March 25th – March 29th

March 25: We arrived in Colima Thursday morning and parked the trailer at a small residence that allows camping. The owner had a large plot of land that he allows 4-5 campers and has his own air landing strip.  The place did not have water or dump facilities, but did have electricity.  We were the only RVer’s there.   It was a safe place as it did have a security gate but the RV area wasn’t a destination in itself. 

Colima is a town from which you can see 2 volcanoes. One is still active and we had the pleasure on seeing it smoking in the evening.   The town has had a history of earth quakes and as such it has been rebuilt several times so it has many more modern buildings than other places in Mexico.  It also appears to attract young people and there are many families.  Colima has several parks, playgrounds and museums and even a zoo although we didn’t visit any due to time.  Instead we took a drive to a small town called Comala.  There, we looked in a few shops and Trevor and Trae both got their hair cut.  It cost 90 pesos ($7) for both!  And the hairdresser did a great job.  Before leaving Comala we stopped at a roadside restaurant for dinner.  There was live music and the place was packed with people who were dressed up.  At first, we thought that perhaps we were crashing a wedding.  Then the waiter approached the table and proceeded to take our beverage order.  Then without ordering any food, our waiter kept bringing us appetizers until our bellies were full.  We were a little confused as we did not order any food.  When we got the bill, all we were charged for were our drinks.  The total was under $10!  It felt like the IKEA commercial where the women is running out of the store and yelling at her husband to start the car.  It was like, quick let’s get outta here before they realize that they didn’t charge us enough.  I don’t know how the place makes money with free food and entertainment.  However the drinks were double the cost that we have seen in other places.  Buckets of beer seemed to be the popular choice.  There was constant live music.  The band we saw had 10 members on stage.  When one band left the stage another band/performer would appear.  After dinner, we noticed that the restaurant had a kids playground… so we stayed as the kids worked off their appetizers. 

March 26: We continued on to Villa Corona, a small town south of Guadalajara that was know for having thermal hot springs.  We stayed at a water park with RV camping.   When we arrived on Friday the pools weren’t busy and we enjoyed floating in the pools, riding the water slides and floating down the lazy river. The water sits constantly at 39degrees!   It was super relaxing and even better with a margarita in hand.  At the end of each day the park drains the pools and the public leave but they fill one pool for the  RVers in the evening.  What a treat to swim in the warm water and look up at the stars!  On the week-end the pools were pac ked with families.  A little too busy for Trevor and I but the kids didn’t mind. 

On Sunday we decided to take a drive, that was recommended by another traveller.  We thought it would take a couple hours but it turned out to be over 4 hours of driving.   It started on a major highway, then on a paved rural road with grass taller then the car, through a town with narrow cobblestone streets, onto a rough dirt road nearly straight up over a mountain range, back down the mountains on a paved switchback road and finally back onto a highway.  The featured highlight was, wait for it….a pile of rocks! .  A pile of large boulders in a big open field.  Note that in the picture, you will notice people on the rocks.  Not that impressive once you’ve seen Jumbo Rocks in Joshua Tree Park.

We are now headed for more into the interior as we look forward to celebrating Easter in Mexico.

March 20 – 24: Passing through and beyond P.V. (Puerto Vallarta)

March 20: In early morning (8am), we left the beaches north of P.V.  We drove along the ocean south of P.V to a short road east off the coastal highway… basically beyond any tourist destination.  This unique stop was recommended to us by Denis and Renee from Quebec.   We camped by a federal dam that was guarded by a government officer.   The dam was at the end of a very large lake that had many small islands.  The officer was kind enough to allow us to stay there for one night. 

That afternoon, we went on an adventure and walked down the road along the lake to a small family restaurant. We wanted to ask about a guided fishing

 

 

 

 

 

trip.  It was a very comical experience trying to communicate our request as the family spoke very little English and we spoke very little Spanish.   It was definitely one of many moments we’ve had when we have wished we’d taken Spanish lessons prior to coming to Mexico.   This always becomes more evident as we venture into small villages or towns.  Our little translation dictionary was almost thrown into the lake as it didn’t help us much.  Sign language, charades  and a similar version of pictionary eventually helped us understand each other.  Both families laughed constantly.  Oh, the joy of communicating in laughter.

