Mexico

Vivo and mixing with the locals in Escondido and Chilas

(February 2024)

(Note: trip expenses broken out at bottom of blog. Extra note on car rentals in Mexico – beware)

Day 1

Brrrr… it was a cold morning as we drove to the Calgary airport – minus 8 degrees celsius with snow coming down (a few cms overnight). A great time to head off to the sunny, warm south. The flight was relatively uneventful (direct flight, Westjet) – our family of four (our fifth, the oldest son, was working down in Mexico at the Vivo Resort, where we were headed) watched some movies, read some books and then after a 6-hour flight, landed in Huatulco, Mexico, a few hundred kilometers east of Acapulco. We left the plane and a wall of heat hit us. We hadn’t changed into our shorts and t-shirts yet, so it was toasty! But after clearing Customs, we changed in the bathrooms and were good to go. Our son, Andrew, was waiting for us! Was so great to see him. We threw our carry-on bags (we never do checked-bags. The minimalist attitude is the way to go!) into the back of his SUV and off we went, heading south and then west for an hour and a half toward Puerto Escondido, located along the Pacific Coast. The countryside was looking pretty dry along the route (dry season) – lots of vultures flying about as well! And there was no shortage of abandoned buildings, homes and shacks. Lots of poverty in areas, but some beautiful homes and ocean views too. It was certainly a different culture – the level of roadside cleanliness was low… so much garbage had accumulated in parts along the shoulders and in the ditches. Disheartening to see and the mode of transportation was basically “anything goes” – Dirt bikes, scooters (maybe 30% of the riders wearing helmets), people in the back of open-bed trucks, hanging on and thinking nothing of the risks. But with such a low income level down there, most of the locals have no choice. They do what they can to survive and thrive. Very sobering. And the speedbumps! Right on the highways… you barely know they’re there until you’re practically hitting them. It pays to keep your eyes wide open, anticipating the road ahead. But it was a relaxing drive with Andrew at the wheel, except for the first 30 minutes – very windy, twisty roads! Only two lanes. Andrew had been living at Vivo (20 minutes from Escondido) for about seven months now, and knew the area quite well.

(our unit – looking out over the beach)

We made it into the town of Escondido around 6:30pm. Just in time for our first ocean sunset! How beautiful it was, blazing so many shades of red, but we were also tired… and hungry. We continued driving north toward Vivo along the narrow roads beyond Escondido. Then, we hung a left off the road, onto a dirt pathway. We continued on toward the coast for 10 more minutes until, finally, Vivo Resorts loomed ahead of us (www.vivoresorts.com… absolutely amazing spot for a vacation! Highly recommended)… it was beautiful. It held a relaxing, hospitable and luxurious energy with beautiful rooms, pools, a spa, open air restaurant and bar and so forth – all just a stone’s throw away from an 18-kilometer sandy, non-commercialized beach. Paradise! And after a quick dinner in the restaurant, we collapsed into our beds with the waves lapping against the sand in the background. Zzzzz… (we were renting a 2-bedroom unit with kitchen, living room, 2 bathrooms, balcony, beach view)

(Andrew taking us for a tour along the 18-km sandy beach with a Vivo vehicle)

Day 2

We certainly needed the AC during that first night – we weren’t acclimatized yet to the hot weather (around 30-33 degrees Celsius for daytime highs), but it was a relaxing sleep and we made our way down to the restaurant the next morning for some breaky. Excellent food, btw! But there was no time, yet, for much lounging by the pool or on the sand – we had to get our rental vehicle and pick up some groceries in Escondido (20 minutes away), and then there’d be lunch and dinner, hanging with baby turtles that we’d help release that evening at sunset, and Andrew had us scheduled for an evening of volleyball with a group of local Mexicans and American/Canadian expats in the nearby village of Chilas – which, incidently, was celebrating the Bulls of Fire festival. More on that later.

