THE LAST POST ON GUAYABITOS

So we have seen beautiful Mexican sunset for the last time on this vacation. We have the perfect venue for our last night here. All 14 of us plus the driver piled into a taxi van and up the hill we went. I’m thinking that he needed a new transmission after this trip. We had dinner up at the top of the hill at the Vista Restaurant. There were 14 of us for dinner, and the view was amazing. No windows or doors, just a huge covered patio. Barb and Ron were married at this restaurant last year. I haven’t seen their pictures, but I bet they were beautiful.

The rest of the day was spent quietly – well not always – at the side of the pool. We have made good friends and shared some great times. I understand why people come back year after year to this 2 and 1/2 or 3 star or whatever resort. It certainly isn’t for the amenities! It is for the things that you can’t measure or count. They come back for the beauty of the Rincon de Guayabitos, the same friendly staff of the Decameron de Los Cocos – that will be here to greet you and serve you your meals on your next visit and most importantly the wonderful friendships that have been made and cemented on the very first visit.

Adios, Guayabitos – until we meet again

WHEN YOU GOTTA GO…YOU GOTTA GO!

Went to Chacala Beach. Tina, Linda and I walked to the end of the beach one way. There was a lovely hotel at the end and we went up into the lobby and took some pictures of the grounds. We saw an iguana sunning himself on the steps. This is the first time I have been able to get a picture of this critter

So much of the beach is beautiful sand, but the rest of it is covered with large igneous rock. I think that’s the name of the black boulders that used to be lava. People were using their boogie boards here to take advantage of the large waves. It is a very picturesque beach. I missed seeing them, but there are bright blue crabs that inhabit the part of the beach where the lava rock boulders are. I did see a dead puffer fish and a dead squid (or something or other) and a dead blue jellyfish.

Lots of vendors here, even Cheap Charlie! I bought a wooden fork and spoon for my salad bowl and some cute little reindeers that will do for Christmas decorations.
For lunch we enjoyed red snapper that was smoked/baked over a wood fire. It was amazing. It had a wonderful smokey flavour and flaked beautifully – it was cooked to perfection. We had lots of beers and nachos and fish. What a great meal and a pleasant beach to spend a day walking, eating and lazing.

OUR TOUR TO SAN BLAS

What an amazing day we had today. We boarded a bus at 8:30 and began our trip to the town of San Blas – a town steeped in history. We stopped at the oldest church in the town built in 1878 and right beside is the newest church. Construction began in 1940 and is still continuing today. I guess for almost 70 years they have been working on Mexican time, cause it’s not all that complicated a design!

Along the saw we saw tobacco leaves drying, jack fruit trees, mango trees fields of sorghum and watermelon. We learned that mechanized farming was not available until the 1990’s and now with NAFTA the importation duty on farm equipment has been lowered from 300% to 17% - so more and more tractors and other equipment are gradually working their way into the area. We visited an old fort with a marvelous panorama view. I took a picture of the road that we had to turn onto. I don’t know what the incline was, but I was grateful we made it up and down safely!

After our stop there, we went to the place where we would be eating lunch and preordered our meal. Then we went to the place to get on boats and go up the river on the tour through the mangroves. That was the amazing part. This area is teaming with life. We saw so many birds. We were lucky enough to see gold crowned heron, egrets, ibis, spoonbill, flycatchers, boatbills, night hawks, other hawks, grackles and I’m sure I have forgotten a few. I missed the kingfisher but I did see a weaver bird nest. We also saw an enormous termite nest. I got a picture of it – but I was so glad I didn’t see any of the inhabitants!

Further along, we saw turtles and crocodiles. It was an excellent tour. The boat ride must have been close to 1 1/2 hours. Being in and out of the shade made is so refreshing and the gorgeous views made for a wonderful experience. I am so glad we chose to go on this tour – it was quite an adventure.
We got back to the resort around 5:00 – but as we had lunch at 3:00, we are not going to need any dinner. It is a little cooler out just now and it will be nice just to sit and relax for a couple of hours.
Tomorrow we are going to Chikala – a close town with a nice beach. We are counting down the days and making the days count!

DAY OF MOURNING – BARB AND RON WENT HOME

Last night Barb and Ron caught the 7:00 bus back to Puerto Vallarta and eventually home to Cloverdale. We will miss them for sure. But I did take this lovely picture of them before they boarded the bus. We wished them a safe trip and then went down to Mexican Fiesta night down by the beach for our dinner.
There wasn’t much on the menu that appealed to me. It was very authentic and everyone who can do spices enjoyed it very much. There was a mariachi band and the lead singer had to be all of 5 years old and could he belt out a tune! Not always quite in key, but powerful voice and very sure of himself! As for my dinner, there is always lovely fresh salad to be had with plenty of fixinings, so I never go hungry. The dessert bar had rice pudding and churros on it and that completed our meal.

I walked into town with Linda today to get a t-shirt dress – they are only 70 pesos. I bought one yesterday and another one today. They are kinda cute. I also bought a cute little dress for Cassidy that she will be able to wear this summer and be a cute little chikita. On the way back, we walked further down towards the beach and found a breakfast place that was selling fresh squeezed orange juice – so we each had one and it was so delicious. On the beach I found a fruit seller and bought jicama for Joan – she really enjoys it. So it was something nice I could do for her after she gave me a lovely satin pillowcase for traveling so my hair doesn’t muss in the morning. She so reminds me of Debbie Reynolds.

There were some pelicans really close to me on the beach, and as some kids came running to scare them off I said “no, por favor” “une photo” I guess they understood my mixture of French and Spanish cause they stopped – I took my picture and then said ok “Vamos” which means ok go on or just go depending on the situation!

Later me amigos