Getting Away

This afternoon I got back from a little trip out of V@llarta. It’s a bit of a surreal experience because it had a lot of the same feeling that I have when I travel to other countries on longer trips. I’m used to then returning back to NYC. But this time it was back to my home in Mexxico which was very different from the trip but still almost a little bit like being on a trip.

M. and I decided to get away for a few days, in part to celebrate his birthday. We planned to leave at 4pm after I finished teaching at the restaurant, but both of us are not the most time conscious people so we didn’t leave till close to 6pm. We took a bus down to B0ca de T0matlan where we hoped to catch a water taxi to a little town called Ch!mo that I’d read about on my friend JR’s website. Unfortunately the taxis had stopped running for the day. M. thought we should stick around the beach and see if any random boats might arrive that would take us where we wanted to go. We did that and sure enough a guy pulled up and said he was leaving for Quim!xto which is a small beach village before Ch!mo. We thought it would be cool to check it out for the first night and continue on the next day. The guy said he was leaving in 20 minutes so we went off to find some food to go. Less than 20 minutes later, we were back with our food but the guy had already left. In the meantime, we’d run into some people M. knew from living in that town last year and they said we could walk along a path to a place where we could camp.


45 minutes later and as night was falling, we arrived at a small beach. We pitched the new tent I’d bought last week and ate our food. I’d never been camping at such a remote spot before. Although there were 2 houses up the hill, no one was there. It was just us and the waves and the stars and the outline of the trees and the various insects making their sounds. I felt that I could never be happier than being there; it was exactly what I was looking for.

The next day we got up and still had the beach to ourselves for awhile. I had to take advantage of having M. photograph me nude on the beach. After awhile, 3 kayaks appeared in the distance and paddled toward our beach. It was a guide who was taking a couple to snorkel. It turned out there was little reef area right off the beach with wonderful fish. We’d brought our masks and snorkels so we joined them.

After awhile, the kayakers left and we enjoyed finished some snacks we had brought but as the day grew hotter, we decided to pack up our gear and try to flag down a water taxi. Luckily it didn’t take too long and we had a ride to Yel@pa, a small village further along the coast that is only accessible by water taxi. We stopped there for lunch and found out that the next (and last) taxi to Ch!mo was at 4pm.


Once the water taxi pulled into the beach, we quickly packed up our stuff and ran for it. One of the guys working it, Hugo, took an immediate liking to me and lifted me into the taxi like a groom lifts a bride across the threshold. He sat next to me in the boat and tried to make conversation during most of the 20 minute ride there. We arrived at Ch!mo and were immediately a bit disappointed. The shoreline was rocky and the town looked a bit depressed. Obviously quite poor but not just poor, not pretty either. We had to get into a little canoe to get to shore because there’s not pier or sandy beach to pull onto.


Once ashore, I asked Hugo if anyone rented rooms, not so much to stay in (because we had the tent) but to have a place to shower and use the bathroom. He led us down one of the main roads and up ahead we saw a blond girl. I asked about her and at the same time remarked to M. how I remembered there was a volunteer from an organization working in the village (I knew the country coordinator of the program from the night I shot at the benefit for the orphanage back in January). Turned out it was the same girl (although Hugo kept saying she was “Americana” but from Scotland) and ended up talking to her. She later introduced us to a family who rents out a little room. The husband/father has done a beautiful job landscaping their property and building a house out of wood and thatched roof. No one appreciates his artistry but M. and I loved it and ended up staying in the little room.

Without going into detail, the town seemed really strange. People seemed unhappy and unfriendly. We couldn’t tell if they were shy or if something bad had happened with outsiders to make them this way. We liked the family with the little room, but even they were a little standoffish. Although the next morning, they were friendlier and the man proudly introduced us to his mom on the way to the water taxi.

We were sad to leave and I’m missing the place and wishing I wasn’t back in V@llarta. Maybe it was being away and the feeling that if we stayed longer, the town might open even more. M. and I are talking about the possibility of renting a small place out in a small town by the beach that we could get away to. I need to try to arrange my schedule so I can work fewer days and have this be feasible. If I can get work as a primary photographer for weddings, I could do it.