Home >> Oaxaca >> Puerto Escondido >> Gina

Gina Machorro Espinosa

The Information Goddess

GPS:   15°51.412'N 97°04.158'W
Email:   GinaInPuerto@Yahoo.com
Telephone:   (954) 559-5518
Main Index
Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca
Best of Puerto Escondido
Gina's Day of the Dead Tour
City Map
El Faro
Golf
Andador Escénico Sea Walk
Things To Do In Puerto Escondido
Regional Map
Entrevista a Gina, 11/11
Weather
Fiestas de Noviembre
International Friends of Puerto Escondido
Plaza Municipal
Real Estate
Living in Mexico
Missing Persons
Visitors' Comments
AboutHomeLinks
What's new?

Weddings | Pelota Mixteca | City Walking Tour | Day of the Dead Tour | Cultural and Educational Tours | Cooking Class | Golf | Comments on Gina | Area Maps

Transition to New Government puts Gina in Jeopardy

Who is Gina?

    Gina has been a great help to many. You'll find Gina at the Oaxaca Tourist Bureau, located in a booth shown at right, located at the west end of the pedestrian mall (Adoquín), or use the GPS coordinates above. Gina speaks English, Spanish, French, and some German and Italian.

    An early Visitors' Comment on tomzap.com refers to Gina as "The Information Goddess"; the title seems appropriate, so that's what we call her.

    Gina conducts walking tours, a Day of the Dead tour, assists visitors in trouble, plans weddings, organizes sporting events, and a variety of other tasks.

    View the YouTube video Gina de Puerto Escondido.

 
Gina gives advice to two tourists outside of the tourist information booth at the west end of the Adoquín. The booth burned in 2013 but Gina continues dispensing tourist information at the same location as the booth is rebuilt with donations.

Top of Page | Weddings | Pelota Mixteca | City Walking Tour | Day of the Dead Tour | Cultural and Educational Tours | Cooking Class | Golf | Comments on Gina | Area Maps

Weddings

Top of Page | Weddings | Pelota Mixteca | City Walking Tour | Day of the Dead Tour | Cultural and Educational Tours | Cooking Class | Golf | Comments on Gina | Area Maps

Pelota Mixteca

Top of Page | Weddings | Pelota Mixteca | City Walking Tour | Day of the Dead Tour | Cultural and Educational Tours | Cooking Class | Golf | Comments on Gina | Area Maps

GINAbasil (40K)

Gina's Walking Tours

Top of Page | Weddings | Pelota Mixteca | City Walking Tour | Day of the Dead Tour | Cultural and Educational Tours | Cooking Class | Golf | Comments on Gina | Area Maps

Day of the Dead Tour

Top of Page | Weddings | Pelota Mixteca | City Walking Tour | Day of the Dead Tour | Cultural and Educational Tours | Cooking Class | Golf | Comments on Gina | Area Maps

Cultural and Educational Tours

Top of Page | Weddings | Pelota Mixteca | City Walking Tour | Day of the Dead Tour | Cultural and Educational Tours | Cooking Class | Golf | Comments on Gina | Area Maps

Cooking Class

Top of Page | Weddings | Pelota Mixteca | City Walking Tour | Day of the Dead Tour | Cultural and Educational Tours | Cooking Class | Golf | Comments on Gina | Area Maps

Golf

Top of Page | Weddings | Pelota Mixteca | City Walking Tour | Day of the Dead Tour | Cultural and Educational Tours | Cooking Class | Golf | Comments on Gina | Area Maps

Some Comments from Visitors

Gina Honored in Print

Puerto Escondido's Gina Machorro makes the list of the 2013 Real Heroes of Mexico, an annual report by Susie Albin-Najera, editor of The Mexico Report, which showcases "unsung heroes in the community and those celebrating Mexican culture through their goodwill efforts, bravery, inspirational stories, sacrifices and hard work".

Cooking With Gina

Gina wears a t-shirt with the embroidered message, “The Info Goddess.” If you’ve ever been to Puerto Escondido, once or even one hundred times, Gina will make you current the moment you stop by her kiosk. So naturally, the first thing to do upon arrival in Puerto is to check-in with Gina. And that’s exactly what we did when we arrived (for the seventh time).

