Mexico- visits to Yelapa and Sayulita

[Lighthawk]

We love our camper, but sometimes it's a better use of time to jump on a flight to a different latitude. We have friends with a house in Yelapa and were determined to use the opportunity to visit this small village south of PV, accessible only by boat.

We planned to move lightly, between planes, buses and water taxis. So carry on luggage was all we brought. You don't need a lot of clothes down south, but I did pack about ten pounds of camera gear.

There's always a dichotomy between the tourist price and the right price for services or goods. For us it started at the airport, after we debarked. A taxi to Los Muertos pier would cost us $40usd, but the local bus cost us 65 pesos each (about sixty cents). As we waited for our bus, friendly locals helped us catch the right one.

Catching the water taxi in PV. The pier is being rebuilt, so they back the boat against the shore and you jump in from the sand, wading a bit into the surf.



Afternoons are can be windy here.





Some local fishermen dumped some bait, creating a feedy frenzy amoung the Brown Pelicans







The pelicans and the Magnificent Frigatebird were our constant companions along the coast.



This guy makes his living paddling an old dugout for the touristas



I wonder how old that boat is?



The boat ride south to Yelapa runs 250 pesos each and is a fine ride along the coast. We passed Mismaloya, Los Arcos (rocks with nesting blue-footed boobies), Boca de Tomatlan, and Playa de las Animas. Until you pass Boca, the coast is dominated by beautiful and often ugly multi-story condos and villas. The main highway 200 turns inland at Boca and the beaches and rocky shore are left in the natural state with jungle right down to the crashing surf.

I recommend watching Night of the Iguana (1964) with Richard Burton, Debra Kerr and Ava Gardner to get the flavor of the coast. We just watched it after returning, and Burton does an excellent job. Written by Tennessee Williams, and directed by John Huston; it's a classic. There was no road to Mismaloya when they shot the film, so everything was brought in by boat.

Next episode: Palapa in Yelapa

 

[4llamas]

Fantastic. Doesn't it feels good to have warm beach sand between the toes? Looking forward to more pics and info about Yelapa. Love those pelicans, they look prehistoric in flight.

 

[Lighthawk]

Yelapa is well-known as a town you can only reach by boat. Gringos have been going there since the Sixties and building fantastic, lushly landscaped, retreats. Electricity has only recently reached the pueblo. ATV's are becoming more common to the detriment of the pedestrians on the narrow cobblestone streets. At night the billiard place or the disco pump out a steady thump, thump, thump.

Our friends, Mary and Bob have a place built into the boulders, right above the crashing surf. Frankly I'm surprised a hurricane hasn't picked up the roof of the open air casita and sent it flying. The structure is two tile terraces with an A-frame roof built with poles from the jungle. It used to be thatched, but now has fiberglass corrugated roof which appears to be commonly available. There are no exterior walls, except the stone wall where the kitchen is dug into the steep mountainside. The view from the toilet is a million dollar view and the shower below is partially enclosed by huge boulders. It's rustic, but has running water and even power (the last four years).





We had left Sacramento at 6am. Now we were Central Time, and it was 4pm as we turned into the sweet cove of Yelapa. Mary was on the terrace and I waved as we motored to the pier.




We got to know the narrow path along the rocks from the pier, which was at the end of the short playa, to Mary & Bob's house, Casa de las Penas (house of the boulders). We set down our bags, taking in the expansive view as Bob showed off his blender skills, getting margaritas with real ice(!).





Our bedroom for the next four nights was up a ships ladder to the loft where our bed was underneath mosquito netting. This is the dry season, and we saw no mosquitos, but large spiders, scorpions and tejons (aka coati) were frequent visitors. If we went out at night the tejon would get into our food. Susan lost some of her precious hard candies to them and found a neat pile of wrappers they left behind.

We found sleeping a bit difficult with the crashing surf so close. The breezes flew through the loft, blowing the netting around. Cool Pacific air called for an extra blanket as we dozed off.

 

[Lighthawk]

One prime attraction for us was to check out the local birds. Sitting on the terrace in the morning, I watched pelicans and frigates taking advantage of bait being driven by predatory fish in the bay.




The Tuito River drains into the lagoon next to the sand bar. The Lagunita Hotel anchors one end of the playa.







We walked past the beach restaurants and followed the river trail upstream. Chickens were scratching and roosters crowing.



Mules were saddled up, with machete at the ready, tied up in the shade.


Gringos were common enough that we blended into the social fabric, exchanging a "Buenos Dias!" with passers by.

We passed the boulder section where the egrets and heron like to fish.





Our goal was to visit La Cascada (The Waterfall) where we swam in chilly, fresh water.



