Tidings of Joy

After a nice ten hours of sleep with full bellies of tamales and beers we felt rested and recovered from our overnighter to Chiapas. The next day we didn't do much of anything except had lunch at the marina restaurant with our friend Kurtis on Summer Breeze who we hadn't seen in awhile. The marina restaurant was convenient and pretty good. The rest of the day we spent relaxing on the boat.

Outside the Marina Restaurant

The next few days in port were spent doing chores and having the boat washed and bottom cleaned. On the night of February 6th we had happy hour on our boat with Summer Breeze, Summer Dreams and Splinters. Lots of drinking and laughing with new and old friends.

Happy Hour

Now that our chores were all finished and we felt settled in it was time to start exploring Chiapas. Miguel is one of two tour guides that work at the marina and in his van he was able to take us Sumer Breeze and Summer Dreams on a local tour of ruins, a coffee plantation and a chocolate company. We had never taken a tour like this and were excited to see not only the area but all of the history and local goods. It was fun going with friends. We all walked the grounds of the ruins and learned that due to lack of funding we were only seeing a portion of what they believed was there. The next stop was the coffee plantation- The Braun House with a shocking photo of Ava Braun in the atrium. It wasn't coffee growing season so things were very quiet but we saw the facility where the coffee is processed and then had a cup of coffee in the pretty garden setting. Our final stop was at Dona Chepi's chocolate shop. We walked through the tienda to the back where roosters walked around and we watched how the coco beans got picked from the plant, roasted, ground and turned into chocolate. After we each got a cup of hot chocolate made from a large square of chocolate then covered with boiling hot water and drank from a cup. It was very tasty and we all loved learning about chocolate making and bought several bags in the shop afterwards.

Ruins

Touring the Ruins

Ruins

Braun House Coffee Plantation

View From Braun House

Chocolate Shop Backyard

Drinking Hot Chocolate

Roasting Coco Beans

Grinding Coco Beans

Turing It Into Chocolate

Kurtis Buying Chocolate

Miguel Tour Guide

Miguel and Tony are the two tour guides that work at Marina Chiapas. We had such a nice time with Miguel and now today just Jeff and I were going on a three day tour with Tony to San Cristobal- a town in the mountains 7200 feet in elevation. After a couple hours into our four hour drive we stopped at Chiapas de Corzo for lunch on the river. The setting was quiet and peaceful and we enjoyed some local food while staring at the river. After lunch we walked around the town square. When we arrived in San Cristobal before going to the hotel we stopped at the amber museum where we learned all about the local gems. The day was feeling long and we were tired so we headed to the hotel and said goodbye to Tony for the night. Once situated we walked into town and found a good restaurant with some vegan options and live music. After a couple drinks and dinner we were pooped so we made our way back to the hotel to go to bed.

Passed So Many Migrants Heading North

Migrants

Chiapa de Corzo

Lunch on the River With Tony

Town Square Chiapas De Corzo

San Cristobal

Amber Museum

Dance Lessons Downtown San Cristobal

Band Playing at Dinner

Dinner San Cristobal

The next morning we got an early start and Tony was there to pick us up at 8:30a.m. We mare our way to two nearby towns where there is still a very large indigenous population. The first town we visited was Chamula where we walked around downtown seeing the locals and observing their traditional clothes, visiting their shops and ended up at their church where a large procession was happening. Tony had timed it perfectly and we watched while men with flags and on horseback made their way around the city. It felt like being in a different time and not present day. We were very in awe of what we were taking in.

Chamula

Indigenous Women

Indigenous Family

Town Square

Indigenous Man

Street Market

Local Procession

Church & Procession

Local Procession

After leaving Chamula we drove to the next little indigenous town called Zinacantan where we were met by a little girl who lead us to her mother's fabric shop. It was quite a site to see her waiting in her traditional clothes in the parking lot telling Tony to follow her and so we did. The fabric shop was very interesting and our guides mom gave us a demonstration how she uses a homemade back-strapped weave in order to make all of the clothes she sells. I tried on several tops and finally found a pretty blue one that I liked. After saying goodbye to the little girl and her mom we made our way to another local tortilla shop where we watched a young teenage looking girl make homemade tortillas and then got to sample some hot off the stone. They were delicious. From here we followed Tony around the village and through town. So fascinating to see and observe the old culture.

