I
was awake early so I did some research and had a shower before getting ready to
watch some rugby online (Springboks vs World XV). Unfortunately I couldn't find
the game online so I followed a bit of the commentary before the internet died
and we decided to get some good.

Maya
and I went to the market to grab a fresh fruit juice. She continued shopping
while I made my way to my first beach. It was a bit of a walk but very much
worth it. I followed some roads that were winding down a hill before I came
across my first beach if the day, Playa Bacocho. The beauty of this beach is
that it is not over built. There were a few beach bars but other than that it
was isolated and I got to enjoy the jungle merging with the beach and ocean.

From
here I made my way toward the town and found a little path through the bushes
that took me to the road where I made my way to the next beach, Playa
Carizalillo. To get there I climbed down some stairs and enjoyed the beach
slowly presenting itself to me through the trees. It is a small beach about
200m long and full of huts, bars and people. The sea was very strange and the
beach dropped onto the ocean very sharply. On the beach I bumped into Carl and
Saadia and we sat and chatted a while and I enjoyed a beer before the Oaxaca
reunion was completed with Danielle joining us. We chatted a little longer
before I made my way up the stairs and off to the next beach, Playa Manzanillo.

This
is actually two beaches split by some rocks. Both are very small and the one
side was packed with people, fishing boats and pelicans while the other had
very little activity on it. I'm not sure why there was such a difference but I
didn't stay there long as they were not the greatest beaches.

My
next stop was Playa Principal. The first thing I noticed as I approached the
beach was a massive unfinished building. It looked like construction was halted
but all that was there was the cement shell and it could be seen from
everywhere.

I
walked along Playa Principal and onto Playa Marinero and ended up on Playa
Zicatella. The walk was an interesting one as it was hot and humid and I was
sweating but it was also raining! People were enjoying the shelter of their
beach umbrellas while watching their families go for a swim.

All
along the beach there were beach bars playing music and inviting me to come
join them for a drink and some food. I kept walking along the beach until I had
reached about half way and I decided to walk up to the road and see what it was
like. After a while I decided I needed a beer break so went into one of the
beach bars and enjoyed a few beers before catching a cab back to the hostel.

It
was getting late so I grabbed a tlayuda (basically a Mexican pizza) for dinner
and waited for my tour to Laguna Manialtepec  to enjoy a swim in its phosphorescence. While
waiting for my pickup I enjoyed some beer with the hostel owner while she told
me stories of her hitchhiking trip around Africa.

The
tour was dominated by local tourists which was great to see. We took a drive
out to the laguna where we jumped on a little boat and went out into the middle.
It had been overcast in the day so there was no moon light to worry about so it
was relatively dark. While making our way to the middle we enjoyed the streaks
of light created by the fish darting away from the boat. Once we stopped we
jumped in and started playing with the phenomenon. As you move through the
water there is a trail of light left behind. It felt like I had some magical
powers and that the water was alive. After playing for a while I tried to get
some photos but unfortunately there wasn't enough light to see anything.

After
all the energy I used to create lots of light I slowed my movements down and
watched the lights reveal themselves individually. As I raised my arm out of
the water I could see a few of them slowly washing through the hair on my arms.
It was as if there was gold and silver dust in the water. I felt like a little
mermaid!

After
enjoying the phenomenon some more we got back into the boat and made our way
back to the shore and the hostel where I finished off my beer and went to bed
and watched a movie.