A Voice From Oaxaca

Traveling to Oaxaca with Children

By Alvin Starkman © Alvin Starkman 2008

The options are innumerable. It's simply a matter of doing a bit of homework - asking, and then committing yourself to a vacation dedicated in large part to your children.

Oaxaca has traditionally been known as an adult travel destination, steeped in ruins, colonial churches, museums and a tradition for fine art and handicrafts. But having been visiting the region regularly since 1991- always with our daughter - and now having been living here for a few years and regularly toured friends and family with young children around the city and outlying sites, without a doubt young families contemplating a visit should set aside any lingering trepidation regarding both the well-being of their young progeny, and their parents' ability to have at least somewhat of a romantic getaway.

Concerns might include wondering if there will be enough sites to hold your child's interest. If you'll be able to visit the vestiges of pre-Hispanic civilizations without the kids being bored to death. If you'll ever be able to sneak away for a dinner on your own. If you'll have to pay a premium to find accommodations with a pool - the guarantee of an afternoon swim is always the best bribe - and the wisdom of perhaps just having a beach vacation and saving Oaxaca for another time when you can do it without the family.

Having pondered such considerations from time to time, I can now offer valuable suggestions regarding where to stay even without a pool, what tour routes will definitely hold the interests of children and teens, and what activities exist in and around the city on a regular basis, geared to youthful vacationers.

Where to stay, and swim

Suburban Hotel San Felipe is a welcome change from the downtown hustle and bustle… the outdoor pool is in a picturesque setting flecked with rural neighborhoods and rolling hills. Several friends have also enjoyed Holiday Inn Express, at the north end of the downtown sector. But many visitors to Oaxaca prefer a more quaint and traditional environment to the somewhat sterile Americanized accommodations, yet can't rationalize the cost of hotels such as Camino Real or Los Laureles, impressive in their own right.

Most of the smaller family-owned and operated hotels, bed and breakfasts and guest houses do not have pools, but should not be discounted out-of-hand. Some have made arrangements with nearby pooled hotels for their guests to attend.

Each lodging should be able to point you to alternatives to an on-site pool, such as one of the water parks located along the highways entering the city. These facilities have pools of varying sizes and depths, large water slides, and other appurtenances to keep the kids there for the better part of a day. A short taxi ride from downtown are Las Brisas and La Bamba.

 

There are two additional alternatives. Consider attending one of several balnearios or swimming spas located about a half hour out of Oaxaca in the village of Vista Hermosa, catering to entire families rather than to predominantly children. During the hot season, you'll find families and friends around the pools, playing volleyball, or sitting under palapas eating an array of local fare available from the small comedores.

Then there's Hierve el Agua, at the end of one of the out-of-town touring routes. The site consists of two large pools fed by natural bubbling springs, in a spectacular mountain setting with a petrified mineral "waterfall." They are safe for kids, and large and deep enough to satisfy the aquatic yearnings of any adult. Most tourists don't get to Hierve el Agua, probably because of the distance. But in my book, it's a must for families with children, in particular if it's done in conjunction with a couple of other stops en route.

Oaxaca relies solely on tourism for its existence and, accordingly, accommodations that claim to welcome children should bend over to provide families with "the little things" such as a stroller, crib with accessories, car seat, highchair for use in their dining room, and a reference for a reliable babysitter who can come to the hotel while you're out for an evening. At the time, Hotel San Felipe provided babysitting when our daughter was pre-teen. If you search in earnest, you should be able to find smaller hotels and guest houses that are similarly accommodating. If your child can read and the babysitter has only a limited grasp of English, give your child a series of phonetically prepared questions and suggestions [TEN go AM bray (I'm hungry); key Arrow na DAR (I want to go swimming)]. If your child is too young, the niñera should have the experience to determine any pressing issues. All lodgings should have an English-speaking doctor on call in the unlikely event of illness.

Two child-friendly tour routes

1) Hierve el Agua:

The promise of Hierve el Agua at the end of....

2) Crafts and more crafts:

San Bartolo Coyotepec provides an extremely appealing beginning to another full day of touring...

And don't forget the city

Throughout the year, there numerous local and international celebrations, with color and pageantry, song and dance, some specifically designed with a youthful audience in mind...

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Alvin Starkman together with wife Arlene operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast.

Alvin received his masters in social anthropology in 1978, and his law degree in 1984. Thereafter he was a litigator in Toronto until taking early retirement.

He and his family were frequent visitors to Oaxaca between 1991 and when they became permanent residents in 2004.

In his spare time Alvin leads private, small group tours to the craft villages, towns on their market days, ruins and other sites; writes articles about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca; translates from Spanish to English for a local newspaper; and writes a legal column for a Canadian national antiques newspaper.

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