Birding, Ruins, and More in Mexico City and the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, Mexico
We flew to Oaxaca, Mexico to escape the wettest February on record in Portland, Oregon. The warm temperatures and sunshine were a relief from the damp sunless days. We love Oregon, but it's always nice to have a break in late winter. We started the trip in Mexico City, staying in a borough called Coyoacán. It is a quiet neighborhood with cobblestone streets and Spanish colonial buildings. It's also the location of the Frida Kahlo museum, arguably the most popular destination. The line was so long all day long that we decided to skip it and visit the former home of Russian Communism theorist, Leon Trotsky, which was a few blocks away. |
| Frida Kahlo Museum |
Leon Trotsky was granted asylum in Mexico after being forced into exile by Josef Stalin in 1929. Trotsky and his wife first lived in the blue house with Kahlo and Rivera. But, after a falling out about a year later, they moved to a nearby home, built like a fortress with a watch tower and guards' quarters. It was fortified to protect him from assassins.
A Marxist, Trotsky popularized socialist ideas and helped organize the South Russian Workers' Union. He was sent to prison where he met other revolutionaries. He and his wife were sentenced to exile in Siberia, escaped, and moved to London where he wrote for a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants (Iskra). The couple eventually divorced. Trotsky met Natalia Ivanovna Sedova and remarried. He continued to write for socialist newspapers in various countries, being deported multiple times and again returning to Russia to support the Russian Revolution of 1917 which ended the monarchy. A new government was set up with Leon Trotsky as foreign commissar. Trotsky eventually resigned the position was appointed People's Commissar of Army and Navy Affairs in which he gained full control of the Red Army. When Lenin died, Stalin aligned with others against Trotsky. He was expelled from the Soviet Union to Turkey, then France, Norway, and ultimately Mexico. He was killed in 1940 by Russian assassins.
Trotsky lived in this Coyoacán house until his death. The construction of the house began in 1903. It was originally owned by Mr. Antonio Turati as a country residence. It had a large garden, watch tower, and T-shaped residence. Trotsky rented the property after doing some remodeling and fortification and moved in on May 5, 1939. In April 1940 he purchased it with funds from the Socialist Workers' Party of the United States.
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| Trotsky Residence |
After purchasing the home, Trotsky made modifications such as raising the level of the walls around the garden, building a guard tower, a guard house, chicken coop and garage.
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| Dining Room |
The house has seven rooms: the kitchen, the dining room, a bathroom, the study of Trotsky, the office of Natalia and the secretaries, the bedroom of the grandson and the bedroom of Trotsky and Natalia. The Mexican government purchased the home after Trotsky's death in 1940 and his wife lived there until her death in 1962.
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| Trotsky Grave Site |
After touring the house, we took a taxi to the Zócalo, or main square. We started a walking tour at the Palacio Nacional, which was closed for the day. We had seen this during a previous trip, so we started instead at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. Built in sections from 1573 to 1813, the cathedral sits on top of a sacred Aztec site. Conquistadors used stones from the destroyed temple of the Aztec god of war to build it.
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| Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary |
Next we visited the adjacent Templo Mayor, which is an excavation site for one of the main Aztec temples of Tenochtitlan (the Aztec capital city). The main shrine on this site stood 150 feet high, but it was demolished by the conquistadors who used the stones to build the adjacent cathedral. The Archaeological Institute of America provides a good description of the site. In 1978, electrical workers discovered a large stone disc carving of the Aztec moon goddess Coyolxauhqui. The city subsequently tore down the colonial buildings and began excavation of the ruins. The museum at the site contains findings from the excavation, but we didn't have time for a tour.
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| Templo Mayor |
We walked towards the Palacio de Correos de Mexico (Postal Palace of Mexico City), which was designed by the same architect that designed the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Adamo Boari). The postal palace was built between 1902 and 1907 and it has remained in continuous operation as a post office.
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| Postal Palace |
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| Palacio de Bellas Artes |
We walked on to the Casa de los Azulejos (House of Tiles). This is a palace remodeled with tiles in the 18th century by the Count del Valle de Orizaba family, one of the wealthiest families in Mexico. The entire exterior of the house is covered in glazed ceramic tiles. The house was acquired in 1919 by the Sanborns, a retail company.
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| Casa de los Azulejos |
We took a spin though the Torture Museum. Really horrific devices are on display.
The next day we flew to Oaxaca City. One of the first sites we saw was a free orchestral performance on the zócalo. We visited a few sites in the main tourist zone, first of which was the Casa de Benito Juarez. Benito Juarez was president of Mexico for five terms from 1858 to 1872. He is remembered for bringing equal rights to the indigenous population, reducing influence of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexican politics, and defending national sovereignty when France occupied Mexico and Napoleon III tried to transform it into a monarchy.
