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

Monday, October 28, 2013

Cabañas rusticas en Zipolite

The Day of the Dead in Photos, Toluca, Mexico 2013 OCT 28 - Posted by TC

The Day of the Dead in Photos, Toluca, Mexico 2013

OCT 28

Posted by TC

November 2 is el Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico. Starting in early October, theFeria del Alfeñique is set up in central Toluca, with vendors, skeleton displays and shrines of offerings for dead relatives from various ethnic groups and universities in the State of Mexico.

The Ofrenda (Offering)

For this holiday, Mexicans remember their dead relatives by placing a shrine in their homes full of fruit, sweets, and sometimes booze. If Grandpa used to like a special tequila or whiskey, then in the ofrenda it goes, along with Grandma’s favorite snacks and candies.

The Cemetery Visit

Along with the ofrenda at home, many people pay a visit to the cemetery to decorate graves of dead relatives and spend some time with them.

“We don’t cry. It’s a celebration,” says Pedro, a guitarist and music teacher. His family decorates the graves of their ancestors with candles, photographs, and yellow and orange flowers. They tell stories and sing songs, and fill in their relatives on what’s new in their lives. Pedro just got engaged, so he will tell this to his grandmother.

Some people stay all night, drinking beer, tequila, or mescal, tequila’s cheaper cousin. If they drink, then they share with the dead, splashing a little on the ground now and then. All night in cemeteries across Mexico there is light from candles and fires, music, singing, and praying.

The Feria del Alfeñique (Alfeñique fair) in Toluca

Here in Toluca, where I live, about a hundred vendors set up in the Portales, a pedestrian mall and series of arches downtown, and sell all things related to the holiday. This is the Feria del Alfeñique, a great way to sample skull-and-bone-shaped Mexican candies.

Big sugar skulls called calaveras are the most representative candies of the Day of the Dead. The image, with its colorful trim and toothy, laughing mouth, can be seen everywhere – on plastic banners for restaurants advertising their special meal, cut out of decorative pastel paper, and on sugary candy of many sizes.

Aside from sweets you can get little handicrafts for your ofrenda. My favorites are thecalavaritas, little skeletons at work, such as doctors, teachers, musicians or strippers. They are great gifts – buy the one with the same job as your friend. Last year I bought a taco cook for a friend who’s a chef, and for a friend with an office job, a little skeleton in a suit with his skeleton secretary on his lap. They cost only a few dollars, a great deal for being handmade.

Toluca is a little off the tourist track, but it’s an easy trip from Mexico City – only an hour or two. Take a bus from the Observatorio station in Mexico City, and then a taxi (30 pesos) to downtown Toluca (centro) and the Portales.

November 1 or 2 are the nights for a cemetery visit, but if you come to Toluca anytime during the month before the Day of the Dead, you can get a good taste of the tradition at the Feria del Alfeñique right here in the center of town.

I’ve lived here in Toluca for a few years now, so I have other articles on this blog and elsewhere if you’d like to see some more pictures or read more about this important Mexican holiday.

Toluca’s Day of the Dead and Strange Mexican Candies

2012

2011

Festival de Circo de Mazunte Circo consciente con la Comunidad y el Medio Ambiente 22 Febrero - 2 Marzo, 2014

- February 22, 2014 at 10:00am until March 2, 2014 at 1:00pm in UTC-06

Festival de Circo de Mazunte
Circo consciente con la Comunidad y el Medio Ambiente
22 Febrero - 2 Marzo, 2014

El Festival de Circo de Mazunte es un evento donde se juntan diferentes formas de expresión artística y artistas de diferentes nacionalidades.

Durante el encuentro, los amantes del circo tienen el privilegio de mejorar o (re)descubrir técnicas circenses como los aéreos, la danza butoh, el Mano a Mano, la Parada de Manos, la Rueda Cyr, el Mástil, el Hula Hoop; o poner a prueba sus talentos con talleres de clown e improvisación teatral.

Las noches del Festival de Circo de Mazunte son iluminadas por compañías invitadas y cabarets y, a lo largo del día, los paseantes se cruzán con olimpiadas y espectáculos itinerantes.

Sin hablar del extraordinario entorno natural que ofrece Mazunte para practicar actividades como sesiones de Chi Kung y/o masajes tailandeses en la playa....

Agenda Talleres:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/festival-de-circo-de-mazunte/talleres-festival-de-circo-de-mazunte/1378320739074364

Funciones & Conferencias:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/festival-de-circo-de-mazunte/funciones-conferencias-festival-de-circo-de-mazunte/1378324179074020

+ info: festivalcircomazunte@gmail.com

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Héctor Gama Villasana Desde la colonia el Faro la vista es magnifica! Since the lighthouse view is magnificent! (Translated by Bing)

Héctor Gama Villasana

Desde la colonia el Faro la vista es magnifica!
Since the lighthouse view is magnificent! (Translated by Bing)

A deep day on Playa Zipolite, 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 climbed out twice to snap photos of a breathtaking sunrise, one which tried hard to outdo even the sunset from last night. We move slowly, enjoying the tranquil nature of our surroundings. First coffee, then breakfast looking over the hammock. This is a life we could get used to. zipolite sunrise

As the temperature follows the rising sun we eventually wander to the water where we’ve been watching a few locals doing tricks on their boogie boards. The waves that crash out front seem to range anywhere from gentle 1’-2’ rollers to thundering overhead monsters and these kids on their boards seemed dwarfed in comparison to the wall of water towering behind them.