First off, the car. Luckily, Andrew was with me because it was much easier when you could understand and speak Spanish (at best, I only knew a few words). Nonetheless, we ended up waiting in line at Hertz for about 20 minutes (no one ahead of us – just 3 booths with 3 people being serviced). We finally got to one of the booths… it’ll be easy, now! First question by the attendant – “Can I see your passport please?” Oooops… I forgot to bring the passport. Darn. (Jenna, Ryan and Catharine were waiting in Andrew’s vehicle the whole time) I thought we’d have to drive back to Vivo to get them but the official said, “We might be able to do this without it.” I offered up an assortment of IDs for him, and then he asked half jokingly if I was an “illegal alien”. I said ‘of course not’. (I wasn’t going to enlighten him on our whole “illegal alien” incident that had unfolded back in Panama a few years earlier… lol that’s all explained in a

(Jenna and Catharine enjoying the waves at La Punta beach)

different blog, if you’re interested) And then the paperwork… lots of it! Not like Canada where you basically show up, do the walk-around of the vehicle and then drive off with a single signature. More time spent entering much info into his computer, printing papers, signing papers. Then we went outside and did the walk-around, taking pictures of a few minor scratches. Otherwise, the car was in great shape. Fairly new, it was a Volkswagen Taos. And as I sat in the car to drive off, the official pointed to the gas gauge – it was only a 1/4 tank filled. Interesting. I’ve never rented a car where it wasn’t filled to full. But he said, “Take picture. Only have to put in 1/4 tank when return.” No biggie. After 30 minutes, we drove off. Next up – groceries. We drove further into the downtown area of Escondido and went into the Super (grocery store). We filled up the cart in no time. And we thought it would all be pretty cheap (except for the fish and meats), but $264 (Cdn$) dollars later… groceries are a bit pricey down there! (except for the veggies and fruits grown locally) Heading out, we took the cart down this escalator ramp – luckily the wheels locked into place on the decline. Then we made our way back onto the main roadway that cuts through the middle of Escondido. It was a crazy busy road (a few kilometers in length) with bikes, scooters, and vehicles going off in all directions! You had to be very alert and I certainly was… especially for bikes and scooters because they weave in and around the vehicles, not often paying attention to the lanes. And Andrew mentioned I shouldn’t use blinkers because down there, the blinkers are used to signal to the bikers behind you to pass on either the left or right side of your car. Bizarre… I survived the drive and we made it back to Vivo for dinner and then it was off to the beach to watch the sunset and help with the turtles.

(one of the dozens of little baby turtles being released on the beach that evening… cute little fellas!)

Vivo works in association with a turtle conservation group – they release baby turtles in front of Vivo each week. They were so cute… you could fit a few of them in your hands. But we had to wait until after sunset, when the birds were gone. Then we dropped them into the sand and they were off! A tenacious group! They certainly had endless energy and they were only focused on one goal: reaching the ocean fifteen feet away. As the minutes ticked by, the waves came in and began sweeping them out. Was so heartwarming… we saved them! Until the lady in charge said only about 1 in 100 (or was it 1,000? I forget) will survive. Nonetheless, we felt good about our efforts. Hopefully a few will beat the odds.

And then it was off to the local village of Chilas for volleyball and shrimp tacos! A local Mexican family loved volleyball so much that they actually built an outdoor dirt court in their backyard. And the family knows a few of the expats living at Vivo, so these volleyball/dinner get-togethers happen weekly. Wonderful spirits in attendance. And it was fun playing with our sons, Andrew and Ryan, all evening. After the fun and the

(playing volleyball in the backyard of a Chilas local. Lots of fun and friendly Mexicans/ex-pats!)

dinner, the hosts (Eddy and Marina) walked around with a bottle of tequila, enticing us all to share in a shot. I’m not much for hard liquor (beer is more my style) but I took a shot – it went down my throat like sandpaper (lol). But the real fun was just about to happen – the Bulls of Fire. It was absolutely the craziest fireworks I had ever encountered. So we all walked a few blocks away to the village center where a concert was happening. There was a large tower (100 ft high, roughly) that had fireworks planted all over it. And then there were firework stations embedded within the throngs of people (thousands of people) throughout the center and adjoining streets. No roped off areas! At around 11:30pm when the concert ended, the fireworks started going off everywhere – with different people dancing while holding bull heads over their heads! It was like being in a war zone – fireworks booming everywhere, noises all around,

