April 20th - May 7th - Puerto Escondido - A Hidden Treasure

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‘Breathe, Breathe In The Air, Don’t Be Afraid To Care…’ and so starts the classic opening track to Pink Floyd’s masterpiece album ‘Dark Side of The Moon’. If you haven’t heard the album where have you been! It has to be one of the greatest pieces of music ever recorded. So what I hear you say… Well, if this Blog entry would allow you to add a theme / musical score - that would be it. So with Pink Floyd gently caressing your mind waves picture this…

We arrived at Puerto Escondido after an uneventful 8 hour bus journey, and with no real idea of where to stay we disembarked and found a local lady called Olga with a flip book of photographs of her guest house. After the noise of Acapulco Claire & I were both looking for a tranquil spot and the faded pictures showed beach views and a swimming pool, so following Olga’s assurances that it was quiet we decided to check it out. If it wasn’t any good we look for somewhere else to stay - easy. A quick taxi journey though the small town bought us to a dust track just of the main Zicatela beach and up a private drive to ‘Casa Olga’. Oh my god! Oh my god! Is this for real? Wow, this is beautiful, Claire’s angels have been working overtime to secure a pad like this… For those of you that are unaware, Puerto Escondido just so happens to be one of the world’s top Surf destinations and in season (July - November) boasts some awe inspiring and downright dangerous breaks. The room we acquired was on the top floor of three, had three double beds with plenty of room, modern décor with tiled floors stretching out past the beautifully crafted wooden windows to the hammock on the veranda. The view was nothing short of spectacular, an uninterrupted panoramic seascape, showcasing the Pacific Ocean serving up wave after mesmerizing wave of awesome ferocity to a palm fringed shoreline. Wildlife was in abundance with brightly coloured birds sucking nectar from the local fauna and flora and lizards scaling walls and disturbing the bush in their wake (some measured 2-3 feet long). For the first few days we didn’t really do much at all I managed to score some happiness and was transfixed with the view - I witnessed Humpback whales jumping for joy in the sea and we had the beautifully maintained swimming pool to luxuriate in when things got just too hot. Our host Olga always made us feel welcome and spoke and understood English very well, what with that and her 2 adorable dogs we both felt that we had found a real home!

Well we certainly hit the spot coming here, it is out of season now and is very quiet and sooo chilled out, it would be interesting to come here when it’s busier but for now we have found our own piece of heaven. Puerto Escondido (translated as Hidden Port) is full of original surfer hippies and young dudes, as one local said ‘it’s the kind of place you stay for the day to get your car fixed, 5 years later you find you are still here!’. There is a very healthy ethos here with most of the surf fraternity being hard bodied and bronzed to perfection walking around barefooted, board under arm and still dripping wet from the sea. Surf board’s are transported via pushbike, scooter, converted VW Bug’s and Campers, 4x4’s and even the local taxi’s have boards on top or hanging out windows - it all seems so normal. The main Zicatela beach stretches for a few kilometres and has picturesque “‘Palapa’s” (palm thatched) restaurants and bars dotted along its frontage (but not all the way as development here is really in its infancy) some of the roads are just dirt tracks, and apparently some parts still don’t have electricity yet. The huge beach is continually battered by amazing waves and we would find ourselves under an umbrella on a sun lounger watching the dudes grind the waves. These beaches are for experienced surfers only and strong swimmers as the tides are formidable even out of season, I would find myself jumping into the surf only to find myself 15 foot away in another direction - its fun but be warned. After a few days of acclimatising to the tropical heat, mosi bites and having got over the initial wow factor that watching the surf provides I plucked up some courage to give this surfing lark a go.

