La Playa Manzanillo

... vehicule. Nous decidons de paser la nuit dans le camion car le temps s'annonce froid. Effectivement, il a fait frette. -8 degres C. Les enfants n'ont pas eu froid, Annie leur a concocte une combinaison multi-couche -75 degres. Nous avons ete un peu moins choyes.

Au petit matin (5h30) nous avons fait dejeuner Emile et Laurelie au chaud dans le camion et sommes ensuite partis dans une randonnee en famille dans le parc. Le sentier aller-retour de 2h15 nous a mene a ...

... got some variable winds and proceeded to sail in at around a knot or two. Who says you can't anchor under sail, that's exactly what we did back outside Las Hadas. Thank god I speak spanish fairly well because having to talk to a mechanic in spanish is much harder than just shooting the breeze with people. Turns out our intake valves are shot. I hope that's all thats wrong with the motor ...

I love Barra de Navidad, it reminded me a lot of home. After a short trip from Tenacatita we arrived in Barra, we passed the jetty entrance and headed toward the lagoon where we would anchor for the next several days. The locals were collecting shellfish from Pangas all over the lagoon entrance and had divers in the water with an ...

... I got some surf in and Helen did a whole lot of relaxing. Our room was literally on the sand. We occasionally had high winds due to a local weather phenomena that happens that time of year. We were only here two full days in this quaint little town but it was long enough for Helen to kick my butt in some pool and take a nap at a table in a bar where we were watching a band. She even forgot I bought her flowers. Some good deeds never go unpunished.

Ready to return to the coast at Manzanillo - what an ugly industrial city, with a large affluent port separating downtown from the tourist areas in the north - took a bus most of the way to La Boquita - guide book failed to mention only goes to within 3k's - have to walk the rest through a gated estate and croc filled mangroves - managed to hitch the last k, but well hot & bothered by then! Disappointing too ...

... else it provides a reason to keep walking along the beach to have a better look. However upon closer examination the surprising discovery is made that this is an abandoned and mostly destroyed hotel. There is obviously a story here, but what could it be? It was left to an American expat we met walking along the beach to fill in some of the detail. The date was October 9, 1995 when the area was hit with a massive earthquake (8.0 on the Richter ...

... a beautiful malecón in the city of Campeche located in the Yucatan on the Gulf of Mexico. In Barra de Navidad the malecón is not a boardwalk as it is constructed of interlocking stones creating a wide, slightly winding promenade from which the marvellous view of this unique geographical location can be best enjoyed. Needless to say there are no cars on the malecón. It is pedestrian only and that fact is made clear by a stone arch which marks ...

... who proved to be not only welcoming and friendly but she also spoke fluent English. Now normally I enjoy practicing my Spanish but sometimes it feels good to slip into English. Here are some of the points that "Arianne" made during our conversation: Asked about the cost of living in Barra de Navidad she mentioned that she likes living here because it costs half as much as in DF (Mexico City ...

After leaving El Fuerte, we headed south down the coast, staying 2 nights at a little beach area - Playa Los Glorias - before arriving in Mazatlan. We had only planned to stay 1 night at Los Glorias but after I woke up Adrienne in the middle of night, complaining that I felt sick and was seeing a "white light", and then fainted, we decided that the next day shouldn`t be a driving day. Still not sure what the problem was but by the next morning I felt fine. My "Doctor" still ...

... towns. Just a nasty, dead smell. This place is old and broken down. The streets and sidewalks are broken to pieces. Michael remarks that it would be a lawsuit waiting to happen if we were in the States. Thank goodness for the Mexican government that these people are more concerned with daily life than with lawsuits. Okay, enough of this lazy, lousy place. Time to head back to the ship for a little lunch and a nap. We decide that we need a break ...