Puerto Escondido

Well we finally made it to the coast. It is really hot here in Puerto Escondido and humid too. I’ve finally had a chance to get into the water for some surf. Unfortunately, it has been a while (4 weeks) since I last surfed because of packing up, visiting family in Boston, my bike trip with Dan, and our two weeks traveling around Mexico. So when I first arrived I felt pretty rusty. When I saw how huge the waves are here, I was pretty intimidated. Luckily there are a few other spots nearby that are much smaller (La Punta and the main beach away from the main break). The main break in Puerto Escondido is in the middle/north end of Playa Zicatela. The wave breaks like the world famous Bonzai Pipeline on the North Shore of Hawaii. It is a huge barreling wave that breaks with amazing force in sallow water, just off shore. It is a common occurrence to see broken surfboards.

I don’t think I will be surfing the main break unless it gets a lot smaller. The other spots are really good too, so I’m enjoying my time in the water.

Melissa and I enrolled in Spanish classes here. It’s been keeping us pretty busy. I generally get up at 7am (sunrise) and go for a surf. Then we eat breakfast, do some homework/review, drink coffee and then walk to school. We’re taking 4 hours per day. Combined with the heat and humidity, this really fries our brains. After our classes we go out for lunch by the beach and then we go for a swim in the ocean or the pool at our hotel. It’s a pretty mellow existence, but it actually feels like a lot of work. But I think everything here feels like a lot of work because it’s so hot. When we walk to class, we are literally dripping in sweat. Just standing around we lose about a pound an hour just sweating. You either have to be in water or in front of a fan to be comfortable. But don’t get us wrong we like it here, despite the heat and mosquitoes.

The bet is over… we both had our first bout of sickness. Mike had a little stomach issue that lasted one day, and the next day I (Melissa here now) got a crazy fever. My body aches were torture. My left hip hurt so bad that I couldn’t lay on that side for three days. Thankfully Mike suggested I take an antibiotic and it must have helped because I was fine the next day. No other issues, just pain and a fever.

We’re planning to take two days off this week and head out to Chacahua. It’s a remote fishing village on the coast north of Puerto Escondido. We have to take a boat to get there. It will be very relaxing, with not to much to do but watch the birds and the sea. It will be a little vacation within our trip.

Hope everyone is doing well. Keep the comments coming, we loving hearing from you all.