Oaxaca - Goodbye

We reluctantly leave Oaxaca after our two-week stay seemed to just fly by. This is a great city: clean, safe, and cultured with a warm, sunny climate and friendly people. If we were looking for a large city to relocate to, this would definitely be on our short list. Someday we hope to return and check out some of the smaller villages nearby, as that is what we really have our hearts set on. So for now we say goodbye to Oaxaca with muchos fotos.

Santo Domingo church, one of many beautiful churches that fill the city. In the foreground are figures in an art installation, one for each person who left the artist's village in search of work.

Inside Santo Domingo. Oaxaca is rich in colonial architecture.


Alacala - one of the pedestrianized streets in the historical center, on a rare occassion when it's not full of people.

Peaceful protests in front of the Municipal Palace. These are a common occurence, and are an echo of some not so peaceful protests back in 2006 when the police opened fire on striking teachers.

The streets of Oaxaca are kept clean by an army of these workers and their hand-made brooms.

Business owners also keep it clean.

Oaxaca has more grafitti than Merida, which had almost none, but at least some of it is good.

Oaxaca has many art galleries and museums. My favorite exhibition was at the Museum of Oaxacan Painters which featured Santiago Carbonell.

Dancers in a church courtyard.

"Hoarders" comes to Oaxaca.

View of the mountains from our apartment's rooftop deck.

One thing we like about Mexican culture is their respect for the elderly. This gentleman could barely shuffle in a forward direction and yet was determined to make his way to the Zocolo.

Is this to code?

Another pretty street scene.

I'm a bit taller than the average Mexican (photo by Deborah).

But not this one.

All the bugs you can eat.

Goodbye to Oaxaca.

Oaxaca - Pork and Bugs

Mexico isn't exactly a vegetarian's nightmare, but it's close. Meat and carbohydrates are pretty much what you'll find at all the restaurants. Chicken, Beef, Pork. Rice, Beans, Corn. Green vegetables are an afterthought at best. And the further from the coast you are, the less likely you are to find seafood. Oaxaca is famous for its many varieties of mole sauces, but it seems whenever they are served in restaurants they already have some meat in them. We've gone to a couple of buffets where you just take a leap of faith that what you're putting on your plate doesn't have meat in it, but sometimes you just have no idea until you bite into it. I'm working on the assumption that most of the animals are less likely to be of the factory farm variety so I don't get too worked up about straying inadvertently. Besides, it all tastes pretty darn good.

In keeping with my philosophy that wild animals are generally okay to eat occasionally, I have tried the grasshoppers that are widely available here in Oaxaca. I don't know if they're baked or fried or what, but they're fairly crunchy, although a larger one I tried recently was a bit squishy inside. For some reason Deborah refused to kiss me afterward. She is considerably more agreeable about the Oaxacan chocolate, which sometimes makes its way into mole sauces, and often is combined with various spices including chilies or cinnamon. We like a tamer variety with vanilla that makes awesome hot chocolate. Fresh warm corn tortillas from the local tortillaria are also a real treat. The choice of breakfast cereals is somewhat limited but I've been eating Corn Pops, which are subtitled – and for some reason I find this quite funny – Maiz Inflado (inflated corn).

At the market - It looks even more appetizing with the flies hovering around.

Not that they don't have some very nice frut here. This is at the wholesale market.


Chilies, spices, and hibiscus flowers which are used in a flavored water drink called Jamaica.

A few oranges.

Oaxaca - Excursions

As much as we love the city of Oaxaca, we have managed to get out to see some of the sights in the surrounding area, including some villages specializing in a particular craft. Here are a few highlights:

Santa Maria el Tule - This 2000 year old Ahuehuete tree has supposedly the largest circumference of any in the world - somewhere between 120 and 190 ft (36-58 m) depending on where you measure and who you ask.

Arrazola - Women paint the popular carved wood fantastical creatures known as Albrijes. The men do the carving; the women do the painting. This "tradition" dates back only about 25 years.

Never finished convent at Cuilapan.

Cuilapan - Kids recreate an encounter between the Spanish soldiers (near left) and the indigenous people.

Hearts of Agave plants ready to be turned into Mezcal, a more primitive form of Tequila with a smokey flavor.

Weaver at Teotitlan del Valle. This one uses only natural dyes.

Teotitlan del Valle - Nancy bought a rug here.

Archeological site of Mitla. A mixture of Zapotec and Mixtec architecture. Still occupied when the conquistadors arrived in the 16th century.

Mitla - decoration includes fretwork known as "greca"

Deborah at Mitla.

Hierve el Agua - where water leaching through the ground bubbles up bringing minerals with it to produce interesting formations.

Hierve el Agua - The "waterfall" is actually a stone.

Oaxaca - The Ethnobotanical Garden

The Ethnobotanical Garden in the historic center of Oaxaca is available for viewing only via guided tour. Most of those are in Spanish, of course, but luckily for us tours in English are given three times a week. Our tour guide was one of the best we've had, keeping us informed and entertained for over two hours. The focus is on not just the plants but how they are used, thus the “ethno” part of the name. We left with an appreciation of the incredible biodiversity of Mexico, and of Oaxaca in particular.

The Ethnobotanical Garden as seen from the second floor of the adjacent Museum of Oaxacan Cultures.

Spiny bark of the Pochote tree.


Exfoliating bark.

No shortage of cacti here.

Some things flower in the dry season.

The Agave or Maguey plant shoots up its towering flower cone just before it dies. This is the plant used to make Tequilla and Mezcal.

Organ Cactus makes a living fence.

This form of cacti hosts a valuable parasitic insect know as the Cochineal. Squish one of these insects and you'll see the bright crimson colored dye that was an extremely valuable commodity during the colonial period and until the advent of artificial dyes in the 19th century. One reason for Oaxaca's large indigenous population is that the conquering Spaniards, rather than forcing the native population to work to their deaths in the dangerous mines, instead allowed many of them to stay on their land to harvest these valuable bugs.

Oaxaca - Monte Alban

Situated on a flattened hilltop outside of Oaxaca lies the archeological site of Monte Alban. It was founded by the Zapotecs around 500 BC and grew to become one of the first major cities in Mesoamerica. It was the center of the Zapotec civilization for hundreds of years before eventually being abandoned around 800 AD. They are still working on uncovering all the various buildings and terraces built into this hilltop.

Monte Alban

The view from Monte Alban back toward Oaxaca in the valley.

Nancy and Deborah

Not handicapped friendly.

A number of stones were found which depicted physical abnormalities including a breech birth.

Reconstruction is meticulous, with each stone numbered and catalogued.

Me and Deborah.