In the end, the family at this restaurant was very kind as their 20 year old son, Carlos, was able to take us on a 2 hour boat/fishing trip around the lake.  The lake was high as some parts of the islands trees were in water.    We did see some farm animals but no fish.  As much as we tried, we did caught “nada”, nothing, zilch!!!  I guess fish do not bite in the middle of the afternoon with the hot sun beating down and inexperienced fisherman are tossing their lures.  Fortunately, Maria, Carlos’ mother cooked us up the catch of the day and we ate it with tortillas, vegetables and of course a few  Corona’s.    The family was very kind as it will be a moment to remember. 

It was a quiet night for sleeping as we were alone along the damn. Trae woke Carrie up in the middle of the night and showed her the stars from his window.  Carrie says she has never seen so many as they filled the sky from horizon to horizon.  Why Trae is up in the middle of the night viewing stars is a wonder in itself. 

March 21: The following morning we drove to a little magical place, called Tenacatita.  CLICK ON PHOTO! We drove onto the beach to camp along this very small peninsula just steps away from town.  This place is absolutely paradise  as you are able to view both the sunrise and sunset from your campsite! The area is free camping on a point with 3 large hills and massive rocks in the ocean.  SIDE NOTE: Liz, we did meet Chewy & Tequilla and offered $100 pesos for our stay.  He obliged, but we did not seem him again. Seems that the RV season is winding down. 

As for paradise, one side of the beach faces east, from where you can watch the sunrise and the other side faces west where you can watch the amazingly beautiful sunsets.   There is a small coral reef just off the east facing beach where we tried snorkelling, but unfortunately the waves were unusually big.  This caused the water to be murky so we could only see a few small fish.  Of course, paradise also comes with stingrays and scorpions but fortunately we did not meet any.  We had 2 neighbouring gringos who both have been camping every year on the same beach for over 20 years.  They told us that a month ago the beach was filled with over 20 R.Vers. They both were a wealth of knowledge and were very kind. At first we planned on staying for 1 night, but ended up staying for 3 nights.   We would of liked to stay longer, however we needed to empty our trailer waste water and recharge the trailer batteries.   We tried our solar panel for the first time, but had a problem. 

 

Our days here seem to flow by quickly as we spent the days touring,    hiking, snorkelling and Trevor biking.  The area is a location that is hard to beat for beauty and serenity.     It’s hard to believe a developer hasn’t built it up…..yet. 

March 24: From Tenacatita we travelled down the road just 30km, to Melaque.    This is a larger beach destination, popular with R.Vers and Mexican tourists.  After 4 nights of dry camping in Tenacatita, our holding tanks were literally bursting as we drove down the highway (too much information).  Slightly comical but mostly utterly disgusting.  We were glad that we didn’t have to go far to hook up to the facilities at the next R.V. park.  The one we chose is called La Playa R.V. which is right on the beach and also right downtown.  The beach area is popular with boogie boarders as the waves are large and crash in hard to the shore.  We all enjoyed watching them as the sun set.  

For dinner, we went out into the streets of Melaque and enjoyed eating at a Taco stand.  For the family, we had 5 quesadillas, 3 chicken tacos, 3 beverages for a total cost of 88 pesos (about $7 cdn)! We then toured downtown as it truly comes alive.  A small circus was set up with street vendors.   Mexican music was being played loudly as you tried to hear the town church bells ringing above the Mariachi CD.   

We will leave again tomorrow morning as we drive off to Colima.  This area has two large volcanoes that we hope to explore.  We will keep you posted.

March 16–19: Enjoying Tropical Mexico

March 16-17: We spent one night in a RV park south of San Blas,  where we met a very nice couple, Denis and Renee.  They are a couple from Quebec who have spent 9 winters in Mexico.  They were overflowing with information and gave us suggestions to help plan the remainder of our route in Mexico. 

