A Morning on the River San Cristobal

Peddling quietly off on our bikes at 5:30am, with Maddie in the pack, we went to meet our 4 new friends and then walk all the way to the end of town.  It was quiet except for the odd person, up at this incredibly early hour, sweeping the streets or digging in his garden.  We passed a huge mango tree that was absolutely deafening with the song of grackles and their variety of sounds.

There were more people out than I would have imagined.  Shopkeepers starting their day as the dawn light was just bright enough to see.  Just past the bridge, Abrahim and his ponga awaited.  He took us out on the river and we spent a good few hours viewing the banks of mangroves, spotting the odd egret and then once we got up the river a bit, the bird life was stunning.  Our driver, a young fellow, sweet and very knowledgeable and obviously in love with this river, pointed out and told us the names of all the birds.  There must have been six types of herons, all kinds of birds I'd never heard of or seen; some nocturnal, some huge.  Black eagles, buzzards, ones that sounded like monkeys, others that sounded like tigers, seriously.  When the sun finally hit the mangroves, we warmed up a bit and then we couldn't keep up with the amount of life we saw.  We headed towards the flood plain to the pink flamingo nesting grounds and upon approaching it, realized its grandness from afar.  Every year the pink flamingos come back to nest on this bit of island in the middle of the flood plain at the end of the river.  We navigated carpets of water hyacinths as fish jumped in the water in front of us, sparkling streaks of silver in the morning light.  Maddie was intrigued and although it was her first time in a ponga, acted like she did this everyday.  Eventually she just lied down and rested, comfortable in the company of everyone.

The flamingos were stunning; they say they are pink because of their diet of shrimp.  All I know is that they are so beautiful and share their nesting grounds with storks (very funny looking) and black ducks, who make a very quick repetitive throaty sound, like Buddhist monks chanting in a hurry.  It was a flurry of activity as the young flamingos continually bobbed up and down to show their mother how hungry they were.  You could smell the ammonia from the guano depending where the breeze was blowing from.  There was nothing but an island of birds, bright morning sunlight, the sound of Abrahims paddle plunking through the water and everyone was speechless and taking it all in.  Sweet.

On the way back, we must have seen 18 crocodiles, about 4 of which were very very large.  They usually shot far deep into the water as we approached, but some were lying on the banks and were eerily prehistoric looking.  We spotted some tortugas aslo.  In fact the whole scene could have been the setting for a movie set in the mesozoic period.  

After the river, we went off to the beach and acted like crocodiles, doing nothing in the sun.

First Week: San Blas

After driving to the outskirts of Culiucan, a large city of vices, I stopped in a hotel which made MadDog very happy.  A dinner of Oaxan Tampequena was pretty good and cheap and so was the beer.  We even had TV, and watched Chiva (Mexican City soccer team) play against I'm not sue who. I was disappointed there were no Mexican soap operas.  In the am, we got ready for the next day's drive, to our destination: San Blas.  I had decided to stop there, with an invitation from a dear friend from Yelapa.  It's a chill place with good body surfing, he told me.  

And he was right.  It's a very chill place with very friendly people and not many tourists. Alan and I drive around on our bikes and just park them on the street and they stay there.  What kind of place can you do that in anymore in this world?  There's a fantastic beach, with perfect waves and a spot to lie in a hammock.  Maddie is starting to LIKE going in the backpack because it means she is going somewhere and not being left behind.  In San Blas, she goes into restaurants, bars, markets, everywhere.  She is having a sniffing field day!  She had her first ocean experience and actually wanted to go in the water.  Watching her running on the open beach is hilarious.  She digs in the sand and seems to be enjoying getting dirty.  Except for the insects, it is quite lovely and relaxing.  Okay, it's rather noisy also, but that's just part of Mexico.

First Night Back in Mexico: Guaymas, Sonora

After driving many hours, the day was ending and I was tired. So I splurged and paid too much for a lovely hacienda /hotel on the ocean.  I could have rented an RV spot with my van, but it was too nice to pass up.

Besides, they said I could bring Maddie as long as she didn't go on the bed.  Okay.

As soon as I got in the room, Maddie jumped on the bed and did her snuffling and scratching bit.  She LOVES this part!  I do too.   There was a pool and a stunnng view overlooking the ocean. 

It was beautiful.  I spent a couple of hours talking with a sixy something wood carver Juan Paulo,  while taking pics of the sunset and enjoying the ambience and his stories.  Then off to dinner where the waiters were so cool, both had been there for the last 40 years; Francisco and Camilo.  We watched women's boxing on the big screen and talked about the old days when the resort was always full of people.  They spend a lot of their days just standing around now, but seemingly still as happy as ever.

In the morning I had chilaquiles for breakfast and was so excited; sitting looking out onto a big plaza with the morning sun touching it,  was the biggest fig tree I've ever seen.  It was bigger than the oaks in New Orleans.  Stunning.  There had been a wedding the night before and the guys were sweeping up the square with big long homemade brooms like I'd seen in Venice.

I walked around the beautiful grounds in the morning sun, taking it all in before I packed up and headed south out of town.