How to Travel Safely (More or Less) to Oaxaca During Covid
My son Jacob always reminds me that each of us has a different comfort level of risk for contracting the virus. As we face new mutations — Delta, Omicron, Whatever is Next — we need to take a pulse for our own willingness to travel by plane. Whether we are traveling within the U.S. to […]
Masks Up Oaxaca
I’ve arrived. And I’m astounded at the safety precautions in Oaxaca city. I spent Friday in the city. First, I met Carol for brunch at El Tendajon at the corner of Calle Constitución and Pino Suarez. You can’t just walk in! There’s a gate. They check your temperature and ask you to use Ha d […]
Travel Day to Oaxaca: Ready, Set, Go
I’m double masked. First, an N95 then covered with my handmade cloth mask made at the height if the pandemic by friend Sam Robbins. (She makes beautiful masks because she is a quilter.) Do I feel more secure? With my third Pfizer booster and a flu vaccine, I’m still feeling jittery and a bit anxious. […]
Oaxaca’s Llano Park is Alive and Well: Travel Report from Winn Kalmon
Note from Norma: Like many of us, Winn Kalmon has a permanent residence in Oaxaca as well as the USA (or Canada). One of her favorite places to hang-out is Llano Park, which she describes here. We are far from back to normal, and may well never be, yet the transition to having a vaccine […]
Home to Oaxaca: Travel Report from Carol Estes
Norma’s Note: Carol arrived in Oaxaca a week ago after a one-year absence like most of us who go back and forth. I met her years ago in front of Santo Domingo Church when she had just arrived in Oaxaca to live permanently. (Covid proved to us that nothing is permanent — another life lesson.) […]
Three Steps Closer to Oaxaca
I now have a signed contract for the sale of my Durham, NC, condo after two months on the market. Patience is a test in so many ways. We have struggled, endured, survived this last year when many haven’t. I remind myself daily that this is a blessing and carry on. Now I can begin […]
Borat Says: Go to Oaxaca! NOT. Covid Rages.
Sasha Baron Cohen’s film, The Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan parodies, in part, the lack of leadership that was required to prevent the spread of Covid-19. I found it telling, hilarious, offensive and an indictment of the USA. If you’ve seen it, […]
A Oaxaca, Mexico Visit. Should You Go?
This is a rhetorical question. One I ask myself daily these days. All recent reports point to NO. The city (and state) ebb and flow between Orange (caution) and Red (STOP). Right now, the governor has declared Code Red. The Covid-19 euphemism for DANGER. Here is what Alvin Starkman, owner of Oaxaca Mezcal Educational Tours, […]
Fight, Flight or Hide: Danger, Covid-19, A Rant
North Carolina rates of infection are on the rise. We are in the Bruised Red, Uncontrolled Category. This is alarming. We may not be in the Top 5 outbreaks in the Southern States, but we are inching there. Wherever we are, whomever we are, we are at risk. And, in the face of what we […]
Post-Earthquake Report for San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas: Rumor or Fact
The 8.2 magnitude earthquake shook southern Oaxaca state and Chiapas a month ago on September 7, 2017. What’s the situation in Chiapas now? I asked my friends Ann Conway, owner of La Joya Hotel, and Bela Wood, owner of Bela’s B&B, for an on-the-ground report about the state of things in and around San Cristobal […]
Who Made My Clothes? Digging Deeper Into Fashion and Consumption
Who Made My Clothes? is a program of the Fashion Revolution. I’ve been following them and its co-founder Carry Somers since she came to Oaxaca in February 2016 to take one of my natural dye and weaving textile excursions. I introduced her to some of the weavers who make my clothes and the rugs that […]
Sunday Tlacolula Market Meander Map For Sale
It’s Sunday in the Oaxaca Valley. Time to spend the day at the amazing Tlacolula Market. Located about 45 minutes from Oaxaca City on the Carretera Nacional–Mexico 190–between Teotitlan del Valle and Mitla, the market is the biggest and IMHO, the best in the region. I suggest you get there by 11 a.m. and stay […]
Safety in Mexico City. Advice for Travelers. Featured in Mexico News Daily.
Mexico News Daily asked me to write about SAFETY IN MEXICO CITY. The feature story was published today! Let me know what you think. *** When The New York Times picked Mexico City as the #1 among 52 places to go in the world in 2016, I felt like doing a somersault. Finally, my much […]
Have you been to Mexico City? Is it SAFE? Share your comments.
Hi, dear readers: I’m planning to write a feature article about Mexico City safety, and would like to hear your opinions about visiting there. Here are some ideas: Where do you live? Why did you go to Mexico City? How was your experience arriving at the Mexico City airport? What about getting a taxi to […]
Being a Oaxaca Host: Lessons for People and Nations
My friend Debbie from North Carolina came to visit me in Oaxaca this week. It was a fast three nights and two-and-a-half days. We packed a lot in as the news of the world was (and continues to) unfolding, raging, tangling itself up around us. I wanted to show her my world here. Archeological sites. […]
Oaxaca Safety and Day of the Dead: Come or Cancel?
