Zipolite has been relaxing….sun, beach, beer and swimming (but only when it’s safe and the swimming is a bit more of a rolling in the waves than actual swimming. It has been quiet without the boys yet we are somehow coping. We met a guy named Byron who took us out snorkeling and out into the open Ocean to see the wildlife. We thought HEY THIS IS A GREAT IDEA…it wasn’t until we were out on the ocean in the little dingy, little did I realize just how uncomfortable I was…in fact Claire and I had the ´I am so scared that I am pretending to smile to see if it helps´ expression on our faces. But soon we were calmed as we got into the rhythm of the motions. Although it didn’t help that Byron would say… “See the birds, there is something over there….ooooh and it looks big…..maybe a whale, or possibly a shark” Needless to say this did not help me whatsoever with my great fear of sharks. We saw many turtles, some with birds just chillin on their backs as they cruised along…we caught fresh fish for lunch (which was delicious)…we saw spotted dolphins, and were hoping to swim with them, but when Byron jumped in there were Jellyfish EVERYWHERE, that and the fact that it was in the big wide open ocean. The scariest thing we saw was the sea-snake…did anyone else know about this? They are pure water creatures that are some of the most poisonous snakes in the world [shudders]. Aside from the dolphins our best sight was a 500 kilo Manta Ray…this thing was HUGE and it swum right under the boat revealing its white underbelly. The “wings” I guess you would say, would surface while its body was this black sheet rippling the water around it.

We finally found a quiet beach and jumped in. Claire would a see a small jelly fish and let out a yelp which would freak me out, thinking it was a shark, and all the while Izzy and Sonya would just laugh at us. We saw some great sea urchins but the water was cloudy and aside from that we only saw a few colorful fish ….but it was nice just to swim around a bit. We had the fish that Byron caught for lunch and then returned to Zipolite.

The next day we left zipolite, but not without an experience. While we were waiting for the collective (an open back truck that literally collects people on its route and only cost $1 each) we were hassled by the taxi drivers who wanted take us for a larger fee. The taxi cabs told us that they no longer came to our pick up at that point in the day, and when one came they sabotaged us by telling him to leave and not pick us up. Needless to say we were NOT impressed so what to do…ask a local woman….who directed us to a pick up spot to get back to Pochutla. Two boys followed us who were also waiting for the Collectivo. Finally our Collectivo came and we met an Irish Guy, John, who helped us pack up our bags, it was at this point that one of the boys snatched Izzy´s beautiful camera with all the best photos and took off running. Izzy turned around ask for the camera and quickly put 2 and 2 together.

Izzy and John Took off after them, a motorist turned around and followed them along with a taxi driver (a nice one not from the others that hassled us). Unfortunately Izzy and John returned empty handed, they caught one guy who claimed he was chasing after the other guy with the camera. We got into the collectivo and headed towards our bus station to catch a bus at 7pm….leaving a bad taste in our mouths we were thinking that Zipolite might be forever tainted. Claire and I tried to cheer up Izzy with Stories we had of cameras getting stolen but for some reason the cameras were always returned, this did not help matters. When we were halfway to Pochutla a taxi driver followed our collective and honked frantically “WAIT, STOP, CAMERA” We banged on the Collectivo´s glass and he pulled the car to a halt. Turns out that when we had given up the rest of the folks on the beach chased the guy for four kilometers until they caught him, the taxi had chased after us to let us know that they were holding him the police station and they had recovered the camera. Our faith in humanity and Zipolite was restored. The girls got into the taxi and Claire, John and I took the bags to the bus station. We were extremely lucky and now have one more recovered camera story.
Claire and I waited and the girls made to the bus in time, adrenaline rushing we loaded the bags got on the bus and faced a 12 hour night bus ride which was a bit harsh on the winding mountain road.

We arrived in San Cristobal yesterday at 6:30, it is at a much higher altitude and the mornings and evenings are really chilly! We called up a hostel that would pick us up from the station, when we called they were already standing outside the station. Sweet deal! The hostel has a nice family homey atmosphere will free internet and a cool lounge, it is only slightly skeevy with bedsheets that are so thin you can see through them, Claire and I are really glad to have our sleeping bag liners! Yesterday we wandered through the markets and all the beautiful handmade crafts. At night it gets crazy cold that we need toques and than during the day it warms up to sweltering temperatures that leave us in the shade chugging copious amounts of water. Not to mention that due to the pressure, when we opened our bottles sunscreens, conditioners they all exploded. The best was the sunscreen as we were on the side walk and the locals, including a collectivo had to pull over to laugh at us as they watched us deal with the mess of the sunscreen.

Today is a relaxing day, as San Cristobal is a nicer slower paced place. The quiet colonial town we have been looking for. Today we were hoping to hit up the indigenous market and explore more of the town, tonight we will be hitting up the live music and drumming in the park.

Cheers for now,

Simpson and Claire

P.S The Computer is better here so we hope to add images to our older posts later on this evening.