Time to leave the lovely city of Oaxaca and head to the Pacific Coast of Mexico. I decided to skip on the more touristy Puerto Escondido and head to a small hippie town called Mazunte. It was a windy 6 hour trip through the mountains but I was lucky to get the front seat of the minivan. The barren dry cactus terrain quickly turned into lush jungle and was a really beautiful drive. We stopped in a small misty town called San Jose del Pacifico, high in the mountains and known as the magic mushroom capital of Mexico. Which naively I didn’t realise and wondered why the ladies were insistent I buy some crocheted mushroom souvenirs, I bought a turtle instead.

After a few more hours winding up and down I arrived in Pochutla which is the main hub to access the coastal towns. Jumped straight into a taxi and arrived in Mazunte ready to dive into the Pacific Coast. From my hostel I could hear the waves so I didn’t muck around and headed straight to the beach. It’s probably the warmest water I have ever swam in and enjoyed getting absolutely smashed by the dumping waves.

It’s very very hot and humid in Mazunte and the mosquitoes are rife but it felt so good to be at the coast and enjoy a cold Dos XX (cheapest but still drinkable beer) at the terrace bar overlooking the beach. There is real health vibe running through some of the shops here with many stocking kombucha, herbal teas, essential oils, and offering massages and yoga…I think I’m going to like it here. The hostel I stayed at even stocks Doterra essential oils so I’m in my element and share with the chica my own little potions I have tucked in my backpack. It’s sushi and kombucha for dinner before crashing out early as it was a school night after all.

My plan whilst in Mazunte was to study some Spanish and I had heard good reviews of the school here. Instituto Iguana was up on the hill with a welcome sea breeze to combat the 30+ degrees. Also offering kombucha and the best coffee, it became a retreat and away from the hustle and bustle (not really as Mazunte is the sleepiest town ever but you know what I mean). Eva my teacher explained the classes are fully immersive so no English so there were a lot of blank stares coming her way as I tried to tune my ear to the language. It was a really interesting time and made me think about my own language and the learning process.

Here are a couple of things I like to say:

I like to swim = me gusta nadar

I like to drink beer = me gusta beber cerveza

I speak no Spanish, I am sorry I don’t understand = no hablo espanol, lo siento no entiendo

More slowly please = Mas despacio por favor

This is cheap = Esto es barato!

Days at the beach consisted of yoga, Spanish lessons, lunch, swim, siesta, swim, eat and repeat and not always in that particular order. Least to say it was easy to stay 10 days. Although the sun shinned bright most of the day, often an incredible lightning and thunder storm will roll in late afternoon. Nearing the last few nights in Mazunte the storm never came so thought this my chance to checkout the talked about sunset at Punta Cometa. It was a short 20 minute walk through the bush to the southern most tip of the Oaxacan coast where it opened up to a beautiful rugged coastline. Although there were some threatening clouds around the sun poked through for a bit to give me my first sunset.

I’ve been on the look out for a bag (bolsa) to sling over my shoulder and popped into a tienda (shop). The girl (chica) asked me where I was from (donde eres?), I replied back Nueva Zelanda and she was like oh cool ..like Katchafire and Fat Freddy’s Drop!! I was like si, si, si (yes, yes, yes), two of my favourite bands. She actually had ok English so we were able to talk a bit more about music and she wrote down a couple of her favourites for me to check out. Unfortunately no bolsa but all the same pretty cool to hear our kiwi bands making it so far across the world to a little hippie beach town on the Mexican Pacific Coast.