Panga To Yelapa

Last week, Sergio arranged to hire a panga (little Mexican boat) to take six of us to the small village of Yelapa. I had wanted to visit Yelapa for a few years now but have never gotten around to going. The main reason is that you can only get there by sea as there are no roads in, and I didn't want to be at the mercy of the water taxis. You take the taxis from the Los Muertos pier in Puerto Vallarta or from the beach in Boca de Tomatlan, a little further south. Yelapa only got electricity two years ago so is still very rustic. It's a very popular day trip, even though the boat ride is about 45 minutes each way.

Robin's two friends Denise and Marlene (sisters who live in California) were here for a week and this is one of the trips Robin wanted to take them on. We jumped at the chance to join them because of the convenience of having a private panga and guide. The ride was lots of fun, especially when we saw a school of fish right at the surface of the water. The gulls soaring above them alerted us and Mario, our guide through out a line and almost immediately caught a six pound fish! When we got to the beach in Yelapa, he took it to one of the restaurants so they could cook it for us.

Yelapa has two waterfalls, both popular swimming spots. One is a short ten minute walk through town but as Robin and Sergio had been there just recently, they wanted to hike to the larger one, which was about a two hour walk!!! It was fine for the first while especially walking through the village. There are no cars or motorized vehicles in Yelapa so you have to walk everywhere, no choice. Along the road we passed lots of livestock, beautiful coloured roosters, women walking with baskets of produce on their heads and even a man in the river who was in the process of skinning a large poisonous snake he had just killed! But as we got closer, the path became very rough and very steep. You can imagine what Gail was like, this being the girl who wouldn't look at the Grand Canyon from the parking lot! It was really too bad as about five minutes before we got to the falls, she couldn't go any further. We were hot and tired by then, so the others all continued on and had a short swim, while Gail and I turned back. I was able to walk to the edge of the cliff and get a few shots of the falls however.

When we returned, the waiters on the beach asked how we wanted the fish prepared and before too long we had excellent fish tacos, as fresh as possible, while sitting on the very pretty beach with a cool drink in hand.

On the way back, we saw many more schools of fish but had no luck catching any more. We did see a pod of dophins though, so that was pretty cool.

Once we got home we all went to El Brujo for dinner and had a very scary ending to a busy day. The table next to us had a party of about eight elderly people, who were having a grand old time. They ordered some sort of a flambe desert and as the waiter ignited it, it caught a bottle of booze on fire, sent the tablecloth into flames and it jumped onto the blouse of the lady at the end of the table. PANDEMONIUM!!!! Luckily, the only thing burning was the alcohol and she wasn't hurt at all. Her blouse didn't even look scorched, but it was a very shocking thing to see. I think I will be more aware when I order anything that is flambeed from now on!

Final Project for the Year

FINALLY! My carpenter arrived this morning, only three weeks late. Back in January, I hired this fellow to make and install more kitchen cabinets. We don't have nearly enough and there is a lot of wasted space above the ones that we already have. So, I told him that they had to be done the first week of March, after all our company left. I also told him that we are leaving April 1 (a bit of a fib as we are actually leaving April 7). The last thing we needed was construction going on when we are trying to close up the house for the summer.

It has been hell trying to get in touch with this guy. I wouldn't have cared except I gave him a $5,000 peso deposit so he could prefab the cabinets. This morning when I called him to say we are leaving in less than two weeks he hung up on me!!!! I was truly beginning to think that I would never see him again.

But what do you know- he is here and the cabinets don't fit. Surprise. Now we are being subjected to him rebuilding them in the driveway and creating a hell of a lot of noise. Doesn't matter. He is here and I have hope that the kitchen will be done before we leave. At least I have all the material here, which is what I have paid for so far.

Last night we met our neighbours from two doors down-the end unit that Dale and Tim will remember as there was a rumor that this house is for sale. They are CHILDREN!! Well, that's what they are to me. Really really sweet kids who live in Denver Colorado. We sat outside with them and Robin and Sergio until quite late. Jaime is 26, cute as a button and a tax accountant. His wife Alexandra is only 24 and a law student. She is American and he is Mexican. This is the first time she has even seen the house and sad to say for Michelle- they are not going to sell.

Well, this is tax season and it would seem impossible for him to get away for a week, but Jaime has just found out that his 48 year old mother, who lives in Guadalajara, has cancer again after six years cancer free. The family is all quite devastated naturally. They are all coming to Bucerias to try to relax and be together for a week and should arrive later today. If they are anything like Jaime, we will love them.

Stay tuned for before and (hopefully!) after kitchen reno photos.

Happy San Patricio Day!

Well, yes. Imagine that we celebrate St. Patrick's Day here in Bucerias. There really is an Irish Pub here and they go all out like true Irishmen. I was surprised to discover that the Mexican's are very fond of the Irish. It all stems back from the Mexican American war, when Irish fighting for the US deserted to fight on the Mexican side. Here is a little bit that I read about it:

"It involves St. Patrick's Battalion, also called the San Patricios and Los Colorados, whose members deserted Gen. Zachary Taylor's army in the late 1840s and took up arms for Mexico in the Mexican American War. During various campaigns of the two-year conflict, from which the U.S. gained half of Mexico's territory, the San Patricios served as an artillery unit. Long honored in Mexico on St. Patrick's Day and Sept. 12, the anniversary of many of their executions, they've received little attention in the U.S.

In all, about 9,000 U.S. soldiers deserted the war. The San Patricio unit included Germans, Scots and others. While considered traitors in their day, in Mexico and Ireland they were hailed as heroes.
They opposed fighting fellow Catholics and had yet to establish a solid allegiance to the U.S., conscripted as they were immediately after immigrating. They weren't given U.S. citizenship. Fierce anti-Catholic prejudice within the ranks also fueled their desertion.

The battalion is honored in Mexico with schools, churches and streets named for them. In Ireland's County Galway, a ceremony is held in their honor. Both Mexico and Ireland have issued San Patricio postage stamps."

Isn't that amazing?

So. last night we walked the four blocks to The Shamrock, where there was a rocking big party happening. Just about everyone was wearing something green. The empty lot across the street from the pub was set with a stage, beer and food tents, lots of extra tables and chairs, a stall selling everything Irish and even a bouncy tent thingy for the kids to play on. Kids are included in just about everything here.

Spring in Bucerias

It's hard to believe that we have less than a month left here in paradise. We are already getting anxious about leaving- a completely different feeling than we have when we leave Victoria. I guess that is telling us something.

There are sure signs of spring arriving soon, just like up north. The first is that Robin and Sergio arrived a week ago! They are almost the opposite of everyone else here, as they arrived March 3rd for six weeks, just about the time when so many of us are leaving. So far, we have said goodbye to the owners of four homes.

It seems odd to me, but there are deciduous trees here in Mexico-the kind that shed their leaves for the winter. Because it is so hot here, and so unfamiliar to see trees without leaves when it is warm, they look dead. How wrong! They are starting to come to life, some with the most amazingly beautiful exotic flowers. Last night, we went into town to have tacos at The Rim- and passed a few trees, completely bare except for the hot pink shock of colour at the top.

There are other trees with fruit on them. We recently discovered a tree which is on our usual walk, but hidden in amongst the leaves are these HUGE odd looking fruit. We've been told they are Jackfruit- but I really don't know for sure. Then, also on our way into town last night, we saw a small little papaya tree with baby fruit growing on the branches.