Zipolite, Mexico

My attitude has improved dramatically from yesterday.  Nothing a good night’s sleep and a day without driving cant cure.   There was nothing luxurious or fun abut the last few days and we feel completely lucky to have run into friends to at least break up the 3 days of driving.  It’s funny how a long drive gives you an opportunity to get a bit lost in your own mind.  We never question whether this trip is right for us but my brain questions just about every other aspect.  What is our goal, how far are we going, how will we know when we’ve found it?  I don’t particularly love driving or sleeping in a van... I love having a home and the projects that come with it, and days like yesterday make we almost want to throw in the towel and call it all off.  But then we arrive at some seldom visited town and untouched beach and I remember why we are driving to begin with.  If only we could find a way to explore and discover new places without all the driving in between I would be a really happy man.  If only we could afford that catamaran... We realized last night that Karma isn’t allowed on the beach here, which will make hanging out on the sand and surfing all day a difficult thing.  Add to that the fact we are a 15 minute walk to the water, and we might be attempting that hill out of town before too long.

A full day of lounging around followed by a good night of sleep and a sunrise session in the surf was just what the doctor ordered.  It’s been long enough that we might have forgotten any skills we learned a few months back but the beach is gorgeous and the rocky point attracts pelicans and iguanas who to bask in the sun and watch us paddle in.  Not a bad way to spend the morning.  We make a run at the hill up away from the beach and then wait on the other surfers to offer them a ride.  7people, 5boards and a dog inside the bus- definitely a record for us.  We stop into pepe’s to unload everyone, rinse off, eat some breakfast and pay our bill before leaving.

Somehow, the bus also managed the hills on the way out of town.  We didn’t have to add a tow to our list after all.  That cash we saved for just such an occasion suddenly gets to go towards lunch.  In Huatulco we search for a restaurant with wifi but this place is way to big and fast paced for us so we move on north to zipolite.  Even before stepping foot in the sand we know that this is more our speed.  Slow but not completely off the beaten path.  The beach out front is clothing optional and the stores and cabanas that line it are all palapa-roofed.  The roads are still dirt and the crowd looks diverse (and every person we pass loves the bus)- reminds us of tulum oh so many years ago.  As we pop into a few cabana complexes asking about camping in their parking lot we stumble across a gem.  I ask if we can see the inside, just hoping for a few photos and some architectural inspiration (for the off chance we ever build our own palapa on the beach)  but as the doors are opened jen decides immediately that we are staying.

A bit of a vacation within a vacation if you will.  Our first real splurge since leaving in july.  A tiny white walled cabana in the sand overlooking the surf, complete with a hammock built for two out front.  Pure indulgence, but we feel like we’ve earned it.  Too many hard days of driving and i guess i shouldn’t be terribly surprised.

Before nestling into our hammock, we rinse off in the ocean and watch karma get her puppy on back and forth across the sand in and out of the water, and jen leans in to tell me she’s “putting this in with the rally expenses”.