Getting Out of Town - Day Trips

The Lagoons

The mangrove forests are an amazingly productive ecosystem; the roots nurturing the crabs, shrimps and mussels that attract a wide variety of fish species, that, in turn, draw the birds and other wildlife.

Manialtepec Lagoon is perhaps the most visited, a 20 minute drive from Puerto, its tranquil waters and exuberant vegetation stretch over a distance of about 5 miles. The resort areas on the lagoon's bank offer local specialities and the catch of the day, as well as launch tours of the lagoon, kayaking or just a hangout hammock to enjoy the view and the chorus of bird song.

(Incidentally, sometimes when conditions are right, you can enjoy Manialtepec's night phosphorescence. It's caused by cyanobacteria, a single-celled algae which gives off an eerie phosphorescent glow when disturbed by currents.

At night, the thousands of fish darting through the waters leave streaks like falling stars, and the wake of a motor launch looks as though it has been illuminated by powerful floodlights. Droplets fall from your skin like a shimmering shower of sparks. It's a remarkable experience.)

The Chacahua Lagoons National Park, about an hour distant, is an even more extensive wetlands network that meanders over a distance of 19 miles encompassing the twin lagoons of Chacahua and La Pastoria, scores of islands, pristine ocean beaches, jungle and mangrove swamps. There's good surfing beyond the lagoon's mouth to the sea and good beaching at Cerro Hermoso. You can tour the crocodile hatchery or meander around the quiet fishing villages.

Barra de Navidad (a scant 10 minutes from town) offers a view of the lagoon eco-system in microcosm. This is one those win-win situations: good for the environment and for residents who decided that eco-tourism could provide them a better livelihood. So they organized, cleaned up and are conserving their small lagoon and its abundant wildlife.

Tours are given in paddled boats without motors, so you can get closer to the action in a poled skiff that won't scare the birds away. Similarly at Ventanilla (near Mazunte) you can get as close as you'll want to be to 12-foot crocodiles.

Festival of Santiago

IT'S A COLORFUL, bustling market town; about 60 percent of the population is indigenous. The Indian ladies from the surrounding villages come here for supplies and to sell their produce. You'll see women in traditional dress: huipiles, embroidered blouses and the pozahuanco, the mauve and purple striped wraparound skirt. The men wear calzones, white, draw-string pants and shirts of heavy cotton.

The people of Jamiltepec were called malacateros, for malacates, wood and clay spindles used for spinning cotton. The area was an important cotton-growing center and the town is best known for its textile crafts - - hand woven and embroidered clothing, table clothes, napkins. But, families here also produced finely-crafted knives and machetes, some engraved with prayers or amusing sayings.

The town's central plaza, recently remodeled, boasts a pair of colonial sundials. On one side of the square is the handsome Dominican church, another is occupied by the Municipal Palace. You'll find crafts in the plaza at the side of the church. The no-name crafts store in front of the the town library has a great selection of regional weavings and crafts, including colorful ceramic ashtrays with figures of malacateras.

Santiago Yaitepec

Yaitepec represents the best of two worlds: the modern and the traditional. It has a modern infrastructure - newly paved streets and not a pothole in sight - yet it is a tightly-knit community that has successfully conserved its long established culture, beliefs and practices.

Everyone speaks Chatino and most of the women wear traditional dress: almost all of them use a distinctive gray rebozo, many wear the colorful satin skirts and the blouses richly embroidered with bright flowers and animals, that distinguish them from their Chatino neighbors.

What immediately drew my attention were the amazingly beautiful shoulder bags, called arganitas, carried by both the men and the women, which I'd never seen anywhere else. So shimmering, vibrant with color and form, I thought they were beaded, but they are actually embroidered and fringed with metallic thread.

They take months to make and are built from the simple red and blue striped bags made by some of the local families from cloth woven with backstrap looms. (Pretty handsome in their own right.)

At the center of town is the handsome domed church of Santiago and the Municipal Palace overlooking the basketball court where the town dances are held. A few stores, a couple of restaurants and that's about it. But the views are spectacular and there is a special aura to Yaitepec that will make you want to spend some time here.

You can normally find crafts in the plaza at the side of the church. The no-name crafts store in front of the Biblioteca, the town library, has a great selection of regional weavings and crafts, including colorful ceramic ashtrays with figures of malacateras. Plus, of course, the malacates themselves which are also used as hair ornaments.

ALSO OF INTEREST:

Pinotepa Nacional: This busy commercial center, the hub city for the Mixtec, Amuzgo and Afro-Mestizo communities surrounding it, offers lively markets.