As we've described previously this southern-most 25-mile stretch of the Nayarit coast is dotted with small coastal towns. Lo de Marcos, where we are staying, is located about midway between Peñita de Jaltemba to the north and Sayulita at the south.
Peñita and its neighboring Rincon de Guaybitos are home to about 4,000 locals but, according to tourist information, the population swells to about 8,000 during the winter. Rincon in particular draws many part-time residents and visitors. It is located in the southern end of a small bay edged by a long sweeping beach. The hotel district consists of two paralleling mile-long roads where also many small condominium complexes and 4 RV parks are located. Like so many of the towns we've visited, restaurants and shops selling beach clothing and inflatable water toys line the narrow sidewalks.
Some people we met further north are staying at one of the Rincon RV parks and a few days ago we went to hang out with them and explore. The park where they are staying does not have the amenities we have here but its beachside location is "perfecto". We met many of the RVers staying there (two of whom are from Cannon Beach and know our next door neighbor in Sisters who is also from Cannon Beach--SMALL WORLD!!) and a group of us walked a few blocks to a beachside restaurant for a late lunch. Two of the couples from Canada drive to and leave their RVs in Arizona, then ride their motorcycles into Mexico to tour. They are staying at a small hotel there for 2 months (for $35/night) and taking short side trips.
After lunch John and I walked through town to investigate the other RV parks and take a closer look around town. Even though we like the village of Lo de Marcos, we found Rincon very appealing mostly because the streets are all paved (with interlocking blocks not black top or cement), which makes it better for both walking and "scootering" around, and because Rincon also has more activity, stores, and services, we've already chosen the RV park we'd like to return to!
The RV park we like, and will return to if we come back to this area next year, is right on the beach in front to the orange-colored hotel building.
Another day we visited the small village San Francisco about 8 miles south. It's similar to Lo de Marcos in that only the main road is paved but different in that there is an ecological preservation organization based there, bringing in a different kind of tourist, many of whom are part of the eco-tourism trend. The few shops located there were a little more upscale, catering to both North Americans and Europeans. The beach was simply gorgeous and the day we visited the waves had attracted about 25 surfers.
This beach is one of the prettiest we've seen. Please link at the end of this entry to view the SanFrancisco photo album.
Remember John's haircut experience? Well, I went for my first Mexican haircut the other day. A neighboring RVer had recommended a Canadian woman who has a house here but we really prefer to directly support the local economy and interact with Spanish-speaking locals so I went to an estetica (beauty shop) about 2 blocks from the RV park. Yeanette, the owner/stylist does not speak any English so this was a great opportunity. I went to the shop when it opened at 9am and asked if she had any appointments that day. She asked if I wanted it corte (cut) and/or tinte (tinted or colored). After telling her I only needed a cut, she said she had an appointment at 4pm so I agreed to return. The haircut went fine. She was able to understand my simple Spanish-combined with sign language and I got a great haircut. It's really these simple interactions that make the trip worthwhile and enriching, in our opinion.
A young guy was sitting in the other stylist chair during my haircut and I soon discovered he spoke some English. He told us about a local restaurant where he is the cook. I saw him the next morning when I was walking the dog on the beach and told him we'd come for dinner, which we did last night. Turns out he is a wonderful cook. I had fish fillet prepared in the Vera Cruz style--diced tomatoes, red, green and yellow peppers, and onions in a spicy tomato sauce spooned over the grilled fillet. VERY YUMMY!! We enjoyed our sunset dinner but realized we must be acclimating to the climate as John put on his sweatshirt as the temperatures plummeted to 74! We've been closing the trailer windows at night because the dip to the low 60s.
We've repeatedly described Lo de Marcos as a very small village but boy does it come alive at night, especially during the holidays and on the weekends. The RV park backs up to the church where there is also a basketball court that serves as a gathering spot. Of course last week with the continuing celebration of Christmas, then New Years, we kept hearing music at night but the holiday crowds had kept us from attending. After it seemed most of the holiday vacationers were gone and we continued to hear the music at night we walked a few blocks to the church, about 8pm, and found hundreds of people of all ages listening to music, dancing, and eating food prepared at sidewalk carts. The second night there was a vaquero (cowboy) on a dancing horse! Honestly, we couldn't see the signals he was giving the horse but it was prancing in time with the music, even pausing with its hoof held up now and then for the long notes.
This is the dancing horse.
One of the chores that really needed doing when we got here was to wash the truck and trailer. But, we've only seen car washes in the big cities, non of which are large enough for the trailer. But nature provides...Every morning there is enough dew on the vehicles that we've been able to rinse and squeegee/chamois the trailer, and we've "washed" the truck twice. See, it's not ALL fun and games for us!
I've been doing my hand sewing projects along the way but have finally gotten the sewing machine out to work on one of the 5 projects. I don't think I'm getting as much sewing done as I'd expected....
It's come to our attention that some readers are missing the links at the bottom of each entry where you can view more pictures of the areas we've described, many with captions. There are three separate "photo albums" related to this entry:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dealegria1961/LoDeMarcos#
http://picasaweb.google.com/dealegria1961/RinconDeGuaybitos#
http://picasaweb.google.com/dealegria1961/SanFranciscoNorthOfSayulita#
1 comment:
Hey! Where is the link for the pics? I've looked all over and can't find it... is it because I'm 1/2 blind? hahaha
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