Note to self – do not use the bathroom on an overnight bus unless it is an absolute emergency. Imagine a plane bathroom except noisier and stinkier with constant turbulence. Also, you can’t throw your toilet paper in the toilet, it has to go in the (now overflowing) garbage, so the wet gross floor is also covered in everyone’s used paper. Not pretty.
Anyways after learning that lesson I woke up for good, there was tons of construction on the way from Oaxaca to Puerto so the last hour or so dragged on a bit, they’re still building the fast route through the mountains. You can drive on it now, which is nice because otherwise this length of the trip would be 7-8 hours rather than 3-4, but there were frequent stops for the construction zones.
The sunrise was really pretty, although I only got to take this one picture of it through the bus window so you’ll just have to trust me that it was much nicer.
The bus arrived at the ADO station around 7:30, and I took a taxi to my hostel (after trying and failing to use Didi, a rideshare app) because everything is quite far apart here. We drove down the highway and then a very rocky dirt road leading up to Punta Kai Hostel where I’m staying for the week. The lobby is nice! There’s a big terrace and swimming pool area, all open air, and a bar around the corner from the check-in desk. There was nobody at the desk when I walked in, so I put down my things and started unpacking the things I wanted to put in my beach bag for the morning. At the exact moment when I had all my things strewn over the floor, a woman with dreadlocks and big bug-eye glasses walked in, looking a little surprised (rightfully so). I quickly explained that I was here to drop off my bags before my check-in later, and she helped get me a locker key and showed me the facilities a bit. Mid way through her explanation, she spotted a praying mantis on the door of the hostel and got SO excited! She picked it up and came to show me, telling me all about how cool they are and how they can see in 3D. It was really cute. After having repacked my bag, taken a moment to sit down, put on sunscreen and organized everything, I looked for somewhere to have breakfast. There was a cafe really close by and I was HUNGRY so I decided to head there. Below are some street views, the first two being right outside the hostel entrance (featuring a chicken from the farm across the way) and the third is the main road leading down to the ocean.
I made it to Chuchaqui around 10:30 and sat down to order. I had avocado toast and a strawberry banana matcha smoothie which were both amazing!
After breakfast, I met up with Niina, our Finnish friend from Mexico city, and we headed to Playa Manzanillo, one of the seven major beaches in Puerto Escondido. We’re staying in an area called La Punta, in the south of the city, and the beaches are all around 4kms up the coast by the city centre. The main way to get between these areas is by colectivo, which (in this area) is a pickup truck with a blue tarp covering the box. They drive down the main road and you flag them down, then you ring a bell to tell them when you want to be dropped off. Here, a ride of any length in a colectivo costs 15 pesos (about $1). We took our first-ever colectivo down the road towards Playa Manzanillo.
The colectivos are all a little different, this one had padded seats and absolutely no railing or bars to hold people from falling out the back. It was ROASTING hot in the sun and the ride was about 15 minutes.
We got out on the side of the road, paid the driver and walked about another 15 minutes down to the beach.
It was gorgeous there but ROASTING hot, and to get shade, you either have to pay to rent a parasol or buy enough food/drinks at the restaurants to sit on the lounge chairs. We swam and laid out in the sun a bit before deciding we needed to get in the shade. It was almost food time too so we sat down at one of the restaurants.
I got a clamato mixto (a beer & clam rimmed with chamoy and tajín like a michelada), and pulpo a la diabola (octopus in spicy sauce). It was really good!
After the food, we were ready to go back onto the beach but our server said we’d spent enough to sit in the shaded chairs so we headed there instead.
We had a nice view of the ocean and were enjoying relaxing when we were joined by a friend Niina met at her hostel (Alex from Poland). We hung out a bit before deciding to go to Playa Bacocho to release baby sea turtles! The releases happen every day at 5 so we decided to head over for 4:30 because we didn’t know how it worked.
When we arrived at 4:30, we immediately saw the little shack where we were supposed to go wait. Nobody was really directing anyone though, or explaining anything, so we just sat down in the lineup that wrapped around the shack. At least we were in the shade, but the line was NOT moving. A little bit after 5, people started being funnelled through a small area. We paid 100 MXN each, signed a ledger, and got a stamp. Once we were on the other side, there was another 15 ish minutes of waiting with no instruction. A guy then came to give us a rundown of the process, a few facts about the different turtles found in the area, and told us we’d only be releasing them at 6:20 because that’s when the sun sets. At least by now the sun wasn’t very intense anymore so sitting out in the open was fine, but it was lots of waiting around. While I waited, I was amusing myself by watching these little crabs pop up from their holes in the sand.
Finally, we got lined up facing the water and took pictures with a basket of turtles. We then waited some more for them to come around and give us a single turtle to release in a coconut shell. We tipped out the coconut shell onto the sand and away they went! I named my turtle Whinnie (we were inspiring the names based on where we lived). People were throwing sand at the birds to scare them away but honestly, I think the daily sunset release routine is probably doing more harm than anything. They know when to show up every day for a free meal.
I’m fairly certain Whinnie got eaten immediately after reaching the water. Oh well. People also rave about the sunsets here, and though it was pretty, I couldn’t help thinking the skies are much more colourful and impressive back home. We’re just really spoiled in the prairies!
All in all, I think a turtle release is worth doing once, but I’d already done it on a previous trip with my family which was a much better experience. I probably won’t do it again now.
Niina and Alex were hungry so they went out for supper but I just stopped in to a corner store on my way home and bought an apple because I still had to check in to my hostel dorm. My room has 12 or 14 beds and mine is a lovely enclosed pod, but it’s a terrifying height above the ground. I have to climb a ladder to the third level which is tough if I have ANYTHING in my hands at all. Otherwise it’s great though.
I had an exhausting day so I decided not to go back out for supper, we ate late on the beach so I wasn’t that hungry anyways. I just had some pecans and my apple before getting ready for bed and relaxing for the evening.
I’m excited to have made it to a new city! See you in the next one!