Current and upcoming events are brought to you in cooperation with El Sol DE LA COSTA. your number one newspaper for Puerto Escondido events, news and attractions.
By Warren Sharpe, editor, El Sol DE LA COSTA
DEAR READER: The information in our calendar is as accurate as we could determine at press time. You can confirm times and dates of events at the offices of El Sol de la Costa or at Gina's Tourist Information Booth on the Adoquín
Thursday 10 - Anniversary of the Death of Emiliano Zapata
Lured into a treacherous ambush by Col. Jesús M. Guajardo in Chinameca, Morelos on April 10, 1919, the hero of the Mexican Revolution died with ten of his followers.
Time has not diminished the appeal of Zapata, nor the power of his political message. Flags are flown at half mast on public buildings.
Thursday 10 - Sun 13 - 1,651st Anniversary of the Founding of Villa Tutútepec
At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Oaxacan coastal region had long been under the control of a Mixtec dynasty based in Tutútepec. The town was founded by Mixtec invaders in 357 A.C. Villa Tutútepec de Melchor Ocampo celebrates this long history of continuous population with special events this week. For more on Villa Tutútepec, see our story beginning on Page 5
Tuesday 22 - Anniversary of the Mexican Conquest
Two years after the discovery of Mexico and 27 years after the discovery of America, Capt. Hernán Cortés disembarked on Good Friday, 1519, near what was to become Veracruz, to launch the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. The expedition was comprised of 11 ships carrying 500 soldiers, two crossbowmen, 13 musketeers, 18 horses, 14 artillery pieces, 109 sailors and 200 Indian guides and bearers. Cortes called the place Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, "Rich Town of the True Cross," founding the first European town in America.
Wednesday 30 - Children's Day
A special day devoted to children was established in Mexico in 1924, after the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of Children was issued calling on all the nations of the world to protect and cherish the young. It´s a day to give gifts and candy to the rugrats. In Puerto there will be a special program for the town's kids will take place on Sunday April 29 starting at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall Esplanade.
Thursday May 1 - Labor Day
May Day is a national holiday: banks, some businesses and government offices will be closed.
Saturday May 3 - Day of the Holy Cross - Bricklayer's Day
It's not an official holiday, but it might as well be. Why the Fiesta to honor the sacred symbol of the Christian faith and the day to salute bricklayers and building laborers coincide is unknown. But they have become irrevocable linked. Anybody involved in construction will be in fiesta mode, after placing flower and ribbon-bedecked crosses at their construction sites.
The devout observe the day, of course, but the cross has deep symbolic roots in indigenous culture, often associated with sources of water, the essence of life. Families, friends and neighbors will gather today to eat tamales and drink some cold beers to honor the occasion. The Holy Cross is occasion for the annual fair in many communities, including Barra de Colotepec and the Santa Cruz colonias in Chila, San Pedro Mixtepec and Rio Grande, for example, and it´s especially important in Santa Cruz Huatulco.
Huatulco´s Legend of the Holy Cross: The resort city to the south once was the major port for trade between New Spain and Peru, but because of its vulnerability to attacks by English pirates, the Spanish destroyed and abandoned the port in 1616. (Settlements were moved inland, which explains why so many municipalities here are administered from towns virtually unknown to the tourists who visit Oaxaca's glorious beaches - - San Pedro Mixtepec, Colotepec and, of course Sante María Huatulco.)
The name Huatulco comes from Quauhtlelco, a Nahuatl name that means "place where wood is worshipped" (from cuauhtli - timber; telosa - to bow; and co - place). The legend has it that when the Spaniards first arrived there they were astonished to find the Indians praying before a cross. They were told that long ago, an old, bearded white man came from the sea and presented the cross and told them to revere it. For the Catholic church this mysterious visitor was the apostle Saint Thomas, but there are obvious similarities here to the prehispanic legends of the Plumed Serpent, Quetzalcoatl or Kulkan, the bringer of culture and wisdom for the Toltecs and the Maya.
The cross is said to have even withstood those pirates attacks, including Thomas Cavendish's attempts to burn it and pull it down with his ship as he sailed out of the bay in 1587.
In 1612, Bishop Juan de Cervantes brought part of the cross to the cathedral in Oaxaca. From this piece he fashioned a copy of the original, which can be seen today in the church the pleasant town of Santa Maria Huatulco. Other fragments are said to be kept in the cathedral of Puebla and in the Vatican.
Ancient Tutútepec
1,651 Years of History
This month San Pedro Tutútepec, now known as Villa Tutútepec de Melchor Ocampo, celebrates 1,651 years of continuous human occupation with a series of special events (See calendar for program of activities).
