The Road to Mahahual

“The road to Mahahual is long,” says John.

Three hours.

Peanuts.

I’ve done twenty-hour drives to British Columbia and Florida in one stretch, with a five-hour sleep break somewhere along the way, so three hours barely registers on my road-trip scale.

It is monotonous, though.

A long, perfectly straight line cutting through dense tropical bush. Miles and miles of green with very little else to break the view. And, judging by our previous adventures, probably home to all manner of strange creatures with absolutely no respect for flip-flops.

Eventually we made it through town. “Town” being a generous description. It was more of a blink-and-you-miss-it passage before the pavement gave way to an increasingly rough dirt road and fishermen ropes across the road to remind drivers that this is a quiet town

A few kilometres took us nearly half an hour.

Then, suddenly, an open gate.

And a woman running toward us with the biggest, most welcoming smile.

The kind of smile that says:

“I’m so happy you’re here! We’ve been waiting for you!”

This was Irma.

She led us around the property, where she and her husband, Oscar, the caretaker, showed us our little hidden house right on the beach.

Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas.

The House of the Sky of the Stars.

It was a wonderfully eccentric, hippie-style construction, designed around the idea that the sea air would move through the rooms and naturally cool the house.

I don’t know about John’s room, but mine was definitely not receiving that particular memo.

It was boiling.

Luckily, for my Canadian cold-blooded constitution, Oscar had a fan he could lend me.

Night one was a challenge.

I could literally twist the dress I was wearing around my chest and watch water drip onto the floor.

Who knew fingers could sweat?

It took me several hours to finally fall asleep.

And surprisingly, it wasn’t the large black scorpion we encountered in the living room shortly after settling into the house.

It was the humidity.

No air conditioning.

I remembered planning my trip to Huautla de Jiménez during rainy season and asking whether there would be AC.

What a silly question.

Apparently, Mexico’s rain season is an excellent character-building exercise.

The airflow here was not exactly sophisticated, but with my friendly little fan beside me, night two was considerably more comfortable.

And then there was the roof.

The house is named Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas, and once you climb the large white concrete steps beside the balcony, you reach the rooftop.

A huge, open space tiled simply and decorated with a few cacti and flowering plants.

But what makes it extraordinary is what isn’t there.

Nothing.

No roof overhead.

No jungle canopy.

No light pollution.

Just an enormous opening to the night sky.

And the stars.

So many stars.

I have seen spectacular skies in Argentina all the way to the remote reaches of Canada. I have spent nights far from cities where the Milky Way seems almost close enough to touch.

But this was different.

I lay there on the cool tiled floor, sea breeze moving gently across my skin, and stared upward into constellations I didn’t recognize.

Even the familiar ones seemed to have rearranged themselves.

Back home, the Big Dipper is practically an old neighbour, hanging above my garden for much of the year. Here, I could only make out the pan handle of Ursa Major.

It made me think about the extraordinary celestial calculations of the Maya, the Aztec and other ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica.

Their calendars weren’t simply ways of counting days. They were ways of understanding cycles, time and the movement of the heavens. The Maya, in particular, understood a 52-year calendar round, created by the interlocking cycles of two calendars. When those cycles came back into alignment, an entire 52-year period had completed.

Fifty-two years.

A lifetime milestone.

A cosmic reset of sorts.

Lying there beneath a sky that looked completely different from the one I knew, I couldn’t help wondering what those ancient astronomers would have made of this particular view.

Mahahual itself is tiny.

A little pueblo whose economy has long depended heavily on the cruise ships that arrive along the coast.

The town stretches along the water, lined with beach clubs where you can eat seafood, drink something cold and spend the afternoon with your feet practically in the Caribbean.

There are little temporary shops selling souvenirs, crafts and all sorts of curious things.

Including shark jaws.

One gentleman had several displayed for sale and told us that he had fished the sharks himself.

He explained that you can apparently get an idea of a shark’s age from the number of teeth it has.

And the numbers are astonishing.

A younger shark may have around 500 teeth, while an older adult can have 1,500 to 2,000 or more when you count the multiple rows of replacement teeth.

Nature really did decide that one row of teeth was nowhere near enough.

And there I was, standing barefoot in Mahahual, looking at a shark’s mouth full of teeth while simultaneously wondering what other creatures might be lurking in the bush behind me.

Mexico continues to deliver.

But let’s not forget the shrimp… I wanted to sit on the beach under a palapa, having a cold drink. I ordered an ojo rojo michelada with bohemia cerveza. The Tajín rimmer was delicious and tasted home made. It started to rain. Coming from the sea, the palapa a shield to allow us to continue enjoying the moment outside. And then a couple came and ordered food at a table nearby. The only other clients. Shrimp. It smelled riquisimo!

I had to order a plate. It was getting late in the day and our hosts were preparing fresh Róbalo for us when we got back to the house. An appetizer before the 1/2hour drive back for dinner.

We arrived to see our hosts happily waving us in again, telling me that they had just started frying the fish. I could not wait!

This could not be fresher. From the fisherman to the grill on wood fire. The perfect smoke and seasoning. It was a feast. Thank you Irma ♥️

Tomorrow promises more adventures. I secured a gentleman who agreed to spend a good chunk of the day with me. I am really excited and I hope you are too!