(Fire Bull festival in Chilas… fireworks going off all around us, above us, beside us – thunderous booms everywhere – like a war zone! But so exciting and fun!)

fireworks zooming over you and from all angles. The residue (burning embers) were floating down into the crowds like rain – you had to brush your hair at times to get them out. And the tower – different parts of it were lit up and raging into a crazy fireworks show! At the top of the tower were two structures that looked like flowers. When it came time for them to get lit up, they both floated off upward, spinning, into the air before coming down into the crowds too! It was nuts… people were jumping on them, trying to put out the fireworks (while trying not to get burned). All the while, the loudspeakers were playing “Jump” by Van Halen and that other 80s tune Life is Life. Wild, wild stuff! The Mexicans were loving it, dancing and singing – a proud people regarding their culture. So much heart. I love the Mexicans. We were all exhausted after it was over and we couldn’t wait to drive back to Vivo to crash into the beds. A very busy, jam-packed day in Mexico.

Day 3

Rest day! Not much happened as we needed to recoup from the previous few days. Lots of naps, pool-time, reading, and whale-watching… whales were making their way up the coastline about a kilometer or two offshore. Very cool to witness!

Day 4

Another rest day, at least for the morning – took in some yoga and massages at Vivo. Felt so relaxing. But in the afternoon, a local man (Marko the Mexican), who had built up alot of land assets in the area (Andrew had come to know him), took our teenagers paragliding. He owned a few for his personal enjoyment – those machines with the large propellers at the back. They flew about for a few hours, up and down the beach areas near Vivo. They loved it! It all ended near sunset and they had taken great video footage of it all. Was definitely a highlight for our kids! Unfortunately, as

 

(Andrew heading off into the sunset!)

we were leaving Marko’s residence, we noticed we had a flat tire. Ugh! But he had a huge garage with endless gadgets so we wheeled the car in there and he pumped it up. It was a very slow leak – we were able to drive it back to Vivo only a short distance away. We quickly made our way to the Vivo restaurant where one of the owners was putting on a one-man acoustic show, belting out lots of great hit songs. A packed house! We sat down to a nice dinner and took in the music all evening. Relaxing…

Day 5

We woke up early for a nice sunrise walk on the sand before a pickup game of beach volleyball at 8am. Felt great to get the kinks out of the body… I was hoping to work out in the Vivo gym at times, but when you’re on holidays, sometimes ya just can’t find the energy to do it, with all that goes on.

For the rest of the day – pool, reading, and then an afternoon of sight-seeing up the road at the Laguna… a large inland lake. It looked beautiful – and i was told that if you go there at night for a swim, there is algae that glows in the dark. So when you are moving in the water, it all glows like fireflies. We didn’t have a chance to do that – but next time. We were hungry afterward – we drove to a nearby taco stand (beside the main road… just a tin-covered enclosure in an open area) that cooked up great tacos! We had been going there every day for a lunch feast… and it was cheap! Good value for the money. About $2/taco. The hardworking couple who owned the stand had a little boy around 11 yrs old who also worked there, taking orders… a waiter job, basically. He was a pleasant little guy – so polite and such a hard worker. After he handed off the food to us, I gave him a separate tip in cash – about $10 in pesos. He was grinning from ear to ear. Was so nice to see him so happy. I hope he goes far in life.

(little Mexican boy who served us up tacos all week! Friendly, hard-workin’ fella)

That night we took Andrew out for a birthday dinner – he had turned 20 awhile ago… a new decade for him! He picked the place – it was back in Escondido called Espadin. A beautiful restaurant overlooking a rocky coast. The portions were a bit small for my liking, but tasted wonderful. And then the staff surprised Andrew by bringing over a bowl of ice-cream with a fireworks candle sparkler sticking out of it – about six inches long! It was going off (the Mexicans love their fireworks! lol) while the whole restaurant began singing happy birthday.

(Andrew at Espadin – turning 20! Ice cream and fireworks)

Was so nice and Andrew certainly appreciated it (can’t go wrong with ice cream!). Afterward he took us to a local market where we roamed around the street checking out the booths. It was packed! Was a nice evening hanging with the locals.

