Tenacatita

On Monday we went to Tenacatita. It is a very sleepy little town on a different stretch of beach that is only beachfront palapa restaurants. We had to take a bus that was headed to Puerta Vallarta and get off on the highway. D and L used to come here 14 years ago and they remembered it being a dirt road that we would need to walk on for a few miles to the town. We got off the bus at a big paved intersection with a highway sign pointing to Tenacatita. As we started walking up the big paved expanse, a beautiful sparkly green pickup truck had pulled over to pick up a woman who had also gotten off the bus. The driver whistled and they both waved for us to come and climb into the back. As we rode and rode and rode down the road, we realized how lucky we were, it was a really long way.

Once in town, we walked down to the end of the strip of restaurants to the restaurant of Mosca, a friend of D and L’s. He was there and they had a happy reunion. They went off to find other friends and Matthew, Mikko and I set up for the day under his big covered eating area that was empty because it was Monday. There were hammocks!! (Some of you may know about my love of hammocks.)

It was another beautiful day of lounging, reading and playing in the waves. When D and L got back we went to a little cove at the other end of the beach, called the aquarium and did a little snorkeling. It was pretty cool, but there were a lot of stingrays around and despite my dad’s reassurances that “they won’t bother you if you don’t bother them” it was a little hard to relax and get into the whole experience.

We went back to Mosca’s and had a delicious meal of shrimp and big whole delectable fish - (I could only have quesadillas but had a few bites of the shrimp and fish without breaking into hives, hurrah!) Mosca gave us a ride out to the highway (we saw the shorter dirt road that we had been shooting for,) and we flagged down a bus headed for Barra.

Matthew took this picture and the one of Mikko in the hammock.

Mosca with his fancy van.

Waiting for the bus.

Guided by soccer and Jesus - we made it home to Barra.

BARRA BABY - the extended dance version

We’re nearing the end of our trip - in our favorite hostel in Morelia - and it has wireless !! As it turns out I found it nearly impossible blog in internet cafes.

So Barra:

The first morning it was overcast and misty - we were in heaven.

Mikko’s first sight of the ocean during the day.

The actual beach in Barra is too steep and rough for comfortable frolicking so we found other places to go to swim. Our first day we took a bus to Melaque, the neighboring town.

It is a little bigger than Barra and more of a Mexican working people’s town (though much of that work is tourism.) The beach is lined with palapa restaurants, hotels and beach umbrellas and chairs that you can rent. We got an umbrella and set up camp and then played played played in the waves. The only other time I have played in warm(er) Pacific Coast waves was in San Fransisco after a summer of swimming in Wisconsin lakes. I remember getting very annoyed at the waves persistentness and ended up feeling quite bullied by the whole experience. This was very different. The waves would come in patterns of low ebbs for a while then nice sized body surfing vehicles.

It was a Sunday and the beach was full of Mexican families eating, swimming, basking. playing soccer, building sandcastles - all those things that are done at the beach.

There was a constant stream of vendors selling hammocks, tchotchkies, snacks, shrimp cocktails, jewelry, wooden bowls and spoons, wheelbarrels with big trays piled high with candy. Our favorite was the fruit - mangoes on a stick with chili, salt and lime, or pineapples with the tops cut off and the centers mashed to a pulp to be drunk and spooned out.

Mikko spent 100% of the day in the water or at the water’s edge if no adults were willing to go in with him for a bit. He was in heaven.

His hands at the end of the day.

After hours of play and lying around reading or dozing, we decided to walk back the four miles along the beach to Barra. We walked along the slanted beach watching pelicans dive for their dinner, beautiful bronzed youth boogie boarding and playing soccer. On the left the hotels changed to an RV park full of gringo retirees, to a large swamp for a stretch that had crocodile warning signs, and eventually back to the hotels of Barra. It was hard to walk on the steep sloped beach and the last 20 minutes became a little grueling. I realized that lately the walks I have been taking don’t really feel like a walk until there is a slightly grueling stretch.

That’s Barra way in the distance, to the right.

We got back just in time to watch the sunset with margaritas and big plate of guacamole and another of baked cheese. Oh my god - the heaven we were in.

Is this crazy or what?  I actually took this picture - it isn’t a stock photo of “dream vacation spot”.  ( And in my other hand is a margarita and in my mouth is guacamole.)