After two weeks in Puerto, we decided to escape for a couple of nights to Mazunte - a much smaller beach town further down the coast. We heard it was a little more chilled out, so it seemed like the perfect place for a bit of a change of scenery.
We booked a cabin tucked away in the trees. Essentially a wooden cabin open to the elements, with mosquito nets being the only thing separating us from all the creepy crawlies. Our host had warned us about the possibility of scorpions too. Eeek.
There was, however, a lovely hammock with a gorgeous view, and being away from all the madness was exactly the peace I needed.
Once we’d settled in, we wandered into town and and immediately noticed how friendly everyone was. Mazunte had a completely different feel to Puerto - smaller, slower and much more local.
We got chatting to a local jewellery seller called Chel who told us we had to go to Punta Cometa for sunset.
Punta Cometa is the rocky headland that sticks out into the ocean and is one of Mazunte’s best known sunset spots. We had absolutely no idea where we were going, but followed his directions anyway.
After walking through the trees for a while, we eventually came out onto the cliffs of Punta Cometa, looking straight out over the Pacific.
The area has been considered sacred since pre-Hispanic times and was once used as a ceremonial site.
It’s strange to think how some traditions seem to carry on in different forms. Thousands of years later, people are still gathering in the same spot as the sun goes down, just with slightly different reasons for being there.
We arrived just in time for sunset, and it was beautiful.
The next morning, we went out for breakfast and, once again, chatting to a local we had another recommendation, to do a mangrove tour.
He agreed to take us and we blindly followed him into a taxi. We still don't know today whether he was an actual guide or we just paid this man to come along with us, but no regrets, it turned out to be one of the best things we did.
We found ourselves at La Ventanilla, a small community-run ecological project just outside Mazunte, hopped onto a little boat and headed into the mangroves.
The boat took us through the lagoon, surrounded by mangroves, palms and loads of wildlife.
Iguanas hanging out in the trees.
Some huge crocodiles swimming right up alongside the boat - didn't manage to get my camera out in time so just have stills from a video.
And loads of different types of birds. My favourite was the egrets and the little woodpeckers.
La Ventanilla is also home to white-tailed deer, which we spotted wandering around the reserve. Super cute.
Also honorable mention to Jupie, a rescued spider monkey who lived at the centre.
He REALLY liked Emma and refused to let her go.
We finished our Mazunte trip watching the sunset on the beach with some cocktails and Monopoly Deal in hand.
