Vicenta Ndongo: "It was amazing to go to a remote place where the ground is sandy. A paradise without resorts."

BarcelonaA film director friend of Vicenta Ndongo's invited her to his home in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, to share the news: she was expecting a child. That recent trip a year ago was an unforgettable experience for her. "No daiquiris or discos," she found nature in its purest form, simple people, and plenty of sea. "There's nothing as Robinson Crusoe as that," she states emphatically. "It was amazing to go to one of those remote places where the ground is sandy and nothing is cement. It's a paradise without resorts," she adds. With a book in her hands, she strolled along the deserted beaches for miles. "You don't hear reggaeton, just the sound of the Pacific. Where have you seen this before?" the actress, winner of the 2024 National Culture Award, who came with her 9-year-old son, still wonders enthusiastically. "There are always kids running around, no cars because there's no road. I let my son go out, and he only came back when he was hungry," she recounts.

The wildlife of that place has captured his heart. He remembers the birds and crocodiles in the mangroves, and "that silence of nature that is not silence." And, of course, the food, specifically the enchiladas and the chili and mango popsicles. But she also remembers the people there very much, especially a conversation with a woman and her daughter, in which the mother told a story of overcoming difficulties, about how she separated and how she earned a degree later in life: "It was a universal life lesson."

This summer made her reflect on the turmoil—"What's the point of running and stressing?"—but also on the meaning of traveling, especially after a local told her he'd never left Puerto Escondido and didn't plan to move. "In another life, I want to stay where I live," she says, aware of the need we have to seek out uncrowded places like this one, which are almost nonexistent now. "They want to build a hotel. It's still wild, but in 10 years if my son comes back, he won't see the same landscape," she laments. Ndongo believes that one can travel in the most sustainable and respectful way possible, although she also knows that "there's no need to travel very far": "My house is a paradise."

The idyllic trip was supposed to be longer, but was interrupted by a work call to play the director of the CAR of the Pyrenees in the series Olympo (Netflix), which prompted the chorus. Thank goodness she loves her job and was thrilled to land: "They wanted me to play the role, and it's nice that they want you."