On a mountain high above Oaxaca lies one of the most significant archaeological sites in all of Mexico, Monte Albán. This mountain top was home to the Zapotec people for thirteen centuries. It is jointly UNESCO listed, with the city of Oaxaca itself. UNESCO describe it as, ‘an outstanding example of a pre-Columbian ceremonial centre’. The listing summarises the site’s history:
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So today I am aiming to make you all hungry! Oaxaca is often dubbed the gastronomic capital of Mexico, so where better place to go on a food tour with a local?
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When I told people we were going to Mexico, a frequent piece of advice was, make sure you visit Oaxaca. It’s beautiful, they said, and the food is amazing! The advice however was unnecessary, as the city was already on my must-see list. And Oaxaca de Juárez, to give it its full name, definitely lived up to my expectations.
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I have a theory about penguins, which is that no one can watch one for any length of time without smiling. Certainly the truth of that theory was proved when we visited Antarctica and saw them for ourselves. Part of the appeal is that they walk upright, looking almost human. And they’re always so smartly dressed!
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In 1531 a peasant, Juan Diego, reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary on the hill of Tepeyac, today swallowed up in the metropolis of Mexico City. The Virgin, he said, spoke to him in in Nahuatl, his first language, asking that a church be built on the site in her honour.
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Some ten kilometres or so south of the centre of Mexico City lies historic Villa Coyoacán. Today it is a picturesque corner of the wider conurbation but was once a village in its own right. It was founded by the Tepecana people on the shores of Lake Texcoco, a huge lake now largely drained, its area occupied by Mexico City.
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The Sea of Cortez is considered one of the most diverse seas on earth, home to more than 5,000 species of micro-invertebrates. And where there are micro-invertebrates there are bigger animals too – sometimes much bigger. Blue whales come here to mate and calve each spring, while many other whale species are also to be seen, either seasonally or, in the case of fin and sperm whales, year-round.
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Long before the Aztecs set foot in what is today Mexico, another people built their city there, creating one of the first urban societies in the Americas. But little is known about these people. When the Aztecs arrived the city was already abandoned. Yet the new arrivals were so impressed by what they found that they named it Teotihuacan, 'the place where the gods were created'.
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There is only one solution to the challenge of jet lag in my opinion. Not a cure, but a way to minimise its impact. And that is, to ignore it as much as possible, adopt the time of your destination as soon as possible and stay active.
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For a few weeks during February and March each year blue whales, the world's largest mammals, visit the the Sea of Cortez off the eastern coast of the Baja California Sur peninsular. They come to calve, mate and feed on the krill that flourishes in its rich waters.
