San Blas Nayarit

Heading out early morning on the Jungle River Tour

We woke up at 6:00 a.m. and scrambled around trying to get dressed, eat breakfast and pack a bag for our Jungle River Tour. We also had to run Harley to the beach and then back to the boat since she wasn’t going on the tour.

The Taxi driver was very prompt and met us on the beach where we landed our dinghy.

 

Effrin, our terrific tour guide!

We got to La Tovara around 7:30 a.m. and were greeted by two men who escorted us to the Panga that was going to take us down the river and we climbed aboard. It was just Rick, myself, and the tour guide, Effrin, onboard.

 

An Owl that blended right in with the tree.

As we motored quietly down river and through the Mangroves we saw lots of different types of birds, turtles, Iguana’s and crocodiles. The scenery was breathtaking…beautiful plants, trees and vines lined the banks of the river.

Crocodile!!

A little bird that also blended in with the tree

The ride was a total of 3 ½ hours there and back. We stopped to spend a little time at the crocodile park, but not long. It wasn’t that fun seeing reptiles in captivity. It was much more pleasing to see the crocodiles in their habitat.

A Cioti (sp?) that was at the Croc Park. Cute little fella!

Rick getting close and personal with Croc in captivity.

Iguana up in a tree hanging over the river

The next day Rick and I again left the dog on the boat so that we could go to town and find an Internet Café. We found a restaurant in town called McDonalds Restaurant (not the golden arches kind). We sat and had a very good breakfast and downloaded the charts onto the iPad that we need to continue for navigating while in Mexico. Not only was the food good and the restaurant clean but they had toilet seats on the toilets! Nice touch!

After leaving the restaurant, we did a little exploring on foot taking lots of pictures along the way.

Loving the Doorways

Cute little dog that wanted me to pet him but he was just too riddled with mats and possible fleas or?

Streets of San Blas

When we got back to the restaurant on the beach where our boat is anchored, Playa Hermosa, we ran into another nice couple, Steve and Marilyn from Anacortes, Washington, that had just arrived in their sailboat. We sat and talked to them for a while drinking Limonada’s, then got into our dinghy and went back to the boat.

The next morning, we slept in and tidied up the boat for a bit. Around 10:00 a.m. we put on our swimsuits, got out our surfboards, grabbed Harley and went to shore in the dinghy. 

We decided to try out our surfboards right there on the beach where we landed. The waves were small and the water was shallow so it seemed like a good place to learn. I really had no idea what I was doing but just started out catching the waves and then riding them in on my stomach, then graduated to my knees, then attempted standing but with no luck! (I will never critique another surfer again! It’s harder than it looks). Rick got up on his board on his first try. He seemed to get it down right away. I’m not saying that he didn’t tank now and again, but at least he got up and got a ride.

Harley was trying to keep up with us, and yelping loudly when she couldn’t. I was starting to get annoyed by the yelping and she would be in my way almost every time I would start to go for a wave. So I took her back to shore and tied her up in the shade. Well that didn’t work because she yelped even louder and non-stop. So Rick decided to take her all the way back to the boat.  After he got back we tried some more surfing. My arms and neck and lower back were starting to hurt so I quite while Rick continued on. On my way back to shore, I noticed a Stingray in the water. It sort of scared me because I had been hearing such horror stories of other boaters getting stung and how indescribably painful it is. So I was glad to be getting out of the water when I did. I alerted Rick, but he wasn’t as concerned as I was. He was having way too much fun surfing.

After Rick was finished, we sat down and had some Limonada’s at Playa Hermosa and sat down with four more new arrivals. It was so brief, I do not remember all of the names. But they were very nice!

Dusk was upon us and the no-see-ums were thick in the air, so we decided to head back to the boat before we got eaten alive.

This morning Rick and I got up and planned our day or so we thought.  Al and Lindy came by in their dinghy and invited us to go to Las Cascades (the waterfalls) with them. It was around 7:30 and they were leaving at 8:30. So we tossed our plans aside and got dressed and ready for hiking and swimming. This time we took Harley with us.

We met up with Lindy and Al and another friend of theirs from another boat that is anchored out with us, Lyneita. We all started to walk down the dirt road together to make our way to the main road where we could catch a cab, which is a long walk to that point. We lucked out because a truck came by and offered us a lift. We all climbed in the back and stayed standing while holding onto the lumber racks. That is something you can’t do back home!

Then driver sped along on the dirt road leaving trails of dust behind. It was a pretty fun ride actually even though a tad dangerous.

We got to the main road and hailed down a Taxi or two. No one really wanted to drive all 5 of us and a dog all the way to where we were going. We managed to find someone who would oblige. His name was Elias from Rojo Linea Taxi Service. We all crammed into the car, which was as small as a Smart Car practically…..four of us in the back seat and Rick and Harley in the front seat. I was pretty smooshed in and very uncomfortable but tolerated it thinking it was just a short drive away. Well it turned out to be an hour-long ride on some windy roads. If I’d known…I would have worn my seasickness wristbands! I was feeling a little crummy for a while but when I could peak my head out to see out the window I got distracted by the scenery, which was gorgeous! 

Hiking to the Waterfall with our Taxi Driver following.

Once we got to the trail that goes to Las Cascadas, we parked the car, got out of the car & got our backpacks. We had convinced the Taxi driver to wait for us for a small fee but we also invited him along for the hike. He was delighted and said that he would. So we all hiked down to the waterfalls. It was SO amazing! The water was cascading down ferociously into a clear blue pond below.  As soon as we arrived at the edge of the pond, we all took off our shoes and shorts and dove into the water. Harley was the first one in of course! The water was very cool and refreshing! It felt great! We each took turns swimming up to where the waterfall was blasting into the water. There was such a strong current that was fighting us. But it was still fun trying.

Me and Harley

Al and Lindy on the left. Rick and Harley on the right heading towards the waterfall.

After swimming we all ate some snacks and drank some water. We talked for a bit, jumped into the water one last time and then got dressed and hiked back up the hill. Hiking up was really exhausting. I wasn’t as out of breath as my muscles were out of shape. It was as if my brain wasn’t relaying the message to my legs to move. It was a strange phenomenon. I was really starting to panic thinking something was terribly wrong with me until I got up to where Rick was waiting for me and he said he was experiencing the same thing. What relief! I guess we are just so used to being on the boat our legs have forgotten it’s other uses.

We got back to the car (a sight for sore eyes) and we all crammed ourselves back into the car, which I made sure that I had a window seat this time! 

The drive back to San Blas

Passed a hillside cemetery on the way home. 

Off we went driving along winding roads and small villages. It was great to see the other side of San Blas. The Taxi driver stopped a couple times along the way to point out a few sights. We also stopped off at a friend of his restaurant nearby and had lunch. This was by far the best meal we have had our entire stay here. And it only cost us 20 pesos per meal.

Outside the Restaurant, Lucy, the Nayarit police presence is known!

After lunch we headed back to the boat. We said goodbye to Elias our Taxi driver and thanked him profusely for being so great! For holding our Taxi driver hostage for 5 hours it only cost a total of 800 pesos ($44 US dollars). Not a bad deal.

Now we are back at the boat and will stay in for the rest of the day and night. Maybe watch a movie.

Tomorrow we plan to do what we originally had planned for today. Then I think we will be leaving here Friday or Saturday and head to Chacala, which is about 20ish NM from here. But…we may change that plan and go someplace where we can fill our tanks with water. We just realized that we have not filled our tanks since Ensenada. That’s a long time and we may be running low or out!

Stay tuned.