She greeted us by name. Her clients, old or new, become her family. After a few moments of catch-up, she said, “even though you’ve been on all my walking tours and excursions, I have something for you that you’ll love; A MEXICAN COOKING CLASS.” My wife was delighted at the prospect. I freaked out because cooking is not on my list as a pleasurable exercise…I only enjoy the eating part. As it happened, because the class was almost full, only one of us could partake. Gina looked directly at me as if to say, “Larry, you’re the one.” My wife’s steely glance confirmed with Gina. I was volunteered.

Here’s how the cooking class worked: I would go to the nearby home of Rosa Maria, a celebrated Oaxacan chef, work with her, her three assistants and three other candidates for three hours to prepare a four course Mexican feast for nine people to be served that evening. Why nine? For our spouses, and of course, Gina.

Truth be told, I loved the experience. Not only did I gain the ability to produce a gourmet Mexican meal but I gained the confidence to start a new hobby (which delighted my wife). The feast was “not to forget.” Back at Rosa Maria’s that evening, we dined on a sumptuous Mexican salad, tropical soup, Oaxacan rice and Maria’s recipe of herbed chicken wrapped and baked in banana leaves… and drank copious amounts of sangria.

Was it fun? It was awesome! Plus my wife and I met the other interesting and friendly couples. Next year in Puerto, we’re expecting another great GINA adventure.

PS – I even got a monogramed cooking apron!


Turtles by the Thousands

My wife and I came to Puerto Escondido without much information on what to do, see, etc., and then we ran into Gina at her information booth on the Adoquin (Andador Perez Gazga). We immediately hit it off with her as she is a very warm and friendly person. Gina knows everything there is about Puerto Escondido and all the places to visit outside of town as well. For example, we came at the time of the year when the turtles (tortugas) come to lay their eggs at particular beaches. She invited us to join a group of people she was putting together to witness this spectacular event. At the appointed date and time off we went to see this incredible scene; tens of thousands of turtles coming out of the ocean to dig up small trenches in the sand to lay their eggs. Without her we never would have known about the turtles and surely would have missed this once in a lifetime experience.

Joe R. Redwood City, CA
9/15/12


Testimonial for Gina's Wedding Planning Services, Puerto Escondido

Being from Australia, we were very unsure how to go about organising a wedding in a place as far away as Mexico! Gina came highly recommended and right from the beginning she was so helpful and made planning the wedding smooth and easy. Gina organised the most fantastic Mariachi band that everyone raved about, beautiful tropical flowers, a photographer, pinatas and all the paperwork and considerable running around to arrange for the judge to marry us. She also translated the ceremony into English for us and our guests on the day as well!! We had the most amazing day and highly recommend Gina to anyone dreaming of a tropical wedding in Puerto Escondido.

Thank you Gina for a day we will never forget xx

Brad & Leanne Aitken Sydney, Australia
2/26/11


Better Than Ever, And Breakfast Now Included

Eight years ago we went on one of Gina’s walking tours after visiting Puerto Escondido many times. She helped us to understand the town, its rich history, the region and its people. So when we returned this year the first thing we did was again join Gina on her walking tour. What we didn't anticipate was how much her walking tour had evolved.

On her tour, Gina visits the indigenous people of yesterday and today how they lived and survive. She took us to a local restaurant serving authentic, traditional cuisine of the area before the Spaniards arrived. Gina explained what we were eating and the rich nutritional value of these foods. We visited a woman who makes the tamales and mole (Yes!) who is the daughter of one of Puerto Escondido's founders. We also visited a woman dispensing herbs and medicinal plants at La Divina Providencia where local remedies are still dispensed. Our final stop was the Mercado where we were introduced to a variety of new tastes such as fresh tamarind and tortillas with cinnamon and coconut (who knew?). Gina's wide ranging knowledge covered history, religion, culture, gastronomy and we got a tasty breakfast! We thought we were going for a refresher tour but Gina has taken it to a whole new level.

