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| Sunrise from our window |
After a bumpy start traveling together Megs and I found ourselves in an obscure little town on the coast of Oaxaca. Getting there included a minibus, taxi, motorboat and lastly a pickup to arrive to a place that was barely a village nestled on the northern end of a mangrove island. We did half of the journey with a younger couple bringing supplies back to their hostal. The four of us arrived late in the day. The first thing Megs and I did was walk out to the beach. Our first impression as we stepped out through coconut palms was two surfers taking off on a wave, each going in opposite directions. The right lasted for a while, I watched the surfer make creamy turns, backlit by the sun I realized that the ride was lasting as long as I’ve ever seen a wave last. I turned around and the sign for our new home read, El Paraiso, The paradise.
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| Happiest boat drivers |
The
town consisted of half laid back locals and half surf bums. Huge shaded areas
surrounded every hostal and restaurant on the beach and for a pittance you could
camp and use the facilities. We decided to pay the 200 pesos, about $11 for a
room. The lagoon mouth divides the town in half and a large jetty sticks out
into the ocean. Jetties create sandbars, and sandbars create waves. The wave
was soft, meaning that it was a slow, crumbly wave. The consistency made it
ideal for me to practice maneuvers. Overlooking the town was a hill with a
lighthouse on top. The whole town is framed in coconut palms, and beyond that
mangroves and the lagoon.
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| Chacagua |
I surfed, surfed and surfed some more. I surfed till my chest was red with board rash and I would fall asleep exhausted before 9 pm. With nothing to do but surf both Megs and I enjoyed the waves morning and evening and relaxed in hammocks during the heat of the day. In the most protected corner of the jetty is a perfect “kiddie pool” of waist deep water and knee high waves. We played there and paddled out to the wave breaking on the outside. I caught some waves that were assuredly the longest waves of my life. I had time to think, to look around me and re-realize the magic that is surfing. Far away storms make pulses in the ocean that upon reaching the shore rise up and become a wave.
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| Megs on the Jetty |
Our last night, while we debated whether it was really time for us to depart we wandered onto the beach to play with my light up Frisbee. We saw that there was bioluminescence in the water. When the waves broke they stirred the algae and caused a glowing shockwave. Way cooler than our Frisbee game, we stripped down and jumped in. The water was so clear that I could see the fish swimming by the trails of white sparkles. Every movement causes the bioluminescence to glow, by swimming the hands, arms and legs are illuminated. We did leave the next day to meet up with friends further north but the experience at Chacagua is one we will never forget.
