Lo de Marcos and the Nayarit coast

"Nayarit's long, tufted coastline is one of the hidden, untouristed gems of Pacific Mexico. It blooms with verdant mountain and shoreline forest, orchard-swathed plains, great reaches of wildlife-rich mangrove wetlands, and seemingly limitless strands of golden sand." That's how our guide book describes this region and it is exactly that.

Sunday Dec. 28 we arrived to the campground where we had reservations for the month of January only to find...we didn't. There had been some kind of miscommunication and there were no spaces available till January 6. But in typical Mexican fashion, the manager made a couple phone calls and found us a space at a campground a little further south.

OK, I've got to share a little side-story here...I'd been reading a really good book written by the first American woman to sail around the world alone. (By the Grace of the Sea, by Pat Henry) She told of so many physical and emotional struggles and triumphs during her 8 year voyage with such a positive attitude that it was rubbing off on me so when he told us there had been a confusion with the reservation I just knew it would work out, and maybe even be better than what we'd expected from our "reserved" park. And it is...

When he told me the name of the park and gave us directions, I knew I'd read about that park and remembered it being very beautiful but difficult to get a spot at. I'm pretty sure it was one I'd e-mailed last summer for a reservation only to rec'v a reply that they were completely booked. Well, low and behold! that's the park where he found us a spot available for the month! It is part of a beautiful hotel with two swimming pools and lovely grounds. There is a trail that edges an estuary leading a couple hundred yards to the beach.

I took this picture from the beach looking across the estuary back to the RV park.

Lo de Marcos is a very popular vacation spot so there are many small (10-12 rooms) hotels that seem to mostly serve Mexican tourists and gringos who don't mind "roughing it" a little. "Our" hotel is an exception though. It was obvious when we arrived that this hotel caters to upper-middle class travelers from Guadalajara and Mexico City, several of whom I met and chatted with along the beach trail.

So, for most of the month of January we will be here in the little town of Lo de Marcos. These little towns that dot the coastline are accessed usually by a single road off Hwy 200. This 1/2-mile-long road, paved with paver blocks and the only non-dirt road in town, is edged by small grocery and hardware (very basic) stores, a pharmacy, a couple of lavanderias (laundry service), restaurants and hotels.

Out in front of one of the grocery stores on the main road.

There's also a good restaurant at the end of the road at the beach. We were there today with old cruising friends when this cow came wandering down the beach.

Larry and Joanie now live on Lummi Island in the Puget Sound but are visiting friends who own a condo in Puerto Vallarta --30 minutes south.

(from the left: Larry, Joanie, John, Winnie and George)

There are 6 other RV parks here and we've walked through them to check them out for future visits. Due to economic troubles in the US, all have vacancies. We considered moving to one of them because they are a little less expensive but decided the amenities here are worth it this time.

We've done a little driving around this week but with the holidays each little town has been SO crowded we didn't even park the truck! The locals say that next week will be completely quiet so we plan to do more "on foot" exploring.

John and I usually "stroll" through town in the afternoon, mostly people watching. We've taken a different road each time so we're also seeing the residential areas too. As you can see, this trip is exhausting but we do hope you are enjoying the blog.

See more pics of Lo de Marcos here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dealegria1961/LoDeMarcos#

http://picasaweb.google.com/dealegria1961/LoDoMarcosCampground#