
When I visited my Cristeros, the huge majority of those Cristeros were poor men, poor proletarians. Some in Mexico City were very rich men, but they were self-made men. They left their villages after the war because they didn’t want to be killed for vengeance or reprisals after the war. And they came to Mexico City, and one was a very big merchant in La Merced, which was the principal market in Mexico City, and his specialty was shrimp. He had almost a monopoly on shrimp in Mexico. …
But the big majority were still living in the countryside, in small villages. Some in good conditions, but really as peasants or farmers, and with all the problems that you know farmers have all over the world. And so, I think that, in my books, I gather kind of a social-professional basis, analysis, of the rank and file of the Cristero Army or the Cristero guerrilla, because it was not truly an army; it was a guerrilla (army). And I can tell you that 90% of them were either proletarian or middle class, but rural middle class.

What do you think was their fundamental motivation?
I guess that many people had more than one reason to fight. But all had in common the religious reason. For some, it was the only reason. For others, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. So, some people had very personal reasons to fight against the government, a lot of reasons of old problems, and, suddenly, came the last problem, but not least, and that — the closing of the churches, the end of the Masses, the impossibility of getting the sacraments, and, as one told me, after living as a dog, to die as a dog, without a Christian burial — that I can’t stand.

What do you believe is the fundamental significance for Mexican history of the Cristiada?
Really I think that it’s a confirmation of what was said many centuries before by Tertullian, that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Christians. I met a lot of priests, older than I or my generation, and a lot of bishops, now of my generation, that all were sons of Cristeros. And the Mexican Catholic Church has been, for many years, the only Church in Latin America, which is 100% native. Mexico never had, and still, has no problem of vocations, and really I think that it was not of course a voluntary gift of the Mexican revolutionary government, but the fact of the persecution was confirmation of the Mexican people in his Catholic faith. They even, some interpreted that, even as a kind of election. To suffer so much was interpreted as not only the proof of the force of the Christian faith of the Mexican people, but a favor done because Mexico was a kind of collective Christ, and that’s what my son tried to say [in his movie], not to say it because he’s very discreet, but you understand the message, that it was a kind of collective imitation of Christ.

Is that the reason it has the name Cristiada? Because if I understand, if I am correct, the word Cristiada was the title of a poem about the sufferings of Jesus, previously.
Yes, it’s very strange because you have a cultural tradition and an etymology of “Cristiada.” You have a Cristiada in English in the 17th century, and at the same time in Peru, and there is a poem in Spanish called "Cristiada." It’s the same as “Illiada;” it’s a kind of cultural epic, no? It’s a form of high culture. But the Mexican people in the first half of the 20th century had no knowledge at all of the high-culture term “Cristiada.” They were called “Cristeros” by the soldiers of the government because their battle cry was “Viva Cristo Rey” [“Long live Christ the King”]. So the soldiers called them the Cristos Reyes, but Cristos Reyes is difficult to pronounce, it’s too long, so Cristos Reyes came to be “Cristero.” And on the word “Cristero” the people invented the word “Cristiada.” Sometimes “Cristeriada,” and even sometimes, it was just invented recently: “La Cristera.” But it’s two or three years old.
But “La Cristiada”: When I met my editor, in ‘72, he didn’t find the word “Cristiada” in the dictionary, and so he was consulting and some people were telling him, “No, no, no it’s just used by the common people, by the folk, it’s not good, it’s not Mexican Spanish,” and I was defended by a very good Mexican linguist. He died some years ago, more than 18 years ago, Antonio a la Torre. Antonio a la Torre was born in a small city of the south of Jalisco, Autlán, and he was 7 years old when the Cristiada occurred. He was a friend of Juan Rulfo of the same generation, and his family was pro-Cristero, and he said to my editor, Arnaldo Ofila, he told him: “La Cristiada, la Cristiada you can’t find a more high-culture and pure Spanish word, and it has been re-invented by the Mexican people, because it’s like the Illiada, it’s an epic.”

My father can remember that during the 1930s, when he and his family lived in Chihuahua, people would come and throw pebbles on the roof to indicate they knew where the Mass was but they didn’t know when. Have you heard this?
That’s true, that’s true. Really, I think that’s an historical experience, and it’s no invention, it’s not a legend of your family, really.

And was this a common kind of thing in the different states, that they would have ways of secretly telling people that it was time for Mass?
Yes, everywhere and here in Mexico City, and it was a kind of a ... as in Rome at the time of Nero, the Church of the catacombs.

