Surf's not up in Puerto Escondido

We packed up and headed out this morning in our little puddle-jumper car for Puerto Escondido. We'd heard tell of insane waves and wanted to see for ourselves. Ricardo and I know our friends and family fear for our safety in the Koliber, but we were in agreement that the greatest threat to our safety on this trip so far was venturing onto a crowded highway with this sub-car that we'd rented. We rolled with caution.

The road trip was only 1.5 hours and I only cried twice. I am feeling pretty softhearted right about now and I can't bear to see the hungry, emaciated animals that we would occasionally see along our route. Sometimes you feel so powerless to make a difference that you just want to close your eyes to the world. Maybe that's just me -- I don't know.

We checked into Budget Hotel #3. Lucky for me, it doesn't even have a doorknob! I'll leave that one to your imagination. We have the essential: A/C. That's all that matters to me.

By this point in the trip, I am starting to talk like Ricardo. I'm even thinking in his accent. If you know Ricardo, you know how funny this is. My English is degenerating daily, to such a degree that my observable Spanish and English skills are about on par.

In chatting with some folks here, we learned that last week's waves reported by our friends Jason and Angela on their blog were actually quite historic, rising to that level (some 35 feet) only rarely. Bummer to have missed those.

Today's waves were in the 15-ft range - still impressive viewing for a couple of novices like ourselves.

I struck up a couple of conversations on the beach with folks who turned out to be (1) a photographer for Surfer magazine; and (2) Grant "Twiggy" Baker, professional surfer and recent winner of the 2010 Billabong XXL Ride of the Year contest for this sweet ride.

This place is, in fact, pretty busy with taut, tanned surfer boys. They hibernate during the hot midday hours and appear magically, boards in tow, at about 6pm to paddle into the waves that are starting to be whipped up by the afternoon winds off the mountains.

Twiggy let us know he's predicting the best waves of the week in the morning and that all the surfers will be up at 5 and on the beach stretching and getting ready to paddle in by sunrise. Show starts at 6:30. We'll be there. I'll let you know how it goes.

Quick health report: Hot snakes all around last 24 hours. lol - I crack me up (thanks, Andrea). Anyway, I am pleased to report that what started out as a supposed bug bite and then morphed into what I'd feared was a flesh-eating bacteria has now subsided somewhat - leaving all the affected flesh intact, if not substantially different in texture and color for now. I had been on the verge of seeking medical attention.