We climbed the waterfall when one other party showed up, crowding our privacy. The upper stretch had crawdad traps in the pools. I noticed the river restaurant had'langostinos de agua dulce' on the menu the night before

Overhead the harsh cries of macaws were heard. I finally got a group shot as they flew by.



On the way, we saw a large lizard in a tree. A horseman riding by pointed up and said, "Huichi, huichi". I am not sure if they are considered iguana.



We later saw several others:



To be continued . . .

 

[Lighthawk]

Each morning we would have some coffee and a little yogurt and papaya and head down to the playa. We could stop by the hotel and sit and check our emails via the wifi before starting our adventures.





We spent a morning on the river, with me photographing and SR using her 'nocs. The wide variety was astonishing:


White Ibis and juvenile


Snowy Egret and Black-necked Stilt


Black Vulture


Yellow-winged Cacinque


Black-necked Stilt


Snowy Egret





Tricolor Heron (my favorite)










Neotropical Cormorant

At one point the cormorants swam down river, hunting underwater for the fish. The heron and egret quickly flew over the same pools, hunting the surface. Those fish didn't have a chance.


Little Blue Heron




Green Kingfisher





It was amazing to see the birds so close and in such variety. I've only paid much attention to birds the last three or four years and this was the best I've experienced. Susan and I enjoy seeing them, while I practice my photography. Later we can use sites such as All About Birds, Cornell University to identification.

More adventures to come . . .

 

[Ted]

Really enjoying your trip report. As usual, I love the bird shots. As to iguanas in the trees, they call those Bamboo Chicken. Ask for it in the restaurants.

 

[Lighthawk]

Our time in Yelapa was coming to an end. We planned to leave on Monday morning, after spending almost four days there.
We enjoyed walking the town and hiked the hills.











We visited the iglesia, but no one was there.





It's a nice town with narrow streets that sometimes go under buildings. We were told it's ok to walk anywhere there is not a closed gate. It's a mixture of decent little tiendas, resort housing, and local artisan shops.








We visited the pier in town and had lunch at the Bahia, which was excellent. I had a tamarindo margarita that hit it out of the park and a grilled avocado sandwhich that was generous in size and very tasty. Service was also top notch, something often missing elsewhere.




I likened it to the hill towns of Firenze, all stairs and steep cobble. We took a faint trail above the cemetery one hot afternoon, ultimately getting a bit lost. It was a good excuse to crash one of the exclusive resorts and see the grounds. After all, we're just two gringos, a bit off course.

We swam at the beach in front of El Jardin, where they had served us flan after our jungle excursion. The water was very refreshing after our hike. The pelicans were diving right in front of us. I swam out and got pretty close to one, but their prehistoric vibe kept me at bay. The rocks were covered in large crabs.

Note to Sunni and other surf seekers: There's no surf that I saw in Yelapa, which is why it's great for swimming. I saw guys with boards taking a panga out in the morning to go elsewhere to ride waves. (Hint: wait for the Sayulita portion of this TR)



Back in town we visited the obligatory cascada (waterfall) just up the arroyo a few blocks. Vendors line the paved path leading to the waterfall and when you get there, they have a restaurant. We were simply there to look and photograph. Remnants of the jungle mixed with trash and the omnipresent sand bags. Apparently fresh water sand is in very high demand for all masonry projects and they mine it by hand, in all the rivers and streams we saw.




hand held, using stabilized lens


hand held, using stabilized lens


We had hoped to take a tour to the Marieta Islands where the Blue-footed Boobies nest. Whales were in the vicinity and snorkeling was also included. The price was $45 a head, if they could get at least four people. I'm prone to seasickness and I had noticed the swells had gotten larger each of our three mornings. So when the guide cancelled the last morning, due to high surf, I was relieved and disappointed not to visit the "Galapagos Islands" of Bahia de las Bandas.

Stay tuned for next episode:

Alacran de las Penas

 

[chnlisle]

Wow!
Thank you

 

[milt]

Hey, see why we usually go south for the winter. All along the Coasta Alegre the people and everything is muy agreeable. Milt

 

[Lighthawk]

A short and final chapter on Yelapa:

The Alacran

Those of you who travel down south regularly know that scorpions are fairly common. We even see them here in the Sierra foothills sometimes.

Our last evening I was barefoot on the tile floor, chopping up some chilis when I looked down to see this:


I called out to get everyone's attention and he was quickly dispatched off the front steps. Later Susan regretted not escorting our guest farther off the premises!