I wade out to try and snap a few photos of the 100s of hungry pelicans sitting just past the break and we chuckle as the laziest of pelicans doesn’t take off fast enough to fly over the wave and instead finds himself surfing clumsily in to shore. I try to float along with the crashing waves to get a photo just at the moment when the wave starts to break and the pelicans dart overtop…waiting until the last possible second to momentarily leave their meal ticket. pelicans surf2

I play for maybe half an hour before heading back in to jen and karma who have been standing guard in the shallow water- Karma is convinced she’s the lifeguard of every beach we visit. As i try to show Jen a photo of our surfing pelican, clothingless guys come running up from the point and shouting for help. Apparently two guys have been pulled into the riptide and then pushed into a churning hole between the rocks and the point. I hand jen the camera and run into into the water to help (in hindsight, not taking enough time to discuss my plans with jen nor to set her mind at ease). I swim out into the current and try to find a place to get near the closest guy without getting sucked in and becoming part of the problem, but the rip proves too difficult. A local with fins and a boogie board is making faster progress towards him and i abort mission, swim with the rip out to sea before swimming parallel to safety and crash with the waves back into shore.

The boogie boarder eventually does the same with guy in tow and we pull him in to shore where an actual lifeguard is arriving from the far end of the beach. The lifeguard directs others to the point (and to the guys companion), then goes back to work on trying to resuscitate. Sadly, they work on him forever and cant successfully bring him back. A tranquil day and happy vacation ruined, and the lives of whoever he has touched immediately have gaping hole that he used to fill. We never met this man, but our hearts pour out to his companion and to everyone who knew him.

We have since come to learn that this is a tragic but frighteningly frequent occurrence here. On our walk last night we saw the speed at which the water was gathering at this end of the beach and discussed the force with which that water must be returning to sea, but we certainly didn’t expect this type of outcome hours later. Zipolite apparently has always had very dangerous riptides and currents the length of the beach. Deaths here used to be extremely high but with the changing of the beach landscape and the creation/training of a lifeguard crew a decade ago the number of deaths has plummeted. Rescues it seems are still a daily occurrence, and as we set out to walk down the beach later in the day men, women and children are laughing and playing in the massive waves rather than sitting frightened on shore. It’s only near sunset that we notice the flags alerting swimmers to the danger level. Todays flag was flying red. zipolite danger

While we sit quietly in our cabana and later wander out to tour the beach and town, our minds keep coming back to this morning’s fateful event. A good reminder for us on so many levels. One of safety and security clearly, but more one of respect and of being thankful. A reminder that life is an excruciatingly fleeting event that is almost completely out of our control. Every day and every minute is a precious gift. There are warnings about just about every thing that a person could choose to do and each choice can end good or bad. If we spend our time worrying about the worst possible outcome we would likely would never leave home, open a window or turn the lights on. We certainly wouldn’t be driving on any highway, out traveling the world or playing in the waves (on this or any other beach). Those who warn most loudly not to are often those who haven’t done it out of their own fears.

I live and play with a constant and healthy respect for the ocean. I am so aware that this thing that we find so beautiful can become powerful and deadly in a moment, and will always remember coming close to losing my own life in a current off another beach. At moments in the water today i had pauses of fear. Fear for my own safety, that i had may have made a bad choice by entering the water or that (as it turned out) i was too late or couldn’t help. Looking back, my current fears are simply not taking advantage of every moment to love and live life fully.

It seems about the only thing we do have control over is how we choose to spend the days/moments that we do have. To breathe in deeply the air around us, to love/respect/cherish those dear to us, and to strive to live our dreams while there’s time. Tomorrow i’ll be more thankful for the opportunity to walk down the beach, to be walking with those that i love and to be given the chance to go back in the water to play with the pelicans.

Día de los Muertos-Day of the Dead - Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2012

http://adventurezinmexico.blogspot.com/2012/10/dia-de-los-muertos-day-of-dead.html

Friday, October 26, 2012

Día de los Muertos-Day of the Dead

Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2012
tina_winterlik@yahoo.com
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/zipolita @zipolita
http://gplus.to/zipolita Google+

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead
Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it is a national holiday, and all banks are closed. The celebration takes place on November 1, in connection with theCatholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day (November 2). Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased.

La Calavera Catrina («The Elegant Skull») is a 1910 zinc etching byMexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada. The image has since become a staple of Mexican imagery, and often is incorporated into artistic manifestations of the Day of the Dead in November, such asaltars and calavera costumes. The etching was part of his series ofcalaveras, which were humorous images of contemporary figures depicted as skeletons, which often were accompanied by a poem.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Calavera_Catrina