To clear up the general confusion as to where exactly I am building the tire wall I keep mentioning in this series, and to give a little impression of this curious part of the world, I want to dedicate this post to Arroyo Cruz, or rather Bahía de la Luna, or in fact still more appropriately, to La Boquia.
The Village: Arroyo Cruz
On the Oaxacan coast, somewhere along the road out of Pochutla, leading down to Puerto Angel, there is an benign little turnoff. It doesn’t seem like the road is going anywhere beyond a small well, where local women exchange their gossip over hand-washing their laundry (with industrial detergents, of course). Most tourists riding in the back of the colectivo pick-up trucks on the way to Zipolite don’t even suspect there is anything here, and the few who do take this turnoff, pass purposefully through the town in fancy 4x4 vehicles.
Arroyo Cruz is a very typical Mexican town that seems to have dropped out of time. Its only (but Main) street is unpaved, wandering chickens and dogs included. Norteña music blasts from the unfinished cinder-block houses, and the town-hall is not even in town, but outside on the highway. The reason why I still like to come to this place, other than just passing through coming or leaving, is the little store.
More a private home with a window to the outside, the social center of Arroyo Cruz is the little store. It doesn’t even have a name, and the selection of products is abysmal. However, they have cold beer. Nothing unusual, Corona of Victoria, as in most places. But thanks to this, there is always a small number of people gathering on the little porch outside the store window. Most of them are locals, and many of them have, just like me, walked half an hour or more to get here, specifically for the cold beer. Of course it is not uncommon to stay for another, and another… For me, it is certainly worth taking the half-an-hour climb up the steep road to visit this store, especially if I need to buy a can of beans, or some hand-made tortillas they sell next door. The beer is a great reward.
Arroyo Cruz may be small and dusty, but it does have its own murals… if you want to put this political propaganda into the art category. Sure, it is not as beautiful or imaginative as anything in my mural series, but it is a painting on the wall, with a message. Translated it says: With PROSPERA my children can eat better and continue studying. I first thought PROSPERA was a political party, and the picture an image of the candidate. But as it turns out, it is a government program for the social inclusion. Oh great! Thank you for giving us back something from what you’ve taken from us, so my children can receive your brainwash education… and be so grateful for it that we paint it on our walls… Never mind!
The Hotel: Bahía de la Luna
Before my cynicism breaks out, let’s continue on that dusty road, down the hill, past the cemetery, taking the steeper and steeper incline all the way down to the coast. At the end of the road is a lovely beach, with the Hotel Bahía de la Luna (Bay of the Moon) dominating it. It is a gorgeous little place, looking all quaint and tranquil, but offering exceptional service to well paying clients. As a result, the customers are mostly family vacationers from the US, though I’ve heard a good amount of German spoken among them as well. The target groups are families, retirees, or honeymooners, anyone who wants a lovely beach, with none of the nuisance of a beach-town like Mazunte.
The hotel itself is just a convenience for me, offering Wifi Internet and most importantly a power source to recharge my phone and run my laptop. However, it is also the place where I buy my drinking water, as it is delivered here daily. I’ve gotten to know the chef Coco and his wife Leila the receptionist, who have accepted me as a local, since I’m living and working on the neighboring property at the moment. Coming here I also got a chance to meet some of the (ex) co-managers, owners, and other affiliates who hang around here. All in all, if you’re looking for a beautiful, quiet get-away for your family holiday, and don’t mind paying a bit more for it, you should definitely check out this place.
The Beach: La Boquilla
As for myself, the place I like to see myself in is neither Arroyo Cruz or Bahía de la Luna, as some previous posts in this series suggest. When I talk about the mountain I’m on, that is Julia’s property, located next to the ocean, what I mean is La Boquilla, or translated into English: Littlemouth. That’s how this beach is known, and I feel closer to it than either the town or the hotel. It is here that I go swimming every day, even if this just means a cleansing dip after work, or a jolt of life in the morning. It is this this place that I associate with the multitudes of insects I come across, from stick-bugs to praying mantises. And once I leave here, I will remember it as La Boquilla, where I spent a month on a mountain, building an amazing tire wall.
Oh yeah, the wall… Stay tuned for updates on that too!
Other Posts from the Mazunte Series:
- Terraces on the Oaxacan Coast – Preparing for the Adventure
- The Bus Came By and I Got On
- Working on Getting Work Started
- A Theater on the Beach - Revisited
- Progress in Bahía de la Luna
- Itínera, the People Building the Mazunte Theater
- The Beginning of a Retaining Wall
- Tire-Pounding for Beginners
- Life on the Mountain