About five miles (eight km) past Xadani [1], you’ll arrive at El Llano (YAH-noh), the site of La Gloria, a little German farm in the jungle. The parents of La Gloria’s owner-operator Gustav Sherenberg arrived from the wreckage of World War II, seeking a new life in Mexico. The dream that they carved out remains with Gustav (now Gustavo), who, with his son Max, continues to improve on it.
The centerpiece, a Saxony-style whitewashed farmhouse and its antique furnishings—polished oak wall telephone, heirloom old-world sideboard, 1940s-vintage shortwave radio—endure for guests to admire and enjoy.
The build-up is a tour around the farm, which you should do not long after arrival. Along the path, you’ll see acre after acre of green shiny-leafed coffee bushes beneath a canopy of great giants of the forest—ceiba, caoba, and Juan Diego trees. At the far point of the walk, the farm’s sustaining source, a crystalline spring, wells up from a rocky bed.
On the way back, the path winds beneath both wild and cultivated trees hung with exotic fruits—brown mamey, green zapote, and the otherworldly piña anona. Near the farmhouse, don’t miss the mariposario (butterfly house) and the herb garden, with familiar cilantro, yerba buena, yerba santa, and half a dozen others you probably have never heard of. The fun climaxes at breakfast or dinner with the family around the great hardwood dinner table, big enough for a dozen.
The Sherenberg (actually Sherenberg-Noyola) family (Apdo. Postal 220, Bahías de Huatulco, Oaxaca 70989, local cell 044-958/589-5041, long distance tel. 958/589-5041, lagloria [at] hispavista [dot] com) invites you to enjoy their farm with them, either for a day, including lunch, or overnight, including comfortable, cozy jungle-cabaña lodging with lunch, dinner, and breakfast included. Expect to pay about $50 per person for an overnight with food, $20 for lunch and tour only. For more information, visit www.tomzap.com/lagloria.html [2].
The easiest way to get to Xadani and the La Gloria coffee farm is by guide or tour from Huatulco [3].
If you’re going independently, Xadani is accessible via the signed side road on the north side of Highway 200, seven miles (11.4 km) west of the Río Copalita bridge and Copalita village (store, palapa restaurants, basic hotel, long-distance telephone, 41 miles/66 km east of Pochutla [4], 74 miles/119 km west of Salina Cruz).
If by car, set your odometer as you turn off the highway. Continue immediately through a Zimatán village (which has a store with unleaded gasoline) along a good gravel road, paralleling the gorgeous vine-hung, butterfly-decorated Río Zimatán valley. Continue through Xadani to the church (12.7 miles/20.4 km). Proceed, bearing left around the right rear side of the church, then straight ahead another 5.4 miles (8.7 km) to La Gloria Coffee Farm.
By bus, take a long-distance or local colectivo from Pochutla [4] or Crucecita [5], which may take you at least to Copalita, or even to the Xadani Highway 200 turnoff. From there, you can catch a taxi or a truck ride (offer to pay) to Xadani, thence to La Gloria.
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/oaxaca/pacific-resorts/bahias-de-huatulco/excursions/santa-maria-xadani
[2] http://www.tomzap.com/lagloria.html
[3] http://www.moon.com/destinations/oaxaca/pacific-resorts/bahias-de-huatulco/recreation/tours-and-guides
[4] http://www.moon.com/destinations/oaxaca/pacific-resorts/puerto-angel/upland-excursions/san-pedro-pochutla
[5] http://www.moon.com/destinations/oaxaca/pacific-resorts/bahias-de-huatulco/crucecita-and-santa-cruz-de-huatulco