Just when you think things can't get any better, they do! We arrived last Sunday just in time for the Super Bowl party here at the RV park, "Rancho Buganvilias". The three hour drive from Melaque took us through the outskirts of the port city of Manzanillo, the farming and ranching town of Tecoman, then another hour south along this dramatic section of coastline. The coastline south of Manzanillo is rugged and steep. As I've described before, much of Mexico's coast is similar to sections of Hwy 1 along California's coast, but the area we've now entered is especially similar to that area north of San Francisco.
Super Bowl Party at Rancho Buganvilias
Sandy, the 40-something surfer boy from California who owns of the RV park and has been surfing in this area for more than 20 years, explained that it was only 10 years ago that this region finally got electricity! The part-time grounds keeper here at the park also owns a family farm/ranch up in the mountains about 2.5 hours away. Sandy explained that though Lalo makes a living wage from the family ranch, he and his family of 9 children live with no electricity or running water.
Sandy and his wife Cynthia live here at the 8-acre, 25-site RV park just south of La Placita, a small farming town of about 2,500. They opened the park two years ago, and with Lalo's help have landscaped the property with about 150 buganvilia plants, and banana trees. Lime and papaya trees are also being grown as a cash crop, the profit of which Sandy shares with Lalo. There are plans to add a pool and several other amenities. The park is set back above the beach, on a hill-top that over looks a beachside grove of coconut palms. A 5-minute walk down a private road leads to a pristine beach, usually occupied only by campers from the RV park, a couple of fishermen, or on weekends by a family who live in Guadalajara but own a vacation home about 1/2 mile down the beach. Unfortunately the sand at the bottom of the road is a little too thick for John's scooter to get all the way to the beach.
View from hill-top RV park
Though La Placita is close by, the only way there is on the highway so our daily walking routine is on hold for now. This makes the pace of life slow and easy, with activities centered around the beach or the park's large palapa where cold drinks are available and campers gather every evening to socialize and watch the sunset. Sandy and Cynthia also host a community dinner one night per week, and make homemade pizza on Saturday and Sunday evenings which are also sold to locals in town. Days are very warm (mid- to high-80s) but an evening breeze usually kicks up and we sleep with the windows and doors wide open, listening to the waves crash on the shore below.
Sandy speaks Spanish fluently, is well-known in town and offers great insight to the people of this area. I noticed at the grocery store a few days ago that the clerk was very shy. I didn't give it much thought but later when we were discussing with Sandy the impact gringos have on a community he explained that the locals here are still getting used to having foreigners visit their little town. Speaking of the impact of gringos: Lalo's daughter is very ill and campers have contributed about $500 so she can travel to a larger city to receive the proper treatment. There is a local family with a disabled daughter interested in purchasing a scooter and we've offered to bring one down next year if they can't find a source in Mexico.
We took a side trip to the foothill city of Colima, pop. about 123,500, one hour inland from Manzanillo. Our guidebook explains that "the city was quiet until the 1950s when mining and Pacific Rim shipping, fishing, and tourism brought thousands of new jobs. Manzanillo became a major port and manufacturing center, boosting Colima to a government and university headquarters, and trading hub for the meats and crops from valley and coastal plantations, farms, and ranches." The prosperity of the area is obvious by the cleanliness of the city, the automobiles and trucks on the road, and the kind of stores and businesses located there, and even by how people were dressed. Lining the highway into town were the same car dealerships we see at home: GM/Chevy, Honda, Ford, Nissan, etc. The downtown is beautiful with a traditional Mexican plaza and pedestrian area surrounded by beautiful hotels and government buildings, and the central cathedral, all beautiful examples of Spanish heritage architecture. We walked around the downtown area and did a driving tour of its "beltway" area. We passed several smaller but similar plazas and churches, the university, and upscale shopping areas. We both liked Colima but I really liked it and hope we can visit again for an extended stay.
Downtown plaza in Colima
It was time for another haircut and it turns out that Javier, the guy who works here at the RV park as a waiter on the nights when dinners are served, is also a stylist! He lived in California for most of his life, most recently in Santa Barbara where he worked in a salon for about 7 years, before moving back to Mexico about 5 years ago. He lives in the little beach community San Juan de Alima about 30 minutes north of here. He was born in this area and was 6-years-old when his parents moved to the US so he speaks English and Spanish, but didn't get married till he moved back. I took advantage of the haircut time to ask him questions about what it's like to come back to Mexico. He said locals don't know exactly how to treat him. In some ways they consider him to be a gringo because of his fluent English, his style of dress, and his general mannerisms are more American than Mexian. When I asked him if he feels more American or more Mexican, he said he feels more American but really wants to return to his roots. He is the only one in his family to return. At the rate my hair grows, and with it so short I need frequent cuts, I should have at least 2 more interesting haircut experiences!
Getting my haircut "under the old oak tree"...
Gracie ate something at the beach on two days ago and was pretty sick for about 24 hours. I was in the water playing in the waves with some friends and saw her eat something on the beach. Then a few minutes later I saw her throwing up so ran back to the sand. She must have thrown up about 20-25 times, and coughed and hacked for hours, like something had irritated her throat. She's better now, thank heaven! The RV park owners have two dogs and last week the vet from a nearby town came for a visit. He was treating their dogs, and anyone else's who needed anything. Several of the dogs here have been infested with sand fleas and a kind of tick that is resistant to Advantage/Frontline. But, Gracie has had neither!! Good girl!!!! It's nice to know that if we had an animal emergency, we'd quickly know where to take her though!
Pictures of Rancho Buganvilias CG and Colima:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dealegria1961/RanchoBuganviliasCG#
http://picasaweb.google.com/dealegria1961/Colima#