And the government in many cases, like in Oaxaca, I was wondering if it was perhaps like this in San Luis Potosi. For example, did the government know that this was happening in some cases and permitted it as long as it wasn’t too apparent, or what was happening?
Yes, really that is what was happening, and you have to remember that Lazaro Cardenas was president from ’34 to ’40. Eventually he was the president who made the really final and real peace with the Church.
More or less we can say that the peace came in ’38, but in ’36, personally he was agnostic, he was even anticlerical, but he came from a very Catholic family. His mother was praying every day for the conversion of her son, the president of Mexico, and the reopening of the churches. So one day he said publicly, “I am tired of closing churches and finding them always filled up with people. From now on, we will no longer close the churches, and we’ll open classrooms.”
The idea was that culture can destroy religion, but we’ll put an end to aggression against religion because it’s not working. So in many places the government just closed its eyes to the situation. And I was told that many of those men secretly married, I’m speaking of governors, of deputies, of senators, officially and openly anticlerical, and secretly married in the Church, baptizing the kids of the family and so on.

So even the government officials themselves were clandestinely participating in the Catholic religion, while they were reporting to Calles that “We are executing your orders.”
Yes, and you know even Calles, who was the most sincere of the anti-clericals, agreed to marry in the Church, because his wife wanted it. And all his family was baptized and married in the Church. I was told that by one of his daughters, Doña Hortensia, who was a fabulous and very generous woman. And Doña Hortensia told me, “I married in the Church.” It was before the conflict. “And my father told me, ‘Hortensia, don’t ask me to go to the church.’” So he was not at the church, but who was the godfather of marriage? Because in Mexico we have a godfather for everything, for marriage. It was President [Alvaro] Obregon. He was the godfather in the cathedral of Mexico City. And Doña Hortensia told me, “When my father was expelled, was exiled from Mexico by Cardenas in 1936, we left with him.” I think they were living in San Diego, if not San Diego, in California. “My little sisters, my father put my little sisters in a school run by Catholic nuns.” Catholic nuns! “And my sisters had problems because the companions would shout at them, “Your father killed the priests! Your father raped nuns!” and so on.
Matthew Cullinan Hoffman writes from Mexico City.


Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/the-history-behind-for-greater-glory/#ixzz1wtLiErHd

‘Searching for Queertopia’


‘Searching for Queertopia’

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“Searching for Queertopia,” Galeria de la Raza’s latest exhibition, opened last night. It documents the Vela de “Las Intrépidas,” a three-day event held in Oaxaca, Mexico, in honor of its Muxe, or queer, community.
Jorge Gonzales next to his installation in tribute to Victoria Arellano, an undocumented transgender woman who was arrested by ICE, detained in San Pedro and denied medication. She passed away in detention in 2007.
The exhibit runs through June 30. Learn more about it here.

Facedown Presents: SAVING GRACE video 'Oaxaca' by Jemma Dodd, June 3, 2012


Facedown Presents: SAVING GRACE video 'Oaxaca'

by Jemma Dodd, June 3, 2012 and has been read 219 times.

Facedown Presents: SAVING GRACE video 'Oaxaca'

Spread the Social Love:

Saving Grace has released a new video for "Oaxaca", a song from their Strike Firstdebut Unbreakable. Vasely Sapunov explains:

In 2008 we were blessed to be able to partake in what was to date the most amazing spiritual experience of our band's career and ministry. We were privileged to tour Mexico with our friends in For Today and spent a lot of time doing ministry in orphanages in the region ofOaxaca. This song is about our time spent there and is a reflection of what we were going through being thrust into ministry in a third world country. God did so many incredible things during our time there and we wanted to make this video as a testament to the beautiful people and to this place that will forever be in our hearts.
NZONAIR chose to fund this music video for New Zealand television and we were stoked to be able to work with director Scott Hansen (Bury Your Dead, For Today, Impending Doom) to make this video and show some footage from our time spent inOaxaca, as well as to be able to film at a hallmark location from our home, the Tolaga Bay Wharf.

Please keep the people of Oaxaca in your constant prayers as they were hit by devastating earthquakes just a few months ago with many people losing their homes. We can't wait to go back one day.

WATCH // "Oaxaca"

Saving Grace just won by public vote the honor of performing on the main stage atParachute Festival in New Zealand on January 2013.

You can pick up the band's latest album The King is Coming (Facedown, 2011) here:Facedown Records.

Bus Routes to Zipolite from San Cristobal, Oaxaca, and Acapulco.

Bus Routes to Zipolite from San Cristobal, Oaxaca, and Acapulco.
Zipolite Beach on Oaxaca's Pacific Coast can be reached by various bus routes from San Cristobal, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca City, and Acapulco to the Pacific ...
www.softseattravel.com/Bus-Routes-Zipolite-San-Cristobal-de-...








