First Impressions of Coastal Mexico

White sand and sun; surfers and sunbathers sharing endless tracts of wild beaches; refreshing dips in the ocean and afternoon naps under coconut trees… I’m guessing that’s how many might picture our last year in Mexico.

It couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, our Mexican bus life has been essentially the opposite. You probably already know that instead of white sand and ocean waves, we’ve seen the mountains and volcanoes, but what you may not know is that, here in the highlands of central Mexico, we’ve actually mostly been, well, cold.

All that changed a couple of weeks ago, when we drove down from the highlands near Mexico City and arrived in one of Mexico’s hottest, sunniest, and southermost cities – Acapulco.

It probably wasn’t a very smart idea to give ourselves such a drastic change of climate – at over 2,000m in elevation, we’ve spent the entire last year heating our home at night. [While the temperatures have never dipped below freezing, Phoenix is still too young to cover himself with a blanket at night so we try to keep the bus at around 16 degrees Celsius.] Though we tried to eat breakfast outside every morning, it was chilly enough that we’d heat a bowl of water to wash Phoenix’s food-encrusted cold hands. And we’d gotten so used to dressing him in layers for the day, keeping him indoors after breakfast until it was warmer, towel-drying his hair after baths, and using various methods to maintain heat inside the bus in the mornings and evenings that these habits had become unquestioningly second-nature.

When we step out of our Big Blue Bus onto the beachfront campground in Acapulco, the heat and humidity hit us like a ton of bricks. The only other time I remember feeling such a shockingly heavy heat was when I arrived for the first time in Bangkok and stepped out of the airport. Unbeknownst to me, Bruno was reminded of the exact same experience (even though his had been twenty years earlier!).

We have spent the last couple of weeks developing a new routine – one that involves us preparing for the heat of the day rather than the cold of the night. We know to keep our air vents closed when driving so as not to blow in hot outdoor air – we’ve even closed off the outdoor vent behind the fridge because the air was causing the fridge to overheat. We’ve developed an automatic timing as to when to turn the AC unit on so it’s cool enough to sleep. Instead of warming stews and curries, we eat salads of all varieties. We’ve stopped dressing Phoenix at all; and not only do we not have to towel-dry him after baths, but he takes his baths outside, multiple times a day, in cold water. In fact, he pretty much keeps himself drenched in water from morning until night.

All these are minor changes, really, but they did mark an abrupt, and eye-opening, change to our Mexico routine!

Apart from the heat – which truly has been a challenge, Phoenix even got a gigantic 4-day long heat rash – we are enjoying our time so far in coastal Mexico. There is something about being along the ocean that makes me feel like we’re on more of a vacation. It may seem to the reader that our life is a vacation, but truthfully, life on the road can become just as hum-drum as life in a house, and we bog ourselves down just as much with to-do lists and responsibilities. On the coast, though, I’m more likely to give myself that 30-minute afternoon swim, or to lounge in a hammock with a coconut and a book.

Also, our overnight spots have been much more scenic than in central Mexico. Almost all have been directly on the beach, which means nightly sunsets over the ocean. At breakfast, Phoenix has been pointing out boats and seabirds and has been mesmerized with the crashing waves. From afar, anyway – from close-up, he is rather scared of this very tumultuous coastline.

As I write this, we have left Guerrero state, where we spent our two first weeks, and are about 350km north of Acapulco (check out this post to see where we are ultimately headed). Highway 200 is a scenic coastal highway that passes coconut plantations and other tropical foliage, offering occasional glimpses of glistening turquoise water. After the harrowing roads in the mountains of Mexico, this highway is a sheer pleasure to drive. It is mostly flat (as flat as Mexico seems to get, anyway), usually fairly wide, is quite evenly paved, and doesn’t seem to cross nearly as many towns with nearly as many topes (potholes). Whereas in the mountains, a 200km drive on non-toll roads could take us 8 hours, along the coast we seem to average a whopping 50km/h! This is actually life-changing!

So far, we are mostly enjoying the beaches and swimming pools that are available to us in each of the campgrounds we’ve opted to stay. Yes, we’ve enjoyed our fair share of coconuts – though Bruno is now in the market for a machete, as he’s had his fill of trying to open them with knives and axes. In Ixtapa there was a gorgeous bike path through the jungle, and a large enclosure for crocodiles and iguanas at a nearby public beach. I’ve walked up and down my fair share of beaches; Phoenix has eaten his fair share of sand. We’ve all had our fair share of mosquito bites. So far, I’d say Mexico’s Pacific coast has been a nice change of pace after a year in the mountainous interior.

We’re in Michoacan State now – the infamous turtle nesting state. Perhaps, after years of unsuccessfully searching for sea turtles I’ll get the opportunity to encounter them.

I knew Mexico was diverse, yet I’m still surprised that a simple 300km drive down a mountain could bring us to such a different experience of a country. Mexico seems to be one of those places that holds endless surprises for those willing to explore it. Being along the coast has been one of those surprises.