Claire was full into more Temazcalli (the Aztec Steam Lodge) lymphatic massages and other treatments so I took myself along to Central Surf where brothers Rene & Angel run the original surf shop with own brand surf boards and surfwear. The sign said ‘we guarantee that you will surf - if not, you don’t pay!’ my kind of deal, so for $65 USD Rene took me out to La Punta that has waves more suitable for a beginner like me. Surf board atop a taxi we arrive and get down to the theory side - what not to do, practise my stance and what foot goes forward and what trails, how to paddle and how to raise from lying flat on the board to the standing position. ‘Breathe in, feel the air inside your lungs, focus on standing up, forget everything else around you, forget the waves, forget the motion of the board… look ahead to where you are going, concentrate everything on that one move from lying to standing… Breathe man, breathe!’ Rene pulled the tension from my body until he was happy to let me out onto the sea proper. It was during this initial warm up that I realised how spiritual these surfers are - zen like concentration attaining that peak of physical performance, tuning into your own heartbeat and merging with nature to pull off those moves and survive with body and board intact. I entered the sea with a surfboard tethered to my ankle… here goes. Its hard work just getting out past the rumbling surf before you even get to anything surfable. Paddle, wobble, wipeout. Big wave incoming, jump off the board and duck under. Get breath on the board paddle, wobble I’m getting the hang of this I think… big wave, board goes bang into me throat… gah! Rene is an excellent teacher and helps me to understand what I’m doing wrong and how to get to grips with things. After a couple of failed attempts and with Rene’s assistance I managed to ride my first wave - woo hoo! (I used to have a skateboard so have a fair sense of balance) a guy near me applauds me saying he has been trying to get up all day - am I a natural? I managed to pull off a few more waves but all the time it is assisted by Rene who is telling me when to get ready and easing me into the wave with a gentle push. Before you know it I’m absolutely exhausted with arms and shoulders aching all over. I thanked Rene and assured him I’d be back to rent a board and give it another go soon. Hehey! I’m a surfer… or so I thought.

A couple of days later I tried again, this time I went out on my own but it didn’t happen and I never managed to get up - too much to concentrate on with paddling to catch the oncoming wave, then composing yourself to get up - the board seemed smaller this time and the waves seemed bigger. I must admit to being a touch scared of the sea - from relatively sedate surf a monster wave (to me anyways) would come and I’m thinking ‘what the fuck am I doing - I ain’t got a clue’. Like all sports a lot of practice is required to become proficient and a quick few hours with a tutor would not be my shortcut to success - getting familiar with all the nuances and rules of surfing including the ability to read the waves can only come with time and dedicated practice. Doh! So with my tail firmly between my legs I returned the surf board and resigned myself to paddling in the surf - something which I’m very good at by the way. I will try surfing again but somewhere where the surf ain’t so scary.

So for the rest of the time at Puerto Escondido we lived the beach life and chilled to the bone! Healthy eating is easy here as most restaurants serve fantastic fresh fruit drinks, shakes and a host of seafood and vegetarian options. I can thoroughly recommend the advocado milkshake (yeah that’s right - absolutely beautiful). We indulged in this nearly every day at Los Tios Restaurant (on the Zicatela Beach) which offers terrific value for money over other restaurants we tried and has an enviable position on the tropical shoreline where you can watch surfers carving the waves each evening as the sun sets. We also frequented the “Spirulina” café most mornings for their energy drink (Spirulina is a natural green algae that is packed full of protein, fibre and vitamins) the active ingredient is blended with orange, mango or whatever and not only tastes great but fills you up too. The café is run by surfers so was not always open due them out cresting the waves - you got to have your priorities right? Another favourite restaurant we enjoyed was Mango’s that offered 2 for 1 cocktail’s from 6pm - 11pm every night - their food was excellent also. Well that’s all I have to report about Escondido I would heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to chill out big time and if you can surf all the better - I would also go there soon as this hidden gem will not stay hidden forever and will eventually turn into another beast entirely - but for now its absolute bliss!

I hope everyone back home is good and well - I love all of you and especially let me say mum…. Happy Mothers Day! (locals celebrated it yesterday 11th May) We have just arrived at Oaxaca (pronounced wa ha ka), which is 5100ft above sea level and as such cooler (yay!) and already there is a story to tell… but it can wait, we are both in good health and absolutely loving it… So until next time adios amigos y amigas!

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Comments

[Matthew]

Nice one Stu
Thanks for the lovely writing, keep them coming mate. Miss you from Edinburgh. All the best to you and Clair.