San Pedro Tutútepec lies eight kilometers off the Coastal Highway, perched atop a cluster of foothills rich in lush vegetation. At the time of the Spanish Conquest (1519-1522), this part of the Oaxacan coast had long been under the control of a Mixtec dynasty based in Tutútepec.
According to interpretation of surviving Mixtec codices, on April 3, 357 AD, the king of Tilantongo sent Prince Matatzín to lead 20,000 families, the high priest of Achiutla and 50 other priests to colonize the rich lands and trading routes of the coastal plains.
The place they chose they called "Yucu Saa" (Hill - yucu, of the Birds - saá), named for the pyramid-like peak covered with seabirds that they encountered. Matatzín found this to be a propitious sign and, when they had climbed to the summit, they were awed by the view: the wetlands of Chacahua; the great Pacific; the green plains and the mountains beyond Pochutla and Juquila.
The Lord of Tutútepec was at the power center of the Lower Mixtec empire during the Postclassic and was involved in constant wars, first with Zapotecs, then the Aztecs. With the arrival of the Spaniards, the Zapotecs allied themselves with the conquistadors. At the end of 1521 Hernán Cortés sent a group of soldiers to discover where the Aztec gold originated. According to Aztec Emperor Moctezuma, the gold was sent to the garrison at Huaxyacac (now the city of Oaxaca) and from there to Zaachila, where they were told that the gold originally came from Tutútepec.
The Spaniards left for Tutútepec, took the Lord prisoner and tortured him, asking a ransom in gold for his release. Finally they murderd him and returned to the Valley of Oaxaca, disregarding Cortés´orders to stay and settle the Tutútepec region.
The county of Tutútepec encompasses the town of Rio Grande and the Chacahua Lagoon wetlands area. The town boasts a fine modern museum to house the relics of this ancient zone. The great stone carvings that were on the grounds of the town church - - once the site of the Mixtec Temple of the Sky - - plus samples of tools, weapons and ceramics that span the centuries can be seen here.
There's the famous Goddess of the Sky stela, the jaguar thought to have been the temple guardian, which lost its head to raiding forces from Jicayán, and what appears to be a Plumed Serpent. The ties to other cultures are evident; some stone carvings show strong Toltec influences and there are ceramic figures that mirror the famous gold masks of Monte Alban. Although Tutútepec was never completely dominated by the Aztecs, it is clear that it was strongly influenced by the Nahuatls. Its name was changed to Tototepec (toto - Bird, tepec - Hill), then to Totoltepec. It became Tutútepec in 1623.
The museum also has a photo gallery and artifacts that document the Colonial and Independence eras. Not all the town relics are in the museum. Under a tile roof next to the church are the temple's original and successive bells, including one pierced by a bullet from the Revolution. There are ruins of what many believe to be the original Mixtec settlement here in La Soledad. And near the town of San José del Progresso is la Piedra de San Vicente with its ancient cave paintings.
Near to town is the Hill of the Birds, where that amazing view, which so impressed Matatzín and his followers, can still be enjoyed. In July the townspeople hike the up there to enjoy a "Monday of the Hill", very much like the famous Guelaguetza in Oaxaca City.
Tutútepec is famous for its Fandango de Varitas, a kind of chilena music which traditionally features five or six musicians playing guitar, violin, cajón (a percussion instrument fashioned from a wooden box), charrasca and a cántaro (a kind of bass made from a clay pot).The Fandango is danced at all important fiestas, including every Friday in October leading up to Day of the Dead.
The anniversary celebration this month will offer lots of opportunities to see the Fandango. You will also be able to sample some of the local culinary specialties such as chicken mole, encaladas, suspiros and bolitas, which are sweet turnovers. Local crafts and artwork will also be on sale, including elaborately embroidered blouses, bead work and figures carved from coconuts. The road to Villa Tutútepec is just beyond the town of Santa Rosa de Lima at about Km 66 of the Coastal Highway towards Acapulco.
The "Eight Deer" Eco-Tourism Corridor - TUTÚTEPEC IS NOT only the largest county (municipio) on the Oaxaca coast it is also one of the most culturally and environmentally diverse. Since it ecompases the Chacahua Lagoon wetlands area, Mexico's first officially designated National Park, as well as parts of Manialtepec Lagoon, it's was logical for area to look toward the growing sector of eco-tourism as a means for attracting more visitors. The "Eight Deer" (Ocho Venado) Eco-Tourism Corridor is a project that was formed by the non-profit group Ecocosta for just this purpose. Although its components include the historic county seat of Villla Tutútepec and the famed Chacahua Lagoons, it is encouraging communities and projects off the beaten track to participate as a means towards sustainable economic development and to promote awareness of environmental protection.
