La Penita - January 21-25, 2016

On Thursday, we went to the market and came away with a painting (see below).  I went for a massage for $35 for an hour (see massage room below - obviously not paying for the surroundings).  we relaxed in the afternoon and then went to El Gigio for pizza.  Early night - I was in bed by 7:45 - yikes!

Tiangus Market

Our new painting by Bauti

Massage room

On Friday, Gail and Roger (we met them at dinner a couple of nights ago) picked us up at 11 am for a trip to Chacala.  Our neighbor Anne gave Gail the gears about returning us safely and leaving us in a ditch somewhere.  We drove about 1/2 hour to get there and then had lunch at Las Brisas.  Great lunch and then we went for a walk to the far end of the beach and back.  We went for a swim, watched the sunset and headed home.  Great great day!  We had dinner at Irma's - chile relleno and burritos.  As an aside, Gail ends up being the former Mayor of Red Deer for 12 years - Anne's fears were unfounded.

Chacala

Chacala

Chacala

Chacala

Jorge's Dog - (he is an old friend from Playa Escondida - he was the bartender on Batchelor in Paradise - Jorge not the dog)

Chacala

Gail, Roger and Jan

Chacala

Chacala

On Saturday, we bought some bread from the bread lady (from the back of her pickup truck) and then spent the rest of the day around the pool.  Nice and relaxing.  A butterfly decided to land on Anne's face and spent about a minute there resting.  We had dinner with Anne and Neil at El Arabe - I had a tuna steak (delicious) and Jan had shrimp cooked in red wine (not so delicious).

On Sunday, we left at 7:30 am for a tour to San Blas - about 2 hours north of La Penita.  Gilberto was our tour guide and we were traveling with Anne and Neil, Bonnie and Tom and Jim and Ruth.   We travelled through fields of bananas, mangos, pineapples, jack fruit, guava, watermelons, jicama and many more that I have probably forgotten already.  We stopped at Platanitos to stretch our legs.  We stopped at La Tovara National Park and hopped on a small boat for an hour long ride up the river.  We saw numerous birds, crocodiles and turtles.  At the end of the river, there is an animal sanctuary where they have rescued birds, crocodiles, jaguars, raccoons and a few other animals - many taken from drug lords who had them illegally.  We then had lunch on the beach in San Blas.  We were supposed to see the fort in San Blas but it was under construction.  We stopped for some banana bread on the road side (a specialty for this area).  We were home around 4 pm and had a siesta.

Platanitos

On the river

Iguana sticking head out of the tree

Termite nest

Heron

Turtles everywhere

Crocodiles everywhere

Baby jaguar

San Blas beach

 On Monday, we just relaxed around the Casita.  Great Sunset!

Sunset at La Penita

La Penita - January 14 - 20, 2016

We started Thursday by visiting the Tiangus Market in La Penita - had some tres leche cake (again), some donuts and another cake.

We then had a foodie day!  We arranged for a taxi van to take us about an hour south of La Penita to La Cruz (our old stomping grounds) to visit our favourite restaurants.  We started at Glorietas with bacon wrapped cheese stuffed shrimp and coconut shrimp.  We then had a coffee at Octopus Garden. We then wandered down to La Ballena Blanca for a giant margarita and the world's best carrot cake.  We then had a nap in the park before heading to Tacos on the Street for rib eye steak tacos (the only thing on the menu.  Next stop, Masala for tuna steak.  We were full ...

Glorietas

Glorietas

Mega Margarita at La Ballena Blanca

La Ballena Blanca

La Ballena Blanca

So much food ...

Tacos on the Street

Tuna Steak at Masala

Mega Margarita

On Friday, we had a lazy day.  pool, margaritas, tacos, fajitas, ribs, cervesas - you get the picture!

On Saturday, Kate and Greg left in the morning to head home.  The rest of our day was a lazy one around our place with dinner at Xaltemba.

The Bread Lady selling bread out of the back of her truck

On Sunday, we went to look at a few more condos and then walked to Guayabitos.  We stopped at Amigos Vargas for a beer, chips, salsa and guacamole.  Beer was 150 pesos (about $1.20).   We then walked to the end of the beach at Guayabitos and had some lunch and the best banana daiquiris.  We then decided to go to Los Ayala - another little town just past Guayabitos.  We hiked over the mountain (more like a hill and along the highway).  A cute little town in a cove with a great swimming beach - but today we saw a lot of blue bottles - jelly fish.  We took a taxi back, rested for awhile and had dinner at Gigio's - pasta and pizza - delicious.

Alisha's

Guayabitos

On the road to Los Ayala

Guayabitos

Kissing Beach in Los Ayala

Los Ayala

Los Ayala

Los Ayala

Los Ayala

On Monday, we relaxed by the pool and had dinner at Avanti.  This was Robyn and Scott's last day.

