Frontier Airlines to Provide Charters for Apple Vacations

 

The original article is provided via marketwatch.com

Agreement includes flights from the U.S. to five international destinations

 

DENVER, Aug 29, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Frontier Airlines today announced that it has reached a multi-year agreement to provide Apple Vacations charter flights from the United States to international destinations. 

The first year of the agreement calls for Frontier to provide charter flights from cities in the Midwest and Northeast to five Mexican, Central American and Caribbean destinations. Apple Vacations destinations served by the Frontier charters will include Cancun, Mexico (CUN); Huatulco, Mexico (HUX); Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR); Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ); and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ). 

Wet in Huatulco!

Well, we are now into what should be our last remaining days (30 days) of the wet season here in Huatulco. 

It's really not all that bad...sure, the humidity goes up a little but it also adds a layer of lushness that you just don't get in the winter months.  Not to mention that there are some pretty amazing lightning shows during the evenings! 

But for us, what the end of the rainy season really means is the beginning of a seven month period of perfect, beautiful blue skies, warm beaches, the start of the international tourist season, and seeing all of our friends return to Huatulco.

It's hard to believe that September is already upon us...time really does fly by!

We look forward to seeing you all down here in Huatulco very soon.

Mexico: The Royal Tour

I came upon this interesting video series hosted by Peter Greenberg after reading the Journey Mexico blog.  This should prove to be a very interesting series indeed!  President Felipe Calderon personally set aside a two week window to give a one on one tour of Mexico.  The program airs in September so put this on your calendar.

Summertime Cervezas

Beer in Mexico has a very long history, and beer production, or at least the closest cousin to beer was being produced long before the Spanish conquest.

The first official concession to brew beer with European style barley was granted in 1543, and is thought to have occurred somewhere just south of Mexico City.  Initially, both production and consumption were small as many of the ingredients were difficult to find, and beer was still competing with local style brews.  Also, beer was heavily taxed and regulated by Spain to protect home markets.  This further served to slow the growth of the beer market in Mexico.  However, at some point during the few years prior to the Mexican independence, the consumption of beer was becoming more established and more accepted.

Huatulco Video

Huatulco Video turístico from Rodrigo Villa Avendaño on Vimeo.

Today's post is not so much a blog as it is a re-post of a video that was produced by some students of the Universidad del Mar here in Huatulco...they did a great job of capturing the beauty of Huatulco...we are lucky to be here. Enjoy!

5 Days in Oaxaca - Day Five

Oaxaca Diary by Renée Netzel

It was our last full day in Oaxaca...and we were already sad at the thought of leaving. We spent a very unadventurous morning in the shopping mall and Sears...not normally a must-see on our vacations, but we live in a small beach town and it's hard to buy certain things like underwear and perfume! So, we stocked up on the necessities that we have grown to depend on, had a quick bite of lunch at McDonald's in the foodcourt. It had been over one year with no fast food...we felt an urge and then we felt sick! What were we thinking...

5 Days in Oaxaca - Day Four

Oaxaca Diary by Renée Netzel

Our fourth day in Oaxaca was church & museum day! Oaxaca is filled with numerous churches, museums and galleries so there is no shortage of sites to see. On this day, we focused our efforts on the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán and the Santo Domingo Cultural Center located right next to it.

As its name implies, the church and monastery were started by the Dominicans in the 1570's and it continued to be constructed over a period of 200 years! A full restoration was since completed in 1999. Over $12 million pesos were spent on the church (about $1 million USD) and its fairly plain facade hides a sparkling interior...very sparkling, in fact, as we learned that its highly decorated interior includes more than 60,000 sheets of 24-karat gold leaf...amazing!

5 Days in Oaxaca - Day Three

Oaxaca Diary by Renée Netzel

The day of the Guelaguetza has arrived! We have waited for over a year to attend this festival and we were excited to finally have the opportunity to experience it.

The Guelaguetza, also called the Lunes del Cerro, or "Mondays on the Hill," is celebrated in the city of Oaxaca on the last two Mondays of July, except when one of these falls on July 18th (which is the anniversary of the death of Benito Juárez), in which case it takes place later...as was the case this year as the festival was held on July 25 and August 1. Additionally, there are two showings each Monday, at 10 am and at 5 pm. We chose the later time...so we eased our way into the day, ate a delicious breakfast at our B&B (Casa de Las Bugambilias) and generally just wandered around town until it was time to go.

5 Days in Oaxaca - Day Two (Part II)

Oaxaca Diary by Renée Netzel

After finishing the enlightening tour with Benito at Monte Albán, we were handed off to his lovely wife, Suzanne (a fellow Canadian), and we headed towards another famous landmark in the Oaxaca area - The Tule Tree. I have to admit...I wasn't really convinced it would be worth the drive. After all, it was just a tree. However as we drove into the small town of Santa María del Tule, located about 10 kms west of Oaxaca City, we were soon impressed by what we saw.

It may not be the largest, or the oldest, tree in the world but it has no contenders for widest. The Tule Tree dwarfs the town's church (located right beside it) and with a circumference of 54 m (164 ft) it boasts the largest girth of any tree on the planet. Furthermore, the tree is more than 2,000 years old. Imagine... this tree was a sapling at the time when the Zapotec civilization at Monte Albán was flourishing!