Oaxaca, Week 11

One of the women in my Spanish class did a presentation on her travels to Oaxaca and inspired me to cap off this adventure in Oaxaca. My classes ended on December 13 and I headed down on December 15. I decided to continue my studies one more week with a school in Oaxaca. I joined a group of 4 other women, all retirees, but probably 20-25 years my senior. The afternoons were open for exploring.

The grand convent of Santo Domingo in the central part of Oaxaca. It houses a very extensive host museum, a botanical garden and a church, of course. 

A view of the convent from the botanical gardens. 

A corner of the ruins of Monte Albán with the mountains in the background. This is about 30 minutes outside of the city. One of the students I met in Mexico City was in Oaxaca and explored this with me. 

Hierve el agua (boil the water) natural wonder about 2 hours outside of Oaxaca City. There are natural springs full of minerals that create pools on top of this mountain and when the water spills over, it creates the appearance of a waterfall—but the water día actually just mineral deposits. Very cool. The water, however, is not boiling—it is pretty chilly. I brought my swimsuit but by the time we arrived around 5 pm, the air temperatures were too chilly for swimming. That didn’t stop some but it stopped me. 

Chapulines (fried grasshoppers) are all the rage in Oaxaca. This was one of several stalls in the market selling this snack. 

Oaxaca at dusk, taken from the Fortín lookout. 

Tule tree, the oldest tree in the world. It is more than 2000 years old. It is a cypress species and has the largest diameter  trunk recorded at ~14 meters. 

A random parade, celebrating chocolate, that I stumbled upon in the city center.