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!?!?