Mazataln to Pontre Mitre

After Toni and Barry left we once again left Mazatlan to head back to Isla Isabella. This time we were joined by fellow catamaran sailors from Hawaii on their 55foot “Kalewa”. They had Kevin and Marcie aboard with their 14 year old daughter Ayla they were a great family and we enjoyed spending time with them. We were gratified to see how difficult traveling with a 14 year old could be and realize that our kids at that age were normal!!
We had a few more days on Isabella and this time walked the other side of the island where we found the blue footed booby nesting area. This was amazing as some of them were already sitting on their nests but a large number were performing their incredible courtship rituals. The male bird would strut around and present the female with a stick. She would accept it and it seemed to let him know of her interest and the courtship continued. There seemed to be an equal number of males and females and they were already coupled so am not sure how much competition had occurred before our arrival.
We traded a couple of the t shirts I had brought back from Canada for a mahi mahi and we bought 2 lobsters for $15 from the seasonal fishermen.
We spent an evening where Ken and Kevin matched their knowledge of the Lord of the Rings series by challenging each other to play Ken’s “Trivial Pursuit Lord of the Rings” game which Amy and Rob had given him a number of years ago. No-one has previously dared to challenge him and Marcie and I were happy to read the questions. The game proved to be very time consuming and after several hours with no end in sight we declared a draw.
We had a great spinnaker day sail to San Blas after which they joined us for another “games night” this time played Pictionary and Balderdash so we could all be humiliated.
San Blas was a small very Mexican town which had a great town square which as all Mexican towns came to life after dark. We arrived in time to enjoy the Festival of the Migrating Birds; somehow every week presents a new excuse for a party.
Together we explored the town and the old ruins of the old church and fort.
We hired a boat to take us up the river to Toleva Springs on the “Jungle Cruise”. It was pretty amazing as we spotted many crocodiles ranging from about 15 inches to 6 feet. We had a great guide who also knew where all of the birds would be. Swimming in the springs was a treat as the water was fresh and we washed all of the salt from our pores. Also did a side trip where they breed and release more crocodiles—a little sobering considering our swim in the springs!!
San Blas’s biggest issue was the no see’ems which came out at sunset and proceeded to devour our ankles. We learned to bug proof the boat and wear socks in the evening.
After a few days we decided the bugs could feast on someone else and we headed to Chacala 20 miles south.
Had and easy sail and arrived into beautiful Chacala Bay.
This is a small sandy bay undiscovered by big North American hotel chains and has only a few small Mexican hotels and a yoga retreat. There are a lot of little restaurants with very Mexican food. A number of Canadians have discovered it and park their campers on the beach and others have purchased houses here to use during the winter months. It is definitely somewhere I would consider if I was in the position of finding a seasonal cottage. The swimming is great and we took the opportunity to clean our hull and the boat. A man from Oregon is developing a huge area on the point and is subdividing lots which apparently are going to be around $450,000 each so the flavor of this lovely bay will change. At least these will be beautiful homes set in the trees and not condos or American style huge hotels.
We took a trip into Las Varas, 6 miles away only to find we were in the cowboy heart of Mexico. There were more butcher shops with hanging carcasses, boot shops and hardware stores than I have seen anywhere. Ken was sorely tempted to buy some crocodile or ostrich skin boots for his next Stampede but as that may be years away even he was able to fight the temptation (so far). We went to the large fruiteria on the highway on the way back and enjoyed buying fresh pineapples, bananas and papayas.
We spent another day going to Tepic (by the time we waited for bus connections the “going” part of the day was longer than the “being there” part. We had gone to see the Huichol Indians who wear their traditional costumes and set up in the market selling their beautiful beadwork and embroidery. It was a very Mexican city of 400,000 people but as we have found people elsewhere in Mexico everyone was extremely nice and helpful we had an enjoyable day. The countryside inland from here has very lush hills with sugar cane appearing to be the main crop. Cattle and fruit are also in abundance.
We met Canadians who had been taking Spanish classes here so decided to stay a couple more days and take some lessons from a lovely young Mexican woman. This was more humbling than anything as we were quickly aware how little we know although she was very gracious, we will continue to work on it. Our 14th wedding anniversary dinner was spent at an intimate restaurant at a B&B overlooking the bay.
We will leave to go to La Cruz and Puerta Vallarta next which will be back to the “tourista” towns but hopefully will find more small Mexican places as we go south.