Hotel Garza Canela San Blas

... plastic chairs of the camp.<br><br>The ocean was pretty active with a break at the estuary appreciated by the local surfers and directly in front of the camp, good for boogie boarding - I had invested in one because I like the rush of catching a wave to shore, though without appropriate fins there was no way I would be riding the face of waves on one. Day one I timed it badly &amp; accidentally dug the board in causing it, and subsequently my ribcage ...

... cabana with only a wooden bed thing in the middle. The toilet was found at the end of a wooden plank bridge and consisted of a loo seat over the sea, and the shower was a bucket! Although these things were pretty gross, we strangely got used to them and rather enjoyed our stay. We had a large communal table where we ate our bonito fish and rice meals, and fresh mango, coconut and avocado, with other fellow ...

... on the way. 2 hours on the island was plenty to circumnavigate it several times, see the small museum, take far too many photos (sorry!) and enjoy dried shrimp empanadas for breakfast on a street corner with the locals. You may notice how the kerbs are 2` high - in wet season the village becomes a little venice with canoes navigating the 'streets¨'

San Blas famous as laid back spot with good surf and it's pier features in a famous romantic Mexican song - all I found were some fisherman's/commercial docks - hardly romantic except in the sunset! Also notoriously buggy but since it was dry season, they weren't as bad as usual, except on ...

We woke up in the morning on our desert island and relaxed again until our boat arrived to take us back to the village (on the original island that we stayed on) and then onto Panama city. We were sad to leave the San Blas but really needed a good shower and get rid of all the sand. On the journey back we saw a sloth in the tree near the passport office, he was quite low in the tree and had a good look at us too, so cute!!

We had an easy day for the start hanging in Mazatlan till after noon. Warm and sunny! we traveled on the Toll Road which kept getting more and more expensive but we were told that the Libra (free) road was in really bad condition and very crowded. About 16 TO $18 per bike per toll gate and there were at least 5 of the darn things. We got a tip from the waiter that we should stay in San Blas so we headed out with that in mind. He was ...

... on sleep but the other guys went to the beach to throw a lobster trap in the water. I had a nice sleep on the roof. Mars and Venus, shining brightly were looking down on me in the early part of the evening. The rooftop was far enough from the shore that the salty air mixed with aromas from the Mexican cuisine on the street. If it weren´t for the dogs and little revelries in the street Hilton &amp; Radisson would have ...

... 20 minutes to walk around, admiring the wheel spokes inspired road system and trying to peer subtly into the faces of the people we saw lounging in the square to find some resemblence to Moctezuma. Was quite exciting to be in the place where it supposedly all began, especially since reading Gary Jennings book "Aztec" a few years ago where Aztlan is mentioned as the source of a ...

... meet a young lady with her daughter from Florida with an '84 Westy who's been having problems. I get involved and hopefully the fuel filter I changed for her will keep her rolling. Her fridge is not working either and few minutes fooling around with that get's it working for her and she's happy. We all go out for diner and just now got back and I'm finishing up this story to hopefully send tomorrow on our way outta here toward San Blas and points south. We have now driven 10,402 km ...

... escaping northern winters. Mexico depend heavily on tourism of US and Canada during winter season, this year's Sept. 11 really slowed down the pace, however this was better for me as more hotels to choose from. I couldn't sleep again, the damn chickens/rooster or whatever keeps screaming next to my window at 3am until dawn. Next morning I had chicken for breakfast.