One of our favorite places to go is Teacapan 90 miles south of Mazatlan.
I sort of managed to get the map into the blog but...I'm still struggling. It was so much easier when Open Live Writer still worked. Thanks Google...not!
Driving up towards the free road on our way heading south and we always hope a bag of cement doesn't fall off the truck. Really scary on the motorcycle.
Leaving the Mazatlan bypass and we can turn right to head to Teacapan on the free road or take the toll road. We choose the free road.
Somehow the two pictures above got welded together. The first one shows the free road heading south towards El Rosario. In the one above we are in Esquinapa.
Winding our way through Esquinapa where all the traffic including big trucks and buses have to navigate the very busy narrow streets to head south. A bit of schmozzle.
Turn right for La Tambora and Teacapan.
On the right you can see the huge transmission line that ends before Teacapan and it has never been activated. Part of a huge development like a west coast Cancun that was the baby of the previous government. Maybe it will still go or maybe it will be abandoned. The port a potties were a bit of a concern as they didn't appear to be tied down...only tied to each other.
One of the many estuaries that run along the coastline.
Everything is really green here and the crops are growing like mad.
Always sharing the road with a tractor.
We wondered if we would see much improvement in the area after last years hurricane but it was hard to tell. Still lots of piles of scrap metal, roofs blown off and unfinished buildings but that could be abandoned projects or leftover hurricane damage...who knows.
Close to Teacapan there are a couple of areas that have some really nice houses and lots of them are for sale. Beautiful spot, right on the beach but...what the heck would you do all winter.
This one had a very modern glass look to it.
Here we are in Otto's Japonesa restaurant for lunch. When we came last year it was a Wednesday and he wasn't open. I was really bitter about that! Today...no problem.
A nice cold beer in a garden setting...what more could you ask for.
Food...that's what. I had something called Bo--fun which was stir fried vegetables with shrimp over cellophane noodles. Very tasty. I really wanted the tempura shrimp but they came with rice and I wanted vegetables so this was it.
When we arrived Otto and Juany's daughter Yuki was still at school but she appeared just in time to deliver the food. The kids are on a split shift school day here and she was done by 12:30. We first met Yuki ten years ago when she was just a baby and now she's waiting tables. My how time flies.
Linda and Eric had the tempura prawns with rice. My ideal would be half rice/half vegetables and prawns but it's not on their menu. Maybe I'll have to get Otto to put the dish on the menu.
Ian had a ramen noodle/vegetable dish.
All good.
We'd asked Juany if Otto was here and she said yes ...he was cooking! He is sometimes away on business trips as he is a translator for his Japanese friend who buys seafood in South America.
They also have some little cabins that you can rent for 350 pesos a night. If you look up Eco Paradise Teacapan it will come up. It takes many irons in the fire to keep a family afloat. Otto has three other children from a previous marriage that he is helping put through school so he has to work hard.
Linda and Kathy.
As we were finishing eating Otto came out of the kitchen to greet us and have a chat. He always remembers us. The first time we went to Teacapan in 2010 he got to sit on "Blue" Eric's 1997 Soft tail Harley and he was thrilled.
Otto in 2010.
Today we had a really nice chat and Ian was really interested to talk to Otto. He asked how old he was ...60 which is the same age as Ian and Eric's youngest brother David who is married to Chiyoko a Japanese woman. Linda and Ian traveled have travelled to Japan with David and Chiyoko in the last few years and they had been to Kobe which is where Otto is from. Small world. Otto hasn't been home since just before his daughter Yuki was born. They talked about his job and where he learned English (California where he lived for 4 years back in the l980's) and many other things.
Juany took a picture of all of us together and then....
....Ian snapped us with the whole family. Lots of fun but shortly Otto had to head back to work.
Time to say goodbye and go.
We drove up and down Teacapan's malecon and it is really pretty.
We got a " Good morning" from the kids sitting outside in the school yard.
I was taking pictures with my cell phone from the back seat out the front window of the Jeep and then cropped them later. Not bad. My camera had trouble with the dark windows but the cell phone didn't care. Really great camera on the Samsung S7.
Main street Teacapan!
By this time it was getting late and we were all tired with 90 miles between us and home. Here we are going through Esquinapa back to the free road and home. One way in and one way out with signage missing in the middle. Not a problem in the Jeep but a nightmare on the bike as a sudden stop while you are turning means the bike gets dropped. Not fun.
Home by about 4:30 after a really nice day trip. Next week....San Ignacio I think.
