The Artist at Work!

About 6:30 AM, the Bahia de Navidad is still sleepy, but the rising sun coaxes the two villages of Melaque and Barra de Navidad into morning activivities. It's magical time of day - cool, quiet and peaceful. The shore birds are active, hunting for breakfast; a few human inhabitants are out for walks on the beach.

Equally impressive are the sunsets. Sun and clouds create most amazing colorsand moods!

The top three pictures were taken in Melaque at morning sunrise; the fourth was taken that evening at Punta Perula, about 50 miles farther up the coast.

Playa Azul Sunset

God is Still Speaking! May the blessings of the Lenten season be yours.

Tlacolula Highlights

Church Square at Tlacolula on market day….Tlacolula is a village close to Oaxaca that has their weekly market day on Sunday. There was a procession of the Faithful through the market, and exploding fireworks in the church square that made us JUMP! I wish we could have gotten pictures of the old woman carrying a live, trussed up turkey on her head, brought to market to be sold. We bought freshly made tortillas and some yummy Oaxacan cheese, flavored with chiles and prepared quesadillas when we returned to the RV park. Muy Rico!

Sly's New Lady Love!

Oh La La! Larry and Bonnie returned from one last shopping trip to the Oaxaca artisan market with some VERY thoughtful gifts for me! I was absolutely stunned by the beauty of the long-legged Latina spider they introduced as my traveling companion. I understand that there was a similar spider at the market – another attractive female – but with black with red markings and a shady past. She had a bit of an attitude……. only liked male spiders if they were dipped in spicy salsa and served with cold cerbeza.
Larry seemed to be leaning toward the darker side…but Bonnie’s wishes prevailed and the more charming Latina joined our traveling family…….. We dined on the local specialty – chapulinas – grasshoppers. What a treat! My goodness, that girl has an appetite!

LARRY’S COMMENTS:
I’m sorry for all of you that have taken an interest in Bon’s blog. I really don’t know what happened to her this year but if she continues with this “SLY” thing, I’m seriously thinking about committing her for psychiatric evaluation.
Larry

Down to the Coast

After a harrowing departure from Oaxaca, we finally found the right road out of the city to Puerto Angel and began our journey to the coast. We thought we left early enough to avoid the morning commute traffic. Not so!
The average speed on the winding road to the coast was 25 miles per hour. The rolling water jug made guacamole out of the two avocados on the camper floor as we motored along! We thought about just opening a couple of cans of cerbeza and bringing out the chips when we pulled into the Los Mangos RV Park and discovered the mess!
Puerto Angel is a small surfing – resort area with a beautiful bay. We spent a couple of days resting up and preparing for the next leg of the journey up the coast. We visited the turtle museum and learned a lot about the local efforts to support the turtle nesting beaches in the area.

A few other interesting animals we encountered were the tarantula in the men's shower room (!)and the handsome rooster who srutted around the camp ground.

Monte Alban Ruins near Oaxaca

The artifacts that have been unearthed at the Monte Alban ruins near Oaxaca tell an incredible story of past cultures whose people possessed advanced spiritual development, creative skills and scientific knowledge that rivals that of other cultures around the world, past and present. The villages surrounding the city of Oaxaca are populated by indigenous people whose ancestors created these ancient structures. There are 16 separate languages spoken in the Oaxaca Valley, besides Spanish. Dress varies significantly from village to village, as do creative handicraft skills, such as weaving, pottery, intricate embroidery. I chose not to take too many pictures of the local people, out of respect for their privacy. Instead, I posed in front of some weavings.....

Marathon Shopping

The villages surrounding Ciudad Oaxaca are known for their handicrafts and their weekly market days (tianguis), which are staggered seamlessly throughout the week to make shopping more convenient for tourists and more profitable for vendors. This results in non-stop shopping opportunities seven days a week! Let it be known that the STAR shopper in THIS family is LARRY! AS IF we didn’t strengthen the local economy and gather goods to an acceptable level in the FIRST round of financial blood-letting, Larry’s enthusiasm for shopping was unchecked as a second look at the mercados loomed in the coming week.

We have taken some time to relax and enjoy this beautiful city and plan to return in the future for less shopping and more people watching in the village squares!