Our Tour Guide Waiting For Us

Tony & I Following Our Guide

Locals

Our Guide's Mom Showing Us Weaving Process

Shopping

Saying Goodbye To Our Guide

Tortilla Making

Procession Outside of Church

Locals

Inside Church

Close to lunchtime we left Zinacantan and headed back into San Cristobal. We visited another church and then went to lunch where they were playing local marimba music. We visited the local markets and the jade museum before saying goodbye to Tony for the evening.

Leaving Zinacantan

Church in San Cristobal

Downtown San Cristobal

Lunch With Marimba Music

Local Market

Dead Chickens at the Market

Dried Fish

Outside the Market

Textile Museum

Night Market

Our third and final day might have been my favorite. Tony picked us up at 9 and we did our final touring of San Christobal visiting a church and a neighbourhood before taking a 2 hour boat ride through a gorgeous canyon. Anything with boats I'm a big fan of. And the scenery was stunning. It was the prefect activity to cap off a wonderful tour of San Cristobal. Around 8pm that evening Tony dropped us back off at the marina and we were very glad to be home.

Touring The Final Church

View of San Christobal From Church

Neighbourhood Tour

Canyon Boat Trip

Tony & Captain

Crocodile on Shore

Snack Boat

Spider Money

Driving Back to Marina

After a spectacular time in Oaxaca it was time to get back to reality on the boat. Our first day was spent doing a lot of catch up and getting settled back into the boat doing laundry and unpacking. We met up with some boating friends later that evening to hear about their departure to Chiapas the following morning. Since we had just returned to the boat we would miss this window and wait for the next one. After several days of work around the boat and restocking provisions we decided to take the boat out to the state park and anchor at Bahia Magyay for the weekend. We enjoyed lunch on the hook and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and sitting outside.

Passed a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter En Route

Cruising the State Park

Bahia Magyay

Charter Anchored Very Close

Anchored in Bahia Magyay

Restaurants at the Anchorage

The next day on the hook was much the same as the first except we did some snorkeling and went to shore for lunch at one of the restaurants. With no real vegan options it was guac and beer for me while Jeff had a pineapple stuffed with shrimp in a cream sauce. The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming and relaxing.

That night the swells changed direction and were rolling right into the anchorage and kept us awake most of the night. So at 6:30a.m. Jeff had enough and we pulled anchor and headed back into the marina. I went right back to bed and slept another two hours.

The next few days were spent doing chores and hanging with friends. Then on Wednesday January 31st friends from Long Windid and Summer Dreams and us took a little trip to the waterfalls near the marina. We all packed into a van and took a nice short walk to the falls and Jeff and I actually went with the guide through the waterfalls into a cave behind it. Jeff's claustrophobia kicked in and we were in and out before we knew it. I as glad we made the effort. After the walk we ate lunch at the falls and then returned to the marina. It was a fun day.

Driving to the Waterfalls

En Route to Waterfalls

Following Faben Our Guide

Faben, Long Windid, Summer Dreams & Us

With Faben

Sunset Back at the Boat

The next day was all about trip planning. We met with Summer Dreams to discuss the overnight passage to Chiapas, our final port in Mexico. We finalised departure times and after made our way to the market to get some last minute provisions.

At 0557a.m. we threw lines and made our way out of Chahue for our 260 mile passage to Marina Chiapas for a 1:34pm arrival the following day. Summer Dreams was well ahead and sometime during the night we found another boat called What If. We encountered several long lines and of course during my 3am shift as we were cruising along I just happened to look out the starboard side door just to see a single water bottle floating right next to the boat which could only mean we were halfway over a long line. I woke Jeff to figure out what to do. He looked out the back and saw the clump of net we were now dragging. Since it was dark and in the middle of the night we decided it would be safest to wait until daylight to cut the line. So I monitored the engine temp, looked out the window and scanned the radar like a hawk and Jeff went back to sleep.

After 31.5hrs we made our way into Chiapas and our friend Kurtis on Summer Breeze was there to meet us. After getting tied up he told us there was a tamale party happening now at the pool and to come up as soon as we got checked in. Shortly after customs agents and a patrol dog entered the boat and the dog began sniffing its way around. We waited as the agents filled out paperwork and asked questions and I followed the dog and his two guides. About 30 minutes later all was done and we were checked into Chiapas and free to leave the boat. Somehow we attended the tamale party and had some celebratory drinks and delusionaly we made it till 6pm before passing out for the night. Welcome to Chiapas.