Terry and I enjoyed a fun trip to Oaxaca this past March. We traveled with our good friend Dan Williams (Barbara Williams had to stay home with COVID). We had two great guides — Jorge Montejo Diaz and Amy McAndrews. Our route is shown in the map below (Oaxaca is star #5).

The mountains around Oaxaca offered beautiful views, particularly in the early morning. We also got to look down on the city of Oaxaca from several different perspectives.

A big reason for our trip was to see birds we’d never seen before (lifers), including those that only live in this part of Mexico (endemics). We were lucky to see many of these as well as birds we’ve enjoyed elsewhere.

Along with birding, we were able to visit an important archaeological site. Monte Alban is just outside present-day Oaxaca. It was settled first by Olmecs in about 500 B.C. It was occupied for at least 1,000 years and at its peak, an estimated 40,000 people lived here.

We left Oaxaca and went up into the Sierra Madre del Sul to explore very different habitats.

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec was an interesting place to visit. Only about 100 miles wide, it separates the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Largely agricultural today, before the Panama Canal opened it was a major trading route. Tehuantepec means “Hill of the Jaguar” in Zapotec.

We stayed several days in Santa Cruz de Huatulco. This town, commonly called Huatulco, is in an area where major trails have crossed since Indigenous times. It’s also on the Pacific Ocean. We spent a lovely morning on a pelagic birding trip from the Huatulco Harbor. “Huatulco” is an Aztec word meaning “Land where a Tree (or Wood) is worshipped”.

More beautiful creatures in the areas around Huatulco.

Some of the significant damage caused by Hurricane Agatha in 2022.

We ended the birding part of the trip back in Oaxaca. Then we were lucky to have Aline Hunziker, the daughter of our good friends, as a tour guide for the day. Here are a few of the interesting sights.

Oaxaca was a lot of fun! We look forward to making a return trip before too long, this time with Barbara and with more time to explore the area’s birds and ecosystems, weaving traditions, delicious food and mezcals.

If you’d like to see or hear more about this trip, let us know. We have a more complete story we can share in person or virtually.