Trip description

Mazunte is a village located on Oaxaca's coast inhabited by people from the mountain range who settled there about 40 years ago in order to benefit from the area's endless resources and untouched beaches. Specifically, they dedicated themselves to massive fishing and the exploitation of sea turtles. This unlimited exploitation led to the sea turtle's potential extinction, so in 1990 a ban was imposed. This however led to widespread unemployment and extreme poverty for most local families.

With the help of National and International Organizations a program to create long term economic development was established. Within this program a small cosmetics factory was born and a sea turtles museum.

Cosméticos Naturales de Mazunte, S. de S.S.: By purchasing Mazunte products we are supporting an ecological project which not only benefits this community but also protects the sea turtles and wildlife of Oaxaca's coast.

Finca de cafe "El Mamey"

Finca "El Mamey" is located between Salina Cruz and the Huatulco Bays, not far from the village of Santa Maria Xadani.

The founder of the Finca arrived in Oaxaca in 1935 from Germany, bought a piece of land and began planting coffee in the middle of the jungle. Today the coffee still grows in the shadow of the exuberant vegetation on the slopes of the Southern Sierra. The jungle's flora provides a rich soil and perfect conditions for growing coffee.

Today, the Finca is managed by the third generation of the Mattern family. The falling price of coffee makes it increasingly difficult for the family to maintain the house and plantation. For this reason they have opened the Finca to visitors to supplement their income.

The house, built by the grandfather, has been tastefully renovated providing five double rooms for visitors. The coffee is harvested from November to March at which time you can participate in the process. There is a river close by where you can swim surrounded by butterflies (for example the fantastic Morph).

Finca de Cafe 'El Mamey' gives our visitors the ideal opportunity to experience life at a small coffee plantation. Its isolation, the unique flora and fauna and the hospitality of the Mattern family make this trip a unique experience and helps protect this small and unique paradise.

We can also organize workshops for bigger groups, such as cooking, handicraft classes, or workshops in traditional Indian medicine.

Trip details

Day 1 Transfer and Punta Cometa

We leave Oaxaca City at 7.00 h in the morning and drive about 6 hours crossing the sudden mountain range on a very windy road with beautiful lookout. Small break in San Jose del Pacifico at 2,700 m (8,860 ft) high.

From San Jose del Pacifico, we start our descend to the coast and the vegetation is changing dramatically from pine forest to coconut trees passing through a variety range of tropical vegetation such as coffee plants, hibiscus bushes, banana trees, bamboos, etc.

We stop for lunch in San Jose Chacalapa to get use to the hot and humid climate of the coast region. Late afternoon, we walk to the geographic most sudden point of the North American continent (Punta Cometa) to enjoy sunset.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel Altamira in Mazunte

Day 2 Natural cosmetic factory and community project „La Ventanilla“.

After breakfast we visit the natural cosmetic factory of Mazunte initiated by the Body Shop company and spend the late morning and afternoon at the beautiful beach of San Agustinillo.

The late afternoon is for exploring the fresh water lagoon and community project of La Ventanilla devastated by the hurricane Paulina in 1997. Since then, the villagers are working in an ecotouristic project to be able to recreate the balance in the ecosystem. We make a boat trip with a local guide in the lagoon where you can observe crocodiles, exotic birds and iguanas in their natural environment. If we are lucky we will be able to free small sea turtles. We stay in La Ventanilla for sunset and have dinner with the women cooperative of the community who manage a restaurant since 2002. Overnight stay at the hotel Altamira in Mazunte

Day 3

Sea turtle museum and transfer to the Coffee plantation.

After breakfast we visit the sea turtle museum of Mazunte. The capture and commerce of the sea turtles were, for many years, the best income for a lot of fishing villages around Mexico. 7 of the 8 existing sea turtle species come ashore in Mexico which means that nearly every species are endangered. Alone in Mazunte and San Agustinillo at certain days up to 2,000 sea turtles were killed and processed. The Mexican government in 1990 forbade this capture and many families lost their income. The sea turtle museum, opened in 1994, is an investigation and educational center. That was the fundament for a sustainable tourism to help creating a new income for the region. The natural cosmetic factory and the community project La Ventanilla are part of this sustainable development. Convince yourself from the success of these projects. We are very happy to see how these projects developed and stabilized themselves during the last years.

After exploring all the facets of Mazunte and surroundings we will discover a complete different face of the coastal area. On the way to the coffee plantation we visit another community project in Llano Grande. Driving time from Mazunte is about 3 hours. The community built a butterfly farm for conserving the unbelievable richness of these beautiful fauna. It is also used for educational purpose. After swimming in the waterfall of the community we continue our trip on dirt road to Santa Maria Xadani.

We continue our trip to the coffee plantation. Driving time is about 1 hour. The Coffee plantation “El Mamey” is placed 8 km from the village of Santa Maria Xadani and it’s hard to imagine what brought a German from Kaiserslautern to plant coffee and found a family in the middle of the jungle in the 30th. The Matterns' farmhouse is located far from civilization in the middle of the wet deciduous forest. The family will receive us kindly and while having dinner on a large, heavy, wooden table covered with German/Mexican delicatesses you will feel brought back to another time. The house is simple but charmingly renovated by the grand children. There are 3 shared bathrooms and only cold water, but even these wants wont take away an unforgettable memory of the stay from you. Overnight stay at the Finca

Day 4

This day is completely dedicated to the coffee plantation.

On a short hike through the cultivations Jose Angel, our local guide and youngest son of the family will show us the whole process from growing to processing organic coffee. The harvesting season is from November to March, so you as a visitor get a chance to help harvesting. On of the walks will lead us by a waterfall with natural whirlpools and swimming opportunity. If you get tired from all the walking you can relax in a hammock on the veranda and listen to the sounds of the jungle. Also Matilde can always use help in the kitchen especially with making the tortillas that can’t miss for any meal. Overnight stay at the Finca

Day 5

After a big breakfast we’ll have to say goodbye to this hidden paradise. There are different transfer options if somebody doesn’t want to go back to Oaxaca city:

Huatulco airport – 2.5 hours

• direct flights to Oaxaca city, Mexico City or Houston

Bahias de Huatulco – 2 hours (Public bus to San Cristobal or Tuxtla/ Chiapas)

Mazunte – 3.5 hours

Tehuantepec – 3 hours

Departures

Daily departures