Day 6

We were up early today – no time to relax by the pool. We had a boat ride scheduled for 7am that was departing from the Escondido beach. We arrived (car tire was still fine – hadn’t lost much air) and the tour official walked us to the edge of the beach to wait for a boat – there were lots floating in the bay area, all awaiting their turn to come in and pick up a load of tourists. As we waited, we heard this boater gunning

(the sun was coming up on the horizon as we waited our turn for a boat to come in and take us out on the tour. That’s Ryan to the right, looking out toward the boats)

his motor/propeller. He accelerated fast and began heading toward the beach from a hundred yards out. He hit the beach full-throttle and the boat (a 20-30 footer) continued on a hundred feet onto the sandy beach before running out of juice! At first we thought it was a crazy accident – but then a crowd of people quickly made their way over to his boat. Looked like he was selling fish to them right then and there. A few minutes later, another boater did the same thing a little piece away. Was wild seeing them power their boats onto the beach like that. Hope they didn’t damage the propellers but I’m sure they’ve been doing this for generations. Our ensuing boat ride was enjoyable. We were out on the water in the Pacific

(Ryan lining up a shot with his camera on the ocean trip – he loves photography)

for a few hours and we saw whales and lots of dolphins. Upon our return to land, we drove down the coast a little ways and grabbed some breaky at a restaurant called Mar Celo’s. Nice spot, and then nearby we hit the La Punta beach. The waves were perfect for bodysurfing and the water was so warm. Then, we needed another grocery refill… the family did that while I returned the rental car back to Hertz. No issues with it, luckily (although later on I did notice they charged me $200 more than the initial agreed-upon price of $372. I’ll need to call them about that). Back to Vivo we went and enjoyed an evening by the pool watching the last ocean sunset… how beautiful it was.

Day 7

Our last day in the sunny south. We started the morning with another round of volleyball with some of the Vivo owners. The Mexican lifeguard joined in too. They are certainly a very engaging group of owners down there! Very community-based. It gets hot quickly so we cooled off in the pool afterward while watching more whales heading south along the coast. After some showers, we packed up around noon and then Andrew drove us back to Huatulco 90 minutes away. Another uneventful direct flight and no questions were asked at Customs at the Calgary airport. When I was younger, they used to ask all sorts of questions. Times have changed! We’ll definitely head back to Vivo and the Escondido area! Was such an enjoyable trip. : )

Regarding the overall expenses – we had spent about $9,870 (Cdn$) for the four of us (not including Andrew who was already living at Vivo). Here it all is, broken out:

Flights – $4,405

Vivo Accommodations – $2,324

Calgary Airport Parking – $71

Mexican Car Rental – $592 (** beware! note below)

Food, meals mainly – but also gas, boat trip, misc – $2,129

Dog-sitting (our little Una back in Calgary) – $350

** Car Rental – I had booked the vehicle on Expedia months in advance. In their correspondence, they stated I’d owe $372 at the Hertz rental counter. However, after the trip was done, I was billed $592 on my Visa by Hertz. I questioned Hertz and they said Expedia did not pay Hertz the $372, so Hertz established their own price. When I called Expedia, they said it wasn’t a case of Expedia not paying Hertz, but that in the Expedia rental policy, it is up to the car rental company to charge whatever they deem legitimate. I never saw any of that wording within the Expedia correspondence, and even if it is buried deep into their policy links, Expedia does state blatantly on the confirmation email (when rental was confirmed) that the $372 would be “due at the counter”. So it’s all ambiguous and both parties were quick to throw the issue and push the paper onto the other. All I can suggest – when you rent a vehicle in Mexico, print off the original confirmation email with the confirmed dollars, confirmation #, etc on it and then present it to the rental car’s counter representative, highlighting “this is the price that was confirmed”. I normally print off such documents but I didn’t for Mexico. It cost me $220! (I could try and battle it out with Hertz and Expedia, but the amount of time it took me to just get ahold of their customer service and get multiple responses from them – it was alot of time. And the $220 just wasn’t worth more time dealing with them)