On Tuesday, Robyn and Scott left at 8 am and we tagged along with Tom and Bonnie (our neighbours at La Casita) and their friends Jim and Ruth to Lo de Marcos.  We took the Collectivo (a local van/bus) which cost us 25 pesos each - about $2.  We wandered around the sleepy town and beach, had lunch at a small place on the beach and returned in the afternoon.  We had a siesta and then went for dinner at Irma's - chile relleno with shrimp - best chile relleno yet!  We started chatting with the couple next to us who happened to be from Red Deer.  We found out they own a condo in the complex we are looking at.  We mentioned we are going to take a trip to Chacala before we go and they insisted that they take us there as they have a car.  We are going on Friday.

Lo de Marcos

Lo de Marcos

On Wednesday, we went to the beach where I swam in the ocean for about 45 minutes before being stung by a jelly fish.  After some lime (the Mexican equivalent of the Greek's olive oil - it fixes everything), vinegar and soaking my arm in hot water, it seems to be doing ok.  We had lunch with Ann and Neil at Hinde's and dinner at El Gigio (pizza).

La Penita - January 10-13, 2016

On Sunday, we hung around our place in the morning and went for a quick bite at Hinde's.  Kate and Greg arrived around 2 and after settling in, we went to Hinde's for margaritas and tacos.  Greg said they were the best margaritas in the world - I concur!  We walked around a bit and then went for a rest at our place.  Dinner was at Las Brisas - burrito (huge and very tasty), bacon wrapped cheese stuffed shrimp (good but not as good as at Glorietas in La Cruz) and diablo shrimp (spicy sauce) and of course some margaritas.  In bed early.

On Monday, we got up and Kate taught us some yoga on the beach.  We then walked to Guayabitos and back with a stop at the market and for lunch - we walked about 3-4 hours.  We stopped at Hinde's for margaritas on the way back - we earned them today. Great day.  Bob and Linda (our hosts at Casita de la Penita) arranged for the everyone staying to go to Mr. Ribs for dinner - I think there were 18 of us.  Ribs, margaritas and tequila were plentiful - they actually just put a bottles of tequila on the table for everyone.  Greg had several margaritas and shots of tequila and decided to climb the brass pole in the middle of the restaurant - if you ring the bell, you get a large shot of good tequila.  He completed the task only to be upstaged by Ann, an 80 year old from Comox, BC.

On Tuesday, we took a taxi up to JEEP - Jaltemba Equine Education Project - in the hills of La Penita (not far from Winnie and Bill's place).  George and Loretta started the project after rescuing 8 horses near death about 4 years ago (6 remain at the project today).  They have expanded to dogs and cats as well.  Lyndsay (their Granddaughter) showed us around and was a great source of info on each and every animal there - they all have names.  The latest addition was a mangy shepherd cross who was used as a bait dog to train fighting dogs - he had his teeth filed so he could not bite back - so sad but after a short time at the project is a very happy dog and not afraid and romping around.  They do great work here.  We walked down the hill and stopped for breakfast at a small little place on the highway - no English spoken here - we muddled through and got huevos rancheros, quesadillas, toast, tortillas, guacamole and chips (not even on the menu - when we asked they said no, but we saw one of them go and and come back with some avocados), and fresh squeezed orange juice.  The total bill was 245 pesos (about $22).  Robyn and Scott arrived around 1 pm and after settling in, we went to ______________ (you fill  in the blank) - Hinde's of course.  Margaritas and tacos!  We came back and went to the beach and played in the big waves for about an hour - we even got Greg in who is not a big fan of the water.  Dinner was at Avanti - excellent!  The total bill for six of us for drinks and food - $90.

On Wednesday, Greg made eggs for everyone for breakfast and then we ventured to have a look at the condo we are considering buying.  On the way back, we stopped at Chasite for coffee and Robyn had a BLT.  Then we ventured to Sayulita (known for being a surfing town with a hip cool vibe) for the day.  A taxi would cost 500 pesos, so we decided to take the bus (cost 300 pesos) - we thought the bus would be cheaper - the taxi would have been a better option as the bus dropped us off on the highway and we walked 3 km into town (oh well, a little exercise is good).  We stopped a Choco Banana for a chocolate covered frozen banana with coconut sprinkles (a must have in Sayulita).  We wandered around an increasingly busy Sayulita - it gets busier each time we go there.  We had lunch at Captain Pablos - chile relleno, fajitas, coconut shrimp and margaritas.  We wandered around a bit (and stopped for another frozen banana) and then Jan, Robyn, Scott and I caught a taxi back - Greg and Kate wanted to wander a little more.  Scott and I went to the beach - Kate and Greg joined us on their return.  Dinner was at Xaltemba but Greg did not join us as he was not feeling great.  It was a great dinner and Scott (not ours) was playing music - Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker like songs with a jazz twist.  Early night - exhausted.

Rincon de Guayabitos beach

Greg and his buddy at Mr. Ribs

Greg and the brass pole at Mr. Ribs

Jaltemba Equine Education Project

Jaltemba Equine Education Project

Avanti

Sayulita

Robyn's buddy in Sayulita

Xaltemba