I’m hearing about people thinking of canceling their Day of the Dead trips to Oaxaca this year. Someone said they were afraid of the Zika virus. I haven’t heard of any cases being reported here. Fear is powerful. I returned to Oaxaca five days ago. It was an easy flight from Orange County, California (SNA) to Mexico […]
Oaxaca in Recovery? Let’s Hope So.
Mexico has a long tradition of taking her issues to the streets. Protest is an acceptable way of airing grievances here. Many of you have heard or been reading about the teacher’s union demonstrations and blockades over the last month that this week became a flare-up of tragic consequences as federal police and demonstrators confronted […]
12 Health Tips for Mexico Travel: What NOT to Eat and Drink
Only drink purified bottled water OR ask for un vaso de agua de garafon — a glass of water from the big blue purified water bottle Only brush your teeth with purified bottled water. Do not use tap water for drinking. Hand washing with soap is okay. Keep your mouth shut when taking a shower! […]
Is Mexico Safe? My Experience
Is Mexico safe? I just got back to Oaxaca after traveling for three weeks in Mexico City, Estado de Mexico and Michoacan. In Michoacan there is a U.S. State Department Travel Advisory, (I include this link to safety vs. sensationalism.) I went to Morelia, Patzcuaro and rural villages. I traveled far out into the countryside in […]
Food Alert! Guzina Oaxaca Opens in Mexico City
Casa Oaxaca is one of our favorite go-to restaurants in Oaxaca. Sit on the roof. Overlook the spectacular roofline of Santo Domingo Church. Indulge in a tamarind mezcalini. Follow this with a perfectly prepared seared sea bass or duck tacos. Each sauce that accompanies is an art form in its own right. Finish with something […]
Guelaguetza 2014 Photo Out-takes — Oaxaca Folkloric Fesitval Dazzles Crowd
It’s more like a party than a traditional performance. Oaxaca’s annual Guelaguetza folkloric festival draws crowds from throughout Mexico and all over the world. If you hang around the stage at the end while most of the crowds leave, you might be handed a small cane cup filled with mezcal and get a close-up […]
How safe is Mexico City for a single female traveler?
This question just came in: How safe is Mexico City for a single female traveler? This is my experience. I have been flying from the USA directly to Mexico City for the last several years. I do this to know Mexico better. Usually I travel solo, alone, single, without a companion. The Mexico City airport […]
Picking Up a Truck Driver at the Oaxaca Big Box
Out in front of the largest warehouse big box retailers in Oaxaca (you will tar and feather me if I mention the name), you can usually find a truck driver willing to carry the goods you just bought to anywhere in the city or surrounding villages — for a price. This is an essential and […]
Guelaguetza Photography Workshop in Oaxaca, Mexico
7 nights, 8 days, July 26-August 2, 2013. Our Guelaguetza Photography Workshop gives you an opportunity to capture indigenous folkloric traditions and build upon your photography skills. Guelaguetza is a magical time in Oaxaca when indigenous people come to the city from throughout the rural areas of the state adorned in their finest handmade traje (indigenous dress). On […]
Are You Safer in Mexico or America?
Should I travel to Mexico? Is it safe? What about Oaxaca? Robert Reid, Lonely Planet’s US travel editor wrote a blog post on May 10, 2012 about safety in Mexico, offering six reasons why Mexico is safe. The headline is Are You Safer in Mexico or America? The Huffington Post picked it up and published […]
Was Malia Obama in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca today?
I am going to posit a guess that Malia Obama was in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca today with her classmates. It was three o’clock in the afternoon and Pedro Montaño Lorenzo and I were on our way out-of-town heading to Matatlan in search of El Cortijo mezcal. Pedro had just asked me if I thought […]
Is the U.S. Media Complicit? Feeding the Fear Frenzy About Travel to Mexico
We are having an on-going discussion among friends who live in Mexico and in the U.S. about whether the news media in the U.S. is complicit in creating fear about travel to Mexico. On March 18, 2012, The New York Times published a story about kidnappings in Matamoros, that borders the U.S. The headline was: […]
Oaxaca: Beauty is Everywhere — And It’s Safe, Too
Oaxaca is beautiful and safe, says Elliot Stoller, who visited in December 2011. He recently wrote to me and ordered the self-guided tour map of Teotitlan del Valle to prepare for his trip next year. Elliot’s photos are so beautiful that I want to share them with you (with his permission, of course). And his […]
Yaxchilan: Remote Mayan Site in Chiapas Jungle–Get There By Boat!
Yaxchilan (Yash-chee-lahn) is situated on the high banks of the Usumacinta River that borders Mexico and Guatemala, three hours southeast of Palenque. The secluded ruins are in a dense jungle only accessible by river boat, a good 30-minute ride from the launch site. The boat ride is a wonderful transition from now to then. In […]
Mexico Travel Safety: What Tourists Say
Gotta share this! The Mexico Taxi Project! Even though this video is created and paid for by the Mexican Tourism Board, I think you’ll see the truth and sincerity behind the message. Tourists from L.A., Chicago and New York were asked about their experiences in Mexico as they returned to the U.S. from vacation. Oaxaca […]