The Ecotourist Corridor offers you close encounters with indigenous wildlife, spectacular landscapes, including crashing waterfalls, hiking, tranquil beauty and the opportunity to learn more about the region's people, traditions and history. We begin with the best know stop on the trail, Chacahua. Barbara Schaffer visited there recently and filed this report:
Lagunas de Chacahua National Park - By Barbara Schaffer - Chacahua, Mexico's first national park (it was established by President Lazaro Cardenas in 1937), is a great get-away from the sturm unt drang of life in Puerto Escondido. The hotels are mostly shacks, or you can sleep in a hammock under a restaurant palapa, or even just camp out on the beach. The restaurants are simple. The nightlife is for the birds, of which there are many. Christmas and Easter the place is packed with Mexican college students come to do some serious partying on the beach, the rest of the year you are on your own. When I went there last spring, the only other visitors were a few Australian surfers and a family from Mexico City.
The main attraction of Chacahua (besides the surf and the holiday parties) are the mangroves. Mangroves are enormous trees with external vine-like roots that only grow in salt-water lagoons. British novels about India often mention them, but until you have taken a sunset ride through them in a canoe, you cannot grasp how mysterious and even scary they are. Each mangrove is an island full of avian and crustacean life, and even in daylight, without a guide, one could get lost in this dense watery forest. (Think Venice as the urban equivalent.) If you go, and plan to spend the night, you owe it to yourself to take the 200-peso tour.
The people of Chacahua are as unusual as their setting. They are mostly Mixtec and Afro-Mexican and their wooden, windowless, thatched houses seem to proclaim their African roots. They tell you that the Africans who settled in the Costa Chica are descendents of a slave ship that sank along this coast. The villagers live mostly from fishing. They know and have seen the outside world, and are willing to forego television and all the rest modernity has to offer for what they have and the modern world does not.
The one thing I found jarring in this idyllic spot in which the only motorized vehicle is the pickup truck that takes you to the dock at the other end of the island for the colectivo boat to the mainland (a back-breaking 40-minute trip on a dirt road I very much recommend you avoid by taking a private launch from the village) were the ubiquitous loud speakers that every half hour or so announced an upcoming church meeting (same place, same time), a personal message to Jorge to go to his aunt's house, and a happy birthday to Carmencita.
To get to Chacahua: drive northwest on 200 and take the Zapotalito turn off 9 km. after Río Grande. In Zapotalito you will find parking and boats to Chacuaha. A private launch costs a lot more than the colectivo boat, but it will take you directly to the beach and village and spare you the 40-minute pick-up truck ride on the other side. Alternatively, you can take a bus that takes you to the turn off, and then a colectivo to Zapotalito. Barbara Schaffer is a poet and language teacher. barbaraschaffer.com
Now it was time for your intrepid editor to explore a little beyond the beaten track.
Santiago Jocotepec is a peaceful Chatino community nestled among oak woods in the crystalline air of the Sierras, about 700 meters above sea level. As I arrived near the center of the town, Matilde Figueroa Medina was waiting for me to guide me through the narrow streets of adobe homes and to show me around. She is a shy, smiling woman, casually dressed in slacks and shirt with two iron ropes of grey hair braided down her back.
She led me along a narrow, tree-shaded path past a communal well and some massive boulders to inspect the two rustic cabins maintained for visitors who wish to spend a night or two. There I was introduced to her brother, Constantino who is the president of the small group of townspeople who maintain Jocotepec's ecological projects. The cabins have running water, bunk beds, electricity and plumbing: rustic, charming and they could put some of Puerto's cabañas to shame.
(Overnight stay is $100 pesos per person; Meals are offered for about $30. pesos in the homes of participating families. No charge for fascinating company, tales and legends and local customs.)
Next on our agenda was to visit the deer nursery, a fenced hectare of oak and brush - - the deer just love those acorns. As we sat quietly hoping to catch a close glimpse of these skittish creatures, Dona Matilde told me how as a small girl on her way to tend the family coffee plants she was scared by a deer which had suddenly broken out of shelter.
"I'd never seen one before," she told me. "And I didn't see another for fifty years." The animals were over hunted and rare in these hills. But all that is changing thanks to the efforts of Matilde, Constantino and their compañeros.
To the side of the deer enclave is a smaller enclosure, devoted to animals that are far from skittish: the small wild boar, known as jabalí. Cunning and quite aggressive, the critters show no hesitation in approaching the fence to be fed. But nobody enters this compound; You'll get a good look, but don't touch!
