Raahi – A traveling family

Besides celebrating the Dias de los muertos, we had primarily come to oaxaca to meet with our friends Rafa and Bere, so after the festival, they invited us to their home in Puerto Escondido for “a few days”.

They have a beautiful house a few meters away from the beach, in La Punta, a famous surf spot on the southern side of Puerto.

They designed the house themselves, and it was built over a period of 10 years while they were living in Paris with regular trips to Puerto.

Built on slanting ground, the house spreads over 4 different levels and features an inner courtyard with a pool and an open living space and kitchen on the top floor, under a traditional palapa roof made of palms, with a view on the sea and the sunset !

By the time the house was ready, Airbnb had become a thing and tourists started pouring into town, so they caught the wave and what was supposed to be Rafa’s music room was converted into a studio apartment for rent. It’s been fully booked ever since!

Bere and Rafa made us feel right at home, and after 2 months of moving around non stop, we felt we could finally rest a bit. On top of that, the temperature in Puerto made us feel a bit lethargic and the pool was a benediction !

Puerto was a great break from a long series of touristic spots. It is a touristic spot too, but here we had an actual social life with friends, birthday parties and routine activities.

To gather the Oaxaca crowd once more, Mary organised a big Indian lunch. We cooked veg kurma, cabbage sabji, dahl, rice and kheer 😋

In spite of the heat, our stay in Puerto was quite sportive! We tried surfing, bodyboard, skateboard and a bit of hiking in the back country. And Cyril and Laurence, whom we met the week before in Oaxaca, are Thai boxing teachers (with Cyril holding 2 world championship records!). They were so good at sharing their passion that we started taking classes with them 3 times a week.

From the Oaxaca crowd we also became friends with Ludo and Olivia, Gonzalo and Laura, and Simone, a surf champion from Venezuela, creator of the Volt beachwear brand.

On Saturday, Bere and Rafa took us to the Manialtepec laguna for a lovely boat excursion by the sunset. We had a bonfire and marshmallows on the beach, and on the way back, we jumped in the water in complete darkness to witness the amazing bioluminescence phenomena; small algae that produce light and make the laguna ressemble a river of diamonds 💎. Fabulous 😍

The next day we celebrated Ludo’s birthday in the shade of palm trees on the Agua Blanca beach.

Our hyperactive host Rafa also had an exhibition of his work in an artsy gallery / restaurant. For the opening, he invited me to play a duo gig with him 🎸

Rafa also introduced me to his good friend Mao; a talented musician and composer who owns a bar in La Punta. We jammed in the middle of the night in the closed establishment, accompanied by a few shots of mezcal.

After 10 days in Puerto we thought it would be wise to let pur hosts breathe a bit and resume our journey. At the same time, it felt too short and I didn’t feel like leaving. That’s when Mary had the great idea of falling ill! The doctor prescribed some antibiotics and we decided to postpone our departure by a week.

Mary soon got better and we enjoyed the company of our friends a bit longer 🙂

We also took the opportunity to squat Rafa’s workshop and learn the basics of pottery. Leo made a few sculptures and Mary managed to make her first bowl.