How to Reach Zipolite Beach from Oaxaca City, San Cristobal de 
las Casas, Oaxaca City, and Acapulco.
Three Different Bus Routes reach the area of Huatulco, Zipolite, Mazunte, and 
Puerto Escondido, on Oaxaca's Pacific Coast.

  • ADO, First Class
ADO Bus service reaches Pochutla from Oaxaca City via Huatulco with night 
buses. (8 hours)  The OCC bus route out of Oaxaca City goes from Huatulco 
northwest along the coast to Pochutla  (Zipolite stop) and then Puerto Escondido  
(total 9 hours to Pochutla, 296 Pesos,  9:30 and 11:00 pm)  The ADO website 
functions well.

  • San Cristobal de las Casas Buses
OCC runs night buses that reach Puerto Escondido via Huatulco and Pochutla,  7 
and 10 Pm  (11 hours to Pochutla, 440 Pesos)

  • Acapulco
From Acapulco several bus lines serve Puerto Escondido, Estrella Blanca running 
the most frequent service from the Acapulco Ejido Bus Station.   The day buses 
are safest on this trip.  The early morning bus out of Acapulco will arrive in Puerto 
Escondido in the afternoon.  (8 hours)   Could be a Futura Bus, a division of 
Estrella Blanca.

  • Pochutla
Pochutla is a market town that serves as a travel hub for the beach towns of 
Oaxaca.
OCC buses run to Pochutla from Escondido.  Collectivos and local buses also run 
as does the Estrella Blanca Bus which will reach Pochutla and Huatulco.  No need 
to book bus tickets in advance except during Christmas and Easter week.
The Estrella Blanca website does not function.

Estrella Blanca Buses run first Class service, 8-10 trips daily between Huatulco 
and Acapulco with stops in Pochutla and |Puerto Escondido while cruising the 
Coastal Route 200.

  • Second Class Bus
Second Class buses run from Oaxaca City over Route 175 and Route 135, 
making more direct runs over the mountains to Pochutla and Puerto Escondido.  
These are 8-hour trips over the steep mountain roads.

Pochutla and Huatulco are first class bus hubs as is Salina Cruz in this area along 
the Pacific Coast.

  • Van Service is available from Oaxaca City.  The vans reach Pochutla in six
hours for 120 pesos.   The route is over the mountains.

Tips: buses can be cold,  bring a sweater or jacket.  Mountain trips can be cold at 
night.  Stations such as Oaxaca at 5000 feet and Mexico City at 7400 feet 
elevation can be cold in December and January.

Accommodation in Mazunte



Accommodation in Mazunte





Cabanas Balamjuyuc
Hostel
30 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.5 of 5.0
Ranked #2 in Mazunte, Mexico
Casa Mermejita
Villa
1 review. Traveller rating: 4.0 of 5.0
Ranked #6 in Mazunte, Mexico
Casa Pan de Miel
Boutique Hotel. Price*: US$ 137
203 Reviews. Traveller rating: 5.0 of 5.0
Ranked #1 in Mazunte, Mexico
El Copal
Hotel. Price*: US$ 91
73 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.5 of 5.0
Ranked #2 in Mazunte, Mexico
La Dolce Vita Ristorante-Pizzeria
Small Hotel. Price*: MXN 400
3 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.0 of 5.0
Ranked #2 in Mazunte, Mexico
La Isla
Camping/Caravan site. Price*: MXN 250
14 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.5 of 5.0
Ranked #1 in Mazunte, Mexico
Los Jacalitos
Ranch/Farmhouse/Cottage
2 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.5 of 5.0
Ranked #4 in Mazunte, Mexico
Miramar
Camping/Caravan site
3 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.0 of 5.0
Ranked #5 in Mazunte, Mexico
Posada Arigalan
Bed and Breakfast. Price*: US$ 65
27 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.5 of 5.0
Ranked #1 in Mazunte, Mexico
Posada del Arquitecto
Camping/Caravan site. Price*: MXN 22
30 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.0 of 5.0
Ranked #3 in Mazunte, Mexico
Posada de las Flores
Bed and Breakfast. Price*: MXN 800
3 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.0 of 5.0
Ranked #3 in Mazunte, Mexico
Posada y restaurant Yuri
Lodge
Traveller rating: not rated 
Posada Ziga
Hotel
23 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.0 of 5.0
Ranked #4 in Mazunte, Mexico
Zoa Hotel
Hotel. Price*: US$ 250
30 Reviews. Traveller rating: 4.5 of 5.0
Ranked #3 in Mazunte, Mexico