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| Casa de Benito Juarez |
Another notable site in Oaxaca City is the Templo de Santo Domingo. The adjacent structure was formerly a convent and has been transformed into a Cultural Museum (Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca). Construction on this complex began in 1575 and wasn't completed until 1619 although the friars occupied it in 1608 when an earthquake destroyed their San Pablo convent. The military occupied the building throughout its history, so much of the original interior decoration was destroyed.
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| Templo de Santo Domingo, Oaxaca City |
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| Inside the Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca |
From inside the Museum, there is a nice view of the Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca, a botanical garden that features plants from Oaxaca State. Visits are by guided tour only.
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| Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca |
The museum is large and can take a good part of the day to tour. There are countless artifacts, pre-Hispanic pottery, jewelry, tools, and the famous turquoise skull which was discovered in 1931 within the Treasury of Tomb 7 at Monte Albán.
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| Turquoise Skull from Monte Alban |
We ended the day enjoying some mezcal with beer and peanuts roasted with chilies. The following morning we drove to Monte Albán, which is about 20 minutes southwest of the city center. The site was inhabited over a period of 1,500 years by the Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mixtecs. Its features were carved out of the mountain in 500 BC. There are carved stone monuments on the site known as the "Danzantes" or dancers. The carvings are of naked men with mutilated genitals and are said to represent sacrificed victims.
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| Danzantes |
It's possible to climb up the South Platform for an incredible view of the site. There is a large flat area on top with two small pyramid temples separated by a patio. Many websites describe the history and structures at the site in detail.
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| South Platform |
The rest of the day was spent driving to the Sierra Norte region. We saw few birds there, probably because we arrived in the mid-day. We decided to drive back down and explored some of the small towns south of Oaxaca City including El Tule and Teotitlán del Valle, a small village known for its weaving. The next day, we wanted to drive south to the coast. We took the highway to Puerto Angel.
En route, we first stopped at the Mitla ruins about 44 km south of Oaxaca City. Mitla, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was a Zapotec religious center. Individually cut and polished mosaics cover the buildings and tombs. The pieces were fit together without mortar. The site grew to its largest size between the years 750 and 1521 and was still operating when the Spanish arrived. In 1544, the Spanish built the Church of San Pablo on top of a Mitla platform.
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| San Pablo church next to ruins |
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| Mitla mosaic tiles |
There are tombs under some of the buildings, also decorated in mosaic tiles. Cadavers were deposited in the tombs with offerings. As new cadavers were added, the previous were moved aside. These tombs are larger and more ornate than those at Monte Alban.
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| Entrance to one of the Mitla tombs |
We continued on. The road to Puerto Angel is a treacherous highway that twists and turns with steep drop-offs and few guard rails. The twisting, turning road seems to go on and on with tope (speed bump) after tope.
We again stopped midway in a town called San Jose del Pacifico, which sits precariously on the edge of a steep mountain side. We took the opportunity to do some birdwatching from our lodge, the Refugio Terraza de la Tierra. Most abundant species were Townsend's Warbler and Yellow-Rumped Warbler. The town is known for its hallucinogenic mushrooms but we didn't seek those out. Very nice cabins and property.
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| Dwellings near San Jose del Pacifico |
The next day we had another long, winding drive to Puerto Angel on the coast. Puerto Angel is not a touristy town and is pretty basic. The surf and coastline were very dangerous. The ocean is not inviting and there were red flag warnings of rip tides.
We moved onward to Zicolito Beach and finally reached our destination: Zicaleta Beach in Puerto Escondido. Beautiful sunset.
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| Zicaleta Beach, Puerto Escondido, Mexico |
The next morning we got up early for a bird watching trip we had booked in the Laguna Manialtepec. It's a coastal lagoon about 18 km west of Puerto Escondido known for bird watching and bioluminescence from algae living in the lagoon. We had a good day and saw plenty of birds. Unfortunately we didn't book well in advance and our guide was not very knowledgeable. My favorite of the trip were the Woodstork, Boat Billed Heron and mating Great Frigate Birds. The Bare-Throated Tiger Heron was also very beautiful. It's hard to choose a favorite.
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| Mating Great Frigate Birds |
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| Mangrove Trees in Laguna Manialtepec |
The next day we started early because the drive back to Oaxaca City was 5.5 hours. Again, the road was treacherous. It must have been so tiring for Jeff because it was tiring just sitting there! Once in the city, we ended the trip with a tasting of some high-end mezcal in the In Situ Mezcaleria tasting room. We sampled mezcal made from a variety of agave plants. It was very educational. Overall a really nice trip.
