San Andrés Zabache

San Andrés Zabache sits at the southern end of the Central Valleys, at about 1,430 m, in the Ejutla district. Its Zapotec name is read as "he who goes to the seven tombs". The municipality is one of the smallest in the state, just 6.85 km², with a single locality, the seat itself, which counted 748 people in 2020 (726 in 2010). It borders San Martín Lachilá and Ejutla de Crespo to the north and La Compañía on its other three sides.

The land is dry hills of low scrub dominated by mesquite, guaje and cazahuate trees, while home gardens hold lime, guava, pomegranate, pitahaya, avocado and loquat. The soil is thin and stony, and cropland and cattle pasture are practically the only natural resources. Skunks, opossums, rabbits, coyotes and rattlesnakes still live in the brush; deer are now very few. The climate is mild: about 20 °C on average, May the warmest month and June the wettest, roughly 770 mm of rain a year, and January mornings that can drop to a few degrees above freezing.

The big fiesta is 30 November, the day of San Andrés Apóstol, with processions, a fair and a dance. Independence Day is marked with the midnight grito, regional food and fireworks, and for All Saints families set out altars of flowers and fruit for the dead. A festival table brings mole, coloradito, pipián, chichilo and barbecued rabbit, goat or beef, with mezcal and tepache to drink; brass-band music is the favourite.

There are no hotels, museums or listed monuments in the village. It suits someone touring the small farming communities at the south end of the Central Valleys, and the practical base is Ejutla de Crespo.