Our departure went smoothly. We caught the 9.30am boat and had about twenty school kids ride with us. They were dropped off at Boca de Tomatlan, a sweet little bay with upscale villas dominating the scene. Since we were closer to shore this time, we got a nice view of Los Arcos (rocks) with the boobies and pelicans nesting. I tried for some photos, but we were going fast with twin Yamaha 90's, and the vibration and water spray detracted from the image quality.

Logistics were to land at Los Muertos, get some pesos and navigate to Sams y Walmart, near the marina where you can catch a bus for Sayulita. We opted to taxi the five miles or so from Muertos to Wallmart for $8usd (probably could do it for a bit less). The taxi guy wanted to take us all the way to Sayulita for $40, but we went for the bus. Bus ride was 25 pesos each (~$5 usd).

We arrived without incident. I was able to track our progress via GPS against my preloaded map on my phone, which cost me nothing. The only trouble was carrying our bags the six blocks or so up to the square. The town has all the streets torn up, so we had to walk through traffic and dust to make our way. No big deal really, but we used a taxi when we left to avoid this stretch.

Soon enough, we were checked in and were invited to enjoy the roof top terrace with refreshments.


more Sayulita to come . . .

 

[Lighthawk]

Last Chapter:
Sayulita, surf town along the Riviera Nayarit

We spent two night in Sayulita, located only 24 miles north of the airport, or an hour by bus.
I had booked us a room near the zocalo at a hotel. I had asked for a room facing the courtyard, but we were upgraded to a larger room facing the main street due to a booking error.
I say booking error, in fact I paypal'd the owner $75 to cover one night. The room location mattered in the sense that the local bar has live, loud music 'til 1am and later. In the morning the gas trucks and vendors get noisy at 7am. You do the math. The room was nice and clean with a palapa thatched shower. It had twin wooden shutters with arabesque cutouts facing the street. And a room safe: where I could carefully stash bigger telephotos and passports.



We got coffee and checked our wifi while taking in the town. Utilities are being undergrounded on most of the streets and the zocalo was getting a complete facelift. We learned to avoid the streets and head directly for the beach in the morning.



I found this beauty sitting next to the cafe one morning.


and in B&W


Being down here takes me back to my San Diego days, when I surfed daily.


















We spent the best day of our trip, hiking north around the point to Playa Cuevas and beyond.
Our path took us along inland jungle trails across cobblestone roads and along stone walls. Susan spotted a tejon on the trail. I only saw his long brown tail, since I was obsessively deleting images off my last camera card. It was a fun hike and we're glad it was no warmer. The cooling sea breeze is absent in the jungle and the humidity is maximum.





We watched blue-footed boobies hunting just outside the powerful breakers. With five and half foot wing spreads, they are impressive. These photos are with effective 280mm












We enjoyed our stay at Sayulita. For those of you who remember it from before the boom, it will be different. For those that come next year when all the streets and redeveloped and the Zocalo recovered, it will be magical. Change is constant.

It's time to wrap up this long-winded travelogue. I didn't realize I would have so many images to include, yet there are many that didn't make it to my online gallery yet. For a larger set of images go here: photo gallery

I hope you have enjoyed following along. We love Mexico and were fortunate to have this trip.
Adios, amigos.

 

[highz]

Beautiful. I can almost hear the surf and the birds.

 

[ski3pin]

Beautiful. I can almost hear the surf and the birds.


x2!

Very nice Lighthawk. Thanks for taking us along on your south of the border adventure!

 

[MarkBC]

Good job, Andy, looks like a great time -- thanks for sharing!

You really have those tele-bird shots mastered! To achieve the same, I wonder if I need a better telephoto lens or better arms and hands?

 

[SunMan]

As to iguanas in the trees, they call those Bamboo Chicken. Ask for it in the restaurants.

Them's good eatin' Ted! Pretty tasty.

Fun report Andy, looks like a great trip. Loved the surf shots

 

[Alley-Kat]

Great trip report, as always... thanks.

And, thanks for the Roxy bikini photos at Playa de Curves (intended pun).

 

[4llamas]

Wonderful. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

We got to know the narrow path along the rocks from the pier, which was at the end of the short playa, to Mary & Bob's house, Casa de las Penas (house of the boulders). We set down our bags, taking in the expansive view as Bob showed off his blender skills, getting margaritas with real ice(!).




Wow, Lighthawk, looks like a tropical paradise! With digs like that, who needs a pop-up camper?

 

[Lighthawk]

With digs like that, who needs a pop-up camper?


Yeah, if you're ok with visits by scorpions, scorpion-killering-spiders (almost dinner plate sized), and the occasional tejon (coati).

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Some day, maybe. 'til then, thanks for the travelogue, which was not long winded at all.