Hualtulco… Beaches, boats and Wonderful People

I am 5 years old as I follow my sister down the winding jungle path.  The path goes from my Uncles house, the one where the mangos fall on the tin roof and then roll off to the ground, to the Kauai Surf, where she and I play on the beach and sneak into the pool reserved for guests.  But this path is a bit different, mixed in with the tropical plants are cactus, and a large Iguana darts passed us on an empty but perfectly manicured street where soon large houses for rich foreigners will be built.  The beach is actually a large cove that looks like it would be great for snorkeling if the drop off and current wasn’t quite so severe, but the doggies get to run free and chase a ball that soon gets lost in the ocean.

We didn’t find the beach by chance but were shown were it was by Roberto the manager of the hotel where we are staying in a lovely little town called Hualtulco.   The town is a little development that is becoming a resort town, the hotels and restaurants cater to visitors from Canada, Mexico and from the people we’ve been lucky enough to meet from all over the world.

 

Our first night we eat at an amazing Italian Restaurant run by man who left Italy to live in German and a few years later found himself here.  After some white wine (the first in almost 6 weeks), some tequila and conversation with a Canadian Ex Pat and her German father, we return to our hotel with directions to a beach where we can take the dogs, snorkel and “must try the Camerons ala Diabla”.  At the hotel we meet a lovely couple originally from India who are on vacation from Grad School in North Carolina and learn more about the couple Roberto and Blanca who with their beautiful chocolate lab run the hotel.

The next day we adventure out to San Agustin beach, a short 20 minute drive to a long dirt road that ends in another bay, where we swim, drink beer, eat and watch the locals sell necklaces and Banana Boat rides to the mostly Mexican tourist that visit the town.  We also meet another Roberto, from Spain, who just finished a movie about the children who ride the train from Guatemala to the US in search of a better life. 

The next morning, Fritz gets another guest from our hotel to look at our solar set up to see if they can figure out why the fridge isn’t running right.  Charles, an American, who currently lives in Germany, is restoring a Trimaran which will go in the water on Saturday so he can sail through the Panama Canal and back to the Azores Islands off of Portugal.  If the road wasn’t calling us this is a place where we could stay for quite a while, so for now we will spend another day exploring its beaches and tonight we will celebrate with Charles the completion of his work on the boat.

Our plan was to leave in the morning after the party, but that changed and we hit yet another beautiful cove to dust off the boards and get wet.   Tonight there is another BBQ and tomorrow we will return to the truck with a cold fridge and try to find another place as welcoming as this, only this time in the jungle.