Day 55: Windy

Up early to go paddling before breakfast. Pickup up our boards from Stand Up Sayulita and headed out into some choppy water with an on shore breeze. The conditions made paddling difficult and we manage less than an hour before we headed back tumbling through the waves to have a tasty smoothie at the back of the board store.

We read our book waiting to see if the wind and chop would settle down enough to take the boards out again, but it never let up. Bumped into David and Michael and chatted with them over some beers. Arranged to meet tomorrow to finalize the Xocotla website and hopefully make t go live. They have never seen Tres Vista where we are staying so we invited them over tomorrow to see the place.

Familia Veryka again

We went back to Calypso for dinner and I had their excellent baby pork ribs again. Afterwards we stopped by Don Chow's for a drink and to see what music they had going, and were thrilled to find that the band they planned had cancelled and was replaced by the fantastic music of Familia Veryka again. 

They were rocking and we stayed until the place closed. What a great way to end this trip.

Day 53: More Paddling

This is what I wish I looked like on the board

We decided to rent some real paddle boards instead of the soft beginner ones, and got them from Stand Up  Sayulita, a great new store just up from the beach.

They have expanded to use the land behind the Iguana Tree Sanctuary and have planted grass and created a smoothie bar. The staff are happy to help carry the boards to the beach for us.

We both got up on the new boards and controlled them way better than last time, and before we knew it we had blasted past the anchored boat and headed left towards Muerto beach ... and beyond.

This is a lot of fun, and an incredible whole-body workout. By the time we had paddled back we were done, and ready for one of the incredible smoothies while watching the iguanas play in the tree.

Familia Veryka

Decided to enjoy our incredible private pool for the afternoon, and in the evening we had dinner at Don Chow's and listened to a fantastic sort of Reggae Jazz fusion band called Familia Veryka jamming some wonderful music.

The music drew people and by the time they ended the place was packed.

Day 6: Marietas Islands

Turned up again at 9 and this time the boat cruise was on and about 20 of us packed into several taxis and headed for the marina on the Bay of Bandaras. The boat called Chica Loca was a trimaran equipped with cushions to lounge on, and plenty of space since it could hold 60.

I met Colen Lee from Wisconsin, a woman about my age, who was traveling along the coast looking for a potential place to rent for the winter. A bunch celebrating turning 30 this year on the boat made for a fun cruise. They brought their own playlist of music which spared us from the Mexican music they started to play when we arrived.

We headed for the Marietas Islands with only one engine working, and about halfway there we started to spot the whales breaching. What an amazing sight. Photographing them is a challenge as they pop up anywhere, and with the boat rocking they were often submerged again before I could focus with the new telephoto lens. However I did manage to get several great shots of tails and breaching.

Once at the islands we snorkeled through a small cave that led to a secluded beach. The island is a bird sanctuary, so we are very restricted where we could go on land. Our guide took us through another cave to scramble up onto a rocky outcrop to look at the Blue Footed Boobies, which apparently this is the only other island they nest on beside the Galapagos.

The water had been churned up by the storm yesterday so unfortunately the visibility for snorkeling was very limited. I plan to take Sue on this cruise when she joins me in a few weeks, and hopefully the visibility will be better then.

Saw more whales on the way back and the 30 year old crowd rocked the boat dancing as the free drinks kept flowing. At one point a cushion blew off the boat, and then the race was on to see who could swim to rescue it first. Back at the marina we loaded into the taxis and back to Sayulita.

A few of us made plans to meet up for dinner later, but I ran a little late and missed them. Ricky at the tour shop said they were looking for me and I left my email address with him in case they came back. The next day I got an email from Colene who was heading out that evening for the next town up the coast. We finally managed to meet up for a bite to eat before she left with Desiree from the gallery on Ave Revelocion.