While in the San Blas area we took a 2 hour jungle boat ride through the estuary and mangroves.   It was a magical experience.  We lost count of the variety of birds we saw.  We also saw many crocodiles, turtles, fish and small racoon-looking things.   At one point, there was a place to swim that had a fence through the water to keep the crocodiles out!!! Yikes…. we decide to politely pass.   A little too close to crocodiles for comfort!  Of course, they offer this to you once you are halfway on the boat tour and you have just seen about a dozen or so crocodiles.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 17-19: We left San Blas in the afternoon and ventured on south, closer to Puerto Vallarta. As we neared, we had several small towns to choose from for camping.  We decided on the one in the middle, called Lo de Marcos.  It has a small beach which is relatively quiet.  While staying there we took daytrips to the other small towns.  Sayulita is a funky little town with neat shops, galleries and restaurants.   It is a beginners surfing town and there were lots of people learning how to catch a wave.  The town is full of American and Canadian tourists (some who have become residents) and as such the prices are higher than the other nearby towns such as Rincon de Guayabitos which caters mostly to Mexican tourists.  We did a little boogie boarding in Lo de Marcos and Trae’s interest in waves was sparked.  We could not get him out of the water as he enjoyed playing in the waves.  In his mind, he is a “surfer dude”as he has now been using the phrase “surfs up Dude!”

We also indulged at dinner time as we chose a restaurant recommended by Denis earlier. The restaurant was known for the fajitas.  The fajitas were presented in lava rock bowls, a definite favourite of Trevor’s.  The next day, we went to the weekly market in La Pinata where you could buy produce, bread, baked goods, kitchenware, hardware, clothing, shoes, pottery, jewellery, toys, wool rugs…you name it.   We practiced our bartering skills and purchased some silver jewellery, a dress for Kiah and some hand painted clay bowls along with our groceries. 

The weather here is now getting warm and is more close to Carrie’s kind of temperature, hot!  It makes the water more enticing.  But Trevor prefers the temperatures we had further north, which I would describe as comfortable, but not hot enough for swimming (no problem for the kids though).  We are going to spend one more week of beach life before we head inland.  We’ve been advised by many to stay away from the coast during the week before and following Easter.  Apparently Mexican’s really like to party this time of year, beyond what the biggest Canadian partier can handle!?!?  

March 4-15 - Beach Boot Camp

March 4 – 8: We spent 4 nights in touristy Mazatlan.  We didn’t enjoy the city as much as we anticipated.  We found it to be noisy and there were constantly people trying to sell us tacky souvenirs, tours, and time shares.  However, we did take the opportunity to get out and explore what Mazatlan has to offer. 

We hiked the hill to the second highest lighthouse in the world.  It was a relatively easy hike up, (a good one for the kids),  as Trae had tremendous energy. He decided that he was going to run from the bottom to the top…and he did it.  He was pretty red in the face when he got to the top!  At the top, there were nice views of the city and ocean. 

We also went for a boat tour to an island where we were able to view sea lions, go horseback riding and a little bit of ocean kayaking.  Trevor even managed to hook up with the owner of a local bike shop for a 3 hour ride.  The bike owner gathered about 8 of his friends and allowed Trevor to join them on a mountain bike ride on the outskirts of the city and had a great time.  He was even welcomed to join them for breakfast afterwards.

March 8-15: On March 8th we left Mazatlan and headed for Teacapan,  a small fishing village on a relatively isolated peninsula.  The road there is riddled with potholes.  It’s not a matter of trying to avoid them because you simply can’t.  You just have to try to choose the smaller ones.

The Teacapan area is filled with the aroma of jalapenos.  The backs of trucks were jammed packed with men, women and preschoolers on their way to and from the fields to pick jalapenos and other peppers.

When we arrived at the RV park we were excited to see that there was another family.  We soon found out that they are actually travelling for a year from Ireland.   We seemed to have a lot in common and their children Hazel and Danny, were similar age to Kiah and Trae.  The couple were very active in running and cycling.  In fact, most of the RV park were going on daily rides at 8:30am each morning. Evidently we chose to stay for the week, our longest stay in one place.  The kids had loads of fun playing together as they enjoyed the beach, pools and just being kids.  Trevor and I had partners for running and biking along the endless km’s of sandy beach and on the road to town.  Over the week we also shared meals and stories.  We will miss there company and hope to meet up again in BC in June. As we stayed the week, we began to notice that many RV travellers are getting ready to head north.  Many have been in Mexico since November/December.  There are not too many headed south.  This makes us happy as we will have quieter camping areas and less busy beaches and tourist areas…we hope!