El Copal: Traveler Reviews

El Copal: Traveler Reviews
























2 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“The location is in front of the Mermejita...”
4 of 5 starsReviewed July 3, 2010 via mobile
1
 
person found this review helpful
The location is in front of the Mermejita Beach, near of Mazunte, Zipolite and Ventanilla Beach in wich 7 of the 8 spices of sea turtles arrive to make their nests. I did love my 2 weeks there. The place it's wounderfull, you never are going to regret. Things they you have to know, they have dry toilest which it don't use wather, the shawer it's just perfect, you can do it the old Mexican way( which consist in fill a litle tub and pour wather whit a half coconut ) or whit regular shawer. The cabins have a fan and mosquito net and also give you mosquito repellent that it's made in the comunity call Mazunte.
    • 4 of 5 starsValue
    • 5 of 5 starsLocation
    • 5 of 5 starsRooms
    • 5 of 5 starsCleanliness
    • 4 of 5 starsService
Was this review helpful?Yes
Ask AlejandroLuna about El Copal
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
LondonUK
1 review
“superb recharge place!”
5 of 5 starsReviewed April 19, 2010
I stayed at El Copal with my partner and friends for 4 nights and 5 days. I highly recommend it: food is fresh and fantastic, much better than other places we ate in Mazunte and down the coast. Bedrooms are clean and a hammock and table means we could hang out there if we wanted, though we spent most of our time on the terrace, lounging on sofas and watching the waves below. If you like birds, you can see pelicans, hawks and vultures from the terrace - amazing! The owners and staff were really friendly and helpful. This is much more than a hotel, its a way to share in Carl and Nadia's vision of free trade and eco- responsible tourism.
  • Stayed April 2010, traveled with friends
    • 4 of 5 starsValue
    • 5 of 5 starsLocation
    • 4 of 5 starsSleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 starsRooms
    • 5 of 5 starsCleanliness
    • 4 of 5 starsService
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Ask Eva_Crasnow about El Copal
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Quebec
2 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
“Bigote florissante”
5 of 5 starsReviewed March 7, 2010
We found that piece of paradise on our way to see the stunning sunset at La Punta Cometa, the southernmost point of Oaxaca.
Everything from the cabanas, home cooked meals, desert beach nearby, was a delight.
Owners are friendly and gracious people.
Breakfasts are relatively expensive for what you get but are worth the try.
If you have chance go and try the little Café at la Posada del Arquitecto on the next beach down south. Best espresso coffee, adventurous guacamole and all kinds of fresh fruits smoothies at a very cheap price.
Nous reviendrons!
  • Stayed March 2010, traveled with friends
    • 5 of 5 starsValue
    • 5 of 5 starsLocation
    • 4 of 5 starsSleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 starsRooms
    • 5 of 5 starsCleanliness
    • 4 of 5 starsService
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Ask ALLUCAN-BIGOTE about El Copal
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Mexico
2 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
“Unbelievable sunset in Oaxaca”
5 of 5 starsReviewed January 24, 2010
The most extraordinary place to stay if you're looking for a quiet and romantic spot. Leave your computer and cell phone behind and just relax and enjoy the sound of the sea crashing against the beach. On top of everything, excellent service from the owners & amazing food.
  • Stayed December 2008, traveled as a couple
    • 5 of 5 starsValue
    • 5 of 5 starsLocation
    • 5 of 5 starsRooms
    • 5 of 5 starsCleanliness
    • 5 of 5 starsService
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Ask roadtripping_mexico about El Copal
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Mexico City
2 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
“Everything about it is just great”
5 of 5 starsReviewed January 7, 2010
We loved El Copal, we loved everything about it.
The reason why I picked this place was because of its environmentally friendliness (solar energy, composting toilets, local materials, etc), but we were very surprised as soon as we got there.

Our cabaña had a lovely view to the ocean, where we actually saw whales one morning. The rooms are clean, comfortable and very private. And the open air shower is pretty cool.
We also liked that the hotel is not situated _in_ the little town of Mazunte, which means that you're at once removed from the bustle and yet it's only a short walk to go into town.
The thing we loved the most about El Copal, though? The food and the staff. Their chef is a member of Slow Food and he plans the menu for each night, all really delicious. It's a fixed menu, but you can tell them your preferences (in our case vegetarian).
We just loved it, we want to go back every year.
Nadia, Karl and Lucía, thanks for a wonderful stay!

P.S. Bring cash, no credit card terminals at El Copal and no atms at Mazunte
  • Stayed December 2009, traveled as a couple