Oaxaca Pueblos

Hi everyone, I am going to be traveling in February to Oaxaca for five days, where four of those days will be spent exploring Oaxaca de Juárez, Monte Alban, and maybe Mitla/Hierve El Agua one day if I have time. I am interested in traveling to a pueblo on a Saturday and coming back Sunday early afternoon. I enjoy hiking, spotting wildlife, and coffee farms, but I am also a solo female traveler and am relying on public transit/camionetas/taxis. My Spanish is not fluent, but good enough to get around independently without trouble when I was in Mexico City last year. I've looked into potentially going to Ixtlán de Juárez, San Juan Bautista Valle Nacional, Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, Pluma Hidalgo, or Huautla de Jimenez. Does any of you have any recommendations or suggestions to what pueblo to go to with my interests and the ease of finding a place to stay? I read through mclarjh's trip report posts and they were very helpful in considering various pueblos. I appreciate any insight and suggestions!

Have you looked into the Pueblos Mancommunados? (Oft mentioned by mclarjh, btw).

Ixtlán de Juárez, San Juan Bautista Valle Nacional, Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, Pluma Hidalgo, or Huautla de Jimenez.

Some of these places are quite distant from Oaxaca, and might not be suitable for a single overnight. For example, Valle Nacional is approx four hours by bus one way; Pluma Hidalgo is approx five hours by van; Huautla de Jimenez is approx five hours by van; Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec is three hours by van or taxi; Ixtlan de Juarez is two hours by bus or taxi. But there are lots of other places that are only two hours away: Benito Juarez, Cuajimoloyas, Llano Grande, El Carrizal, Amatlan and Lachatao, and Arroyo Guacamaya, for example. The only problem will be coffee, not grown in the central mountains, but on the seaside slopes. You will see commercial flowers and other crops grown in the mountains, depending upon the local weather.

Check the Hoofing it in Oaxaca website, if you don't mind going with a group. Besides the once or twice weekly day trips, they do overnight trips once per month in the winter, and their schedule might coincide with yours.

Thanks to both of you! I will probably research more sights that are apart of los Pueblos Mancomunados. I saw that Valle Nacional had a coffee farm north in Rancho Grande, but haven't really heard much about it, only through a Mexican coffee webpage. Also, it seems that Lachatao is somewhat nearby Ixtlan de Juarez where I can possibly stop through along the way as well. I may check in with the tourism office in Oaxaca de Juarez as I get closer to my trip.

I see that Hoofing it in Oaxaca has a weekend trip to Benito Juarez planned February 3 & 4, 2018.

Yes, the vegetation in Valle Nacional was very green, and climate similar to Pluma Hidalgo, both seaside slopes, so not surprised if they have coffee there.

Amaranth is an old crop that's being revitalized in the central valleys; a cooperative and mill in Etla, if you're interested.

I would be interested in seeing an amaranth co-op. Where can I find some information? In the various pueblos mancomunados, what were the villages that were more prevalent with cloud forests/dense vegetation? Cloud forest is completely foreign to me and I would love to get a chance to see it! Thanks again, and I will keep digging through your posts!

The NGO promoting the reintroduction of amaranth is called Puente a la Salud Comunitaria, and I attended the presentation they made last winter at the Oaxaca Lending Library.

Most visitors to Oaxaca visit the cloud forest on the north slope (facing the Gulf) of the continental ridge, so La Neveria, Benito Juarez, Cuajimoloyas, and Llano Grande are all along this ridge. Most cloud forest is lower, and found on the slopes nearer the Gulf, and nearer the Pacific, but much further from Oaxaca city.

spotting wildlife

If you mean mammals, you'll have to look hard. Easier to spot birds in the central valleys and nearby mountains. There is a birding group that goes every Sunday morning during the winter meeting at 8 AM at the southeast corner of Llano park for a local half day excursion (but that would conflict with your out of town trip). You could study a few notable birds in advance, if you have the interest, for example: vermilion flycatcher; crested caracara; mountain trogon; to name a few. I understand you're not going to the seaside, but if you were it's easy enough to spot a dozen or so different species of fish near the shore (tomzap website has photos), and deeper sea species among the fishermen s' catch which arrives at 7 or 8 AM on Bahia Principal, Puerto Escondido. I've seen several species of snakes: yellow-bellied sea snake at Playa Zicatela; rat snake, and brown racer in the foothills of the central valleys. Also a salamander (belli something or other) at La Neveria; and a sticky footed frog (forget the name) at Santiago Apoala. And there's a good nature library just inside the entrance to the ethnobotanical garden, as well as lots of English-language nature (mostly bird) guidebooks at the Oaxaca Lending Library. .

I've narrowed my choices of pueblos to Llano Grande, Cuajimoloyas, and Amatlan. I read that El Carrizal is quite appealing and a reasonable hike from Llano Grande, stay overnight in El Carrizal and hike back to Llano Grande for public transit back to the city...would guides still be available from Llano Grande to El Carrizal or were you able to self-guide without gps and using a compass? It may easier going to any of these places rather than spending several hours in a van or bus each way..I also checked out the Hoofing in Oaxaca webpage for hiking schedules. Thanks for the recommendation!

I hiked along the road between Llano Grande and El Carrizal: the first couple of km near Llano Grande are paved and see some traffic; the few km nearer El Carrizal are unpaved and see little traffic. Llano Grande is very popular with tourists; El Carrizal sees almost none, since it's not officially part of the pueblos mancomunados, but I like it. So the route is easy to follow. There are other routes: along the electrical transmission lines; and another orute through San Miguel del Valle territory, but you'll have to pass fences and gates (meant to keep you out). I would also suggest you consider Benito Juarez, since the forest along the road from the desviacion to the town is so diverse, and it's only about an hour to hike in. El Carrizal may be sunnier and one or two degrees warmer, but less humid, since it's on the south-facing slope.

Amatlan and Lachatao are easy to get to if you don't mind hiking in, which is what I've done. Take a camioneta, colectivo taxi or van to their desviacion, then two hours slightly uphill to the towns. There's even a little town at the halfway mark if you want to eat. Or go all the way to Ixtlan and catch a camioneta returning to Amatlan and Lachatao, but they were only operating three times per day.

PS: also saw an orange-bellied squirrel on the hike to Arroyo Guacamaya.

and coffee farms, but I am also a solo female traveler and am relying on public transit/camionetas/taxis

I visited Pluma Hidalgo a few days ago and will give an abbreviated trip report. There is one nice posada behind the church (350 MXN) which is neat and clean, friendly owner, okay value. I saw another hotel in town, but wasn´t sure if it was open. I met a couple of young female backpackers who stayed at a cabana on a coffee finca a few km south of town; I went to have a look, the scenery and views were nice, but it did seem like a tourist trap to me: 650 MXN. There are lots of plantations within five or ten km of town, I walked alone, but you could hire a mototaxi. Note too that this morning I read in the local newspaper that a day ago (or one day after I visited), another shuttle van (de paso service between Oaxaca and Huatulco) had been attacked by armed robbers in the vicinity of the town, second time in a month! Weather pleasantly warm and sunny until late afternoon when it clouds over and fog develops, intermittent showers during the evening and night.

Thank you so much for the trip report and heads up about safety. I was just looking up about lodging/safety in Pluma Hidalgo, and saw there are expensive lodging options such as the coffee finca lodging and even this: https://www.facebook.com/FincaMargaritasOax/ which isn't really my sort of thing. Are there any news websites in Spanish that report on crime outside Oaxaca de Juarez that you read regularly? I might just stick to my original idea of El Carrizal or Llano Grande.

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