Pat Heim & Serge Lashutka
Pacific Palisades, CA
2/3/07


Gina Knows All

I just returned from a month in Mexico and I cannot sing the praises of Gina, the Information Goddess, highly enough. As many of you know, Gina dispenses information at the tourist department's Information Booth just outside the west end of the barrier on the Adoquin. For those of you who don't already know, Gina is one of Puerto's greatest assets and anyone travelling to Puerto needs to make her acquaintance.

Gina not only speaks English but I heard her converse easily with Italian and German tourists as well. Regardless of what you need to know, Gina seems to have the answer. How do I get a bus to Puerto Angel? Where is there a laundromat? What's the best cypercafe? How much does property cost in Puerto? Where are the best beaches for swimming? Who do I talk to if I want to buy a gorilla? (OK, just kidding about the gorilla but you get the point.)

She provides a terrific walking tour that gives the tourist who may never ordinarily make it off the beaches a look at the Puerto of those who live there. She is a walking book of information about the way of life in Puerto, its small shops, history, and its people. Departing from the Information Booth, the tour through the upper part of town provides insights that one might not ordinarily discover on their own. I highly recommend it.

If you are looking for a place to stay or even a place to buy in Puerto, again Gina is a terrific resource. She seems to know everyone and everything that is going on in Puerto. She is available to go with you to look at property and her bilingual skills are invaluable. I can't imagine how I would have been able to purchase a house in Puerto had it not been for all of Gina's assistance.

In addition to being a wonderful resource, she is also a very nice person. You want to just hang out with her. Please do stop and see her at the Information Booth when you are in Puerto and be sure to tell her that Karen says "hi."

Karen
9/17/03


The Goddess Does Not Disappoint

Dear Tom, My wife and our 15 year old son made our first trip together to Mexico. I'd like to rave in a most positive way about our end of June/beginning of July stay in Puerto Escondido. The only thing less than wonderful was the length ... too short. Rather than fill this page with compliments about numerous experiences that you have heard a great deal about from others, I'd like to

Gina Espinosa assisting a tourist at the Oaxaca Tourist Bureau
information booth
  photo by Geri Anderson

describe just a few pleasant aspects of our trip. As you know, it is not so crowded in June (school's out in early July, so there's the increase in family travel ... but still not too crowded). We had little time anyway (8 days) and met only a few people. The most memorable of these was (is) Gina Machorro Espinosa.

We found that her intuition was almost infallible. She was able to know what we would enjoy, tell us the most efficient way to do it, and, most importantly, help us to feel like a family member during the process. She graciously lent us her copy of an excellent tour book (signed by the author). She related to our teenage son like she was his favorite aunt (surfing info was very helpful), and she made us feel as though we had a real friend in Puerto. Gina is a very talented person, and we are grateful for her unique contributions to our memories.

One of the activities she recommended was a tour of the Laguna de La Palmazola (en Barra de Navidad) with Galos Sanchez. The fuzzy baby egrets were everywhere along with hundreds of other birds, and we even saw a couple of crocodiles in the middle of the day. Galos was very proud and enthusiastic about the reserve, as he should be. Gina also knew that Fermin, one of our waiters at the Hotel Santa Fe had a boat and took tourists fishing. That, too, turned out great.

My wife, Jan, enjoyed the dolphin playground we trolled through, and James and I got a kick out of pulling in a dozen tuna. We would certainly recommend that a trip to Puerto includes time with Gina at the tourist information booth in the Adoquin. If fishing or wildlife or just friendly conversation is on your agenda, this is definitely the place to start.

Ward, Jan and James
Stockton, California


Top of Page | Weddings | Pelota Mixteca | City Walking Tour | Day of the Dead Tour | Cultural and Educational Tours | Cooking Class | Comments on Gina | Area Maps

Area Maps

Map of Puerto Escondido
Clickable City Map

Clickable Regional Map
Map of Puerto Escondido Centro
Puerto Escondido Centro
Map of Playa Marinero and Zicatela North
Marinero and Zicatela north
Map of Zicatela South and The Point
Zicatela south and the Point
| Top of page | Main index | What's new |
The Pacific Coast of Mexico www.tomzap.com Tom Penick:  tom@tomzap.com
This page has been visited times since November 28, 2005.