Blogs from Oaxaca, Mexico, North America - page 5

Vorgestern Abend waren wir bei Marina und Christian „auf ein Bier“ eingeladen, welches aber von reichlich oaxacanischen Spezialitäten begleitet war. Dabei lernten wir einige sympathische Freunde der beiden kennen, interessant für uns war ein Paar, welches mehrere Jahre in Kobe (Japan) gelebt und uns schon viele wertvolle Tipps für unsere Reise geben konnte. Wir lernten auch Mezcal kennen, den lokalen Agavenschnaps, den es in vielen Varianten gibt. Gestern Morgen genossen wir ein mexikanisches Frühstück im Café Pan:am bei uns in der Nähe und nahmen dann an einer Führung im ethnobotanischen Garten im Bereich der ehemaligen Kaserne (früher Dominikaner-Kloster) teil, wo wir viel über Bäume, Mais, Gemüse und Kakteen erfuhren, inklusive der Cochenille-Läuse, woraus man einen wertvollen roten Farbstoff gewann. Am Nachmittag hatten wir eine ausgezeichnete Führung im Museum Rufino Tamayo. Die... read more

I don't know the first thing about parenting, but I can only imagine that years of dirty diapers, sleepless nights and spilled Cheerios can't begin to compare to the burden of having to explain to your child why all the other kids still have mommies, and why his had to die so early in her life. I recently lost a very old and dear friend who left her son here on earth, along with many other confused and sad people who loved her. Receiving news like this from thousands of miles away seems more difficult. The positive side is that the tragedy truly does bind us together. Through this horrible event, I have reconnected with some people with whom I may not have otherwise. Momma always told me to focus on the positive, despite how challenging ... read more

Thursday, 30 March Retrieving our rental car was relatively painless as car hire goes, and after 30 minutes we were off in our VW Jetta. The road rules are pretty straight forward and nowhere near as crazy as driving in Turkey. The motorways were packed in CDMX but before long we were on the toll roads for 450km to Oaxaca. The 6hr drive was very cool, with the scenery changing from agriculture farming land with horse and plough, to cacti desert, to forest, to high plateaus and soil that seemed to change colour every 50km. The roads were excellent compared to what I had expected and the driving was easy. Oaxaca is very cute and for the first time since we’ve arrived, it feels like we’ve finally arrived in Mexico. CDMX was very European but Oaxaca ... read more

Huatulco, Mexico 19th January Mexico, sun, sand and Tequila - Margarita time Never called into Mexico and we will have two bites of the cherry. Huatulco is some 500 Km south of Acapulco on the Pacific side of Mexico. It is primarily a resort town centred around Santa Cruz and La Crucesita.The Mexican government looked for an equivalent resort to Cancun which lies on their north coast. Having never been there, no comparison can be made. Primarily Huatulco is just a resort, situated in the foothills of the Southern Sierra Madre mountains in the state of Oaxaca, it is made up about nine bays and plenty of beaches.We arrived into the bay of Santa Cruz on time at 8 in the morning. There was some doubt to our timings because we had an emergency evacuation of ... read more

Geo: 15.85, -96.32Well, we slept in AGAIN! Somehow the rocking of the ship justs lulls you into a deep sleep. But we do get up and start scurrying around because we want to attend the next Enrichment Lecture. We go downstairs for cups of fancy coffee and Jeff gets two mini-muffins.We arrive in the Princess Theater just in time for the "Plagues of the Modern World" lecture. Okay, I think this whole medical series is a little weird for a cruise ship, but it is fascinating! Today we learned about SARS, Aids, swine flu, and other diseases that have impacted the modern world. Of course, right now the Zika virus, a mosquito borne illness, is spreading and the areas we are visiting on this cruise are in the heart of the infection area. In addition to ... read more