Friday February 4, 2011
Up early again to today as Margaret was humming and singing and crashing around. Not quite as early as we thought since we are on central time and it’s 1hour later. Anyway we were up so we headed off for breakfast early. When we were done we walked our laundry over to the Lavaderia and left it with the nice Mexican lady to be picked up tomorrow. My bag will cost 30 pesos ($2.55) so it is a bargain to have someone do your laundry.
We all piled into the jeep with Eric and I in the back and Frank and Sandi in the front. First stop was San Mateo just a short way south from Punta Perula. We headed east off the highway and came to a church with a rather unusual design. Beautiful but different. We were to find out later it is built in the “Careyes design,” more about Careyes later.
Church in San Mateo in the “Careyes” design.
Mosaic and tile work at the entryway to the church.
There were also beautiful flowers outside the church and I took some pictures. What are they, I don’t know.
Sandi and I in front of the flower bush.
The square below the church.
After a good look at the church and lots of pictures we headed on south.
Next stop…Bocca de Iguana. We’d heard about this place from one of the Canadian couples we talked to when we did our walk about around Punta Perula yesterday. These were the couple that were staying there and who also knew people from our hometown of Terrace, B.C. and they proceeded to tell us that Bocca was a wonderful beautiful place to spend a winter. We drove in the paved road to Bocca and it dead ended at the beach where there was an RV park and a building that had maybe a small amount of groceries and next to it were some accommodations of some sort . We wandered through the RV park and were not impressed by the huge amount of sand as there was no doubt in any of our minds that the rigs would be really deep it it.
Walking through the park ….in the sand!
There were also lots of small screen tents which would tell us there were bugs. This would probably be due to the fact that there is a laguna right at the entrance to the beach and you have to cross it to get to the salt water. And, never mind that there are also crocodiles, or at least there are warnings. Great! There were a modest amount of rigs parked there and there was also areas were you could camp, with a tent which tells us it could be a Mexican party area. Not a good thing for us old fuddy, duddys!
Beach at Bocca de Iguana….see any crocodiles! me neither.
Palapas on the front of the Bocca RV park.
We wandered down to the beach and had a look and although it was nice we wondered what you would do here all winter as well as noting it would be a long drive for groceries. Into Melaque I guess. Not our cup of tea so onward. I should also mention that we didn’t spend a huge amount of time in any of the places we visited so it is only a first impression.
These pictures are at the front entry way to the park and show prices.
On to La Manzanilla.
This is an area that Claire and Mark had told us about because they have friends here that own a restaurant. Mark and Claire are the motorcycle travelers from Great Britain that stayed in Las Jaibas for a week or so before continuing on their journey south. (See my earlier posts about Claire and Mark) They had met their Dutch friends, Jolanda and Jorge in Nepal about 9yrs. ago on another motorcycle journey and were anxious to reconnect with them in La Manzanilla. Jolanda’s restaurant is a favorite stop (Google it as it is well know and a great place to eat) but it was a busy day in La Manzanilla (some sort of a festival going on) and we were unable to find it. Claire and Mark stayed with them over Christmas in their off beach accommodation and enjoyed good food and hospitality. Sorry we couldn’t stop in. Again maybe next time.
We wandered the beautiful beach and had a look around before heading on south. Sorry Claire, it just didn’t work out. Too busy a day in La Manzanilla.
We went on towards Melaque but decided not to go in and continued on to Barra de Navidad. We drove into town and stopped and parked in the down town area. Frank’s Garmin GPS helped us to find our way around and we finally stopped, parked the jeep and got out for a walk about. Up and down a few streets, a picture on the beach and back for a quick drink before we headed out of town.
A beautiful beach on a windy day.
Street in Barra de Navidad.
The down town area was quaint and old and there were quite a few Anglos wandering the streets. It was also not as busy as one might expect, especially in the height of the tourist season. Again, we didn’t spend much time and it warranted a longer look. Maybe next year.
Marina on the south side of town.
As we were on our way out of town we noticed an RV park quite a long way off the beach. We drove in, had a look and again there were less than 6 rigs parked. Too far off the beach, rustic and unfinished. Nope!
The drive back to Punta Perula was busy and windy and Frank is tired. Thanks for driving Frank!
As we drove through a small town on the way back this tree was in full bloom. Beautiful!
Back to the unit and all is quiet. Everyone out so Sandi decided to have a lie down and Frank, Eric and I walked up town for beer. Not a bad price for a 24 (190 pesos – 180 in Mazatlan) and home for happy hour on the beach. Cool tonight in Punta Perula but not as cool as Mazatlan, supposed to go down to 39C….that’s close to freezing.
Up town for dinner and chicken tacos 85 pesos for two people with 1 beer each and when you add a tip 100 pesos and then on up the street for Helado (ice cream.) Now that cost 20 pesos each which is half as much as dinner. Am I complaining, not…not…..not! Happy and full!
Home to bed. Tomorrow there is a polo match that Jack in the park told us about. It is part of the Careyes development so maybe we’ll have a look.
Night night!
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