Other attractions here are birding - - parrots and toucans are common - - and hikes out to some magnificent waterfalls or to the ancient sacred site of Cerro de la Cometa, "Hill of the Comet", a place where villagers would pray for rain, and give thanks for it when it came. According to the locals, the rains actually arrive on the same day they ask for it. It is named for a fiery comet which grazed the hillside before falling into the ocean. The hill affords spectacular views over the town and surrounding forests.
If you'd rather not walk to see these marvels, horse rentals are available. Getting There:
From Puerto Escondido: On Highway 200. pass through the town of Rio Grande (an hour from Puerto), after the bridge take the first paved road on the right (the sign reads Juquila, Zacatepec). After 11 km there's a turn off onto a dirt road marked "Jocotepec 10 km."
Mata De Ajo
The main attraction of Rancho Mata de Ajo is the iguana hatchery. You'll see both the green and black varieties of this emblematic creature in all its stages of development. The green and black adult iguanas live in a wooded area with tortoises and wild rabbits. The goal of this project is the conservation of the species in the region.
On a 2-3 hour guided tour, visitors can learn about the organic farming practiced here. At present the produce is for local consumption, but the plan is to sell it in other markets in the future. Mata de Ajo is also recovering and using native seeds and plants (corn, watermelon, etc.) that were disappearing from the region.
"Mata de Ajo" is a vine with a garlicky aroma. It used to be abundant, but the inhabitants destroyed it because it proved toxic for some of the livestock. Now the mata de ojo is making a come back.
Getting There From Puerto Escondido: On the Cost Highway 200, after Rio Grande, beyond the turn offs for Chacahua and Tutútepec, just one km. before your reach Santa Rose de Lima look for the small town of Calzada San Miguel. Take the dirt road that runs parallel to the highway (on the north or mountain side) and follow the signs about 4 km. The place is known locally as "El Iguanario", beyond "Zanjón", if you need to ask directions.
Santa Ana is best known for its complex of beautiful springs and waterfalls. On the way there you'll pass through coffee groves, shaded by enormous, old growth trees. The vollagers here also offer cabins for an overnight stay, as well as traditional and natural meals in local homes. The cabins offer exceptional views overlooking the town. Also of note is the aviary which raises chachalacas, a noisy game bird much enjoyed as a culinary treat by the campesinos.
Getting There: Take the turn off of Highway 200, to Tututepec (you can't miss that statue of Ocho Venado) at the first Y, stay right towards La Luz . Stay on the road to Santa Cruz and Santa Ana, about 17km from the highway. For more information you can call the Ecosta office at (954) 543 8284 or visit their web page at: http://ochovenado.wikispaces.com/
Notes: Once you get past Manialtepec Lagoon, the highway is in super condition, all new blacktop, which all but eliminates some of those annoying topes. Other stops along the way: Stop in and visit Las Hadas for beer, lunch and a refreshing dip in the pool. And one of my all-time favorites is a stop at the delightful, country-style restaurant La Doña in Santa Rosa de Lima. Just keep an eye out for the sign.
Who Was Ocho Venado?
EIGHT DEER JAGUAR CLAW was the powerful 11th century Mixtec ruler of Tututepec who was the only Mixtec king to ever unite the upper and lower Mixtec regions with the coastal Mixtec. His memory is still honored in Tututepec where he has achieved legendary status.
Scholars are still deciphering the 15th century Mixtec codices in which he appears, but the story so far is of a great but ruthless leader who fell victim to the same tactics he used against his enemies. Power, intrigue, lust and betrayal: Shades of "I, Claudius"? Where is Robert Graves when we need him?
Venado was the son of a priest and named for the date of his birth. He had four brothers who also helped in his military campaigns. They and their allies conquered 94 cities which had never before been unified into one state.
Briefly, he failed in his attempt to marry his half sister who then married his archrival, the king Xipe's Bundle. Later he married her daughter and conquered her kingdom. There were other marriages too, all of which increased his empire. The story ends with 8 Deer conquering Xipe's Bundle in 1101 and killing his wife's father (his half sister's husband) 11 Wind. He also tortured and killed his brothers-in-law, except for the youngest, 4 Wind. In 1115, 4 Wind led an alliance of different Mixtec kingdoms against 8 Deer who was taken prisoner and sacrificed by 4 Wind (his nephew and brother-in-law).
The names of the nobles were derived from their date of birth, according to the Mixtec Calendar. He earned the Tiger's Claw part through his prowess as a warrior.
