Blogs from Melaque, Jalisco, Mexico, North America

In late January, we decided to go to Mexico for an 11 day stay. In order to be considered a true citizen of Salt Spring Island, it is required that you go to Melaque, Mx for a few weeks every winter. We stayed at the El Palmar Resort which is actually owned by someone from here and it is very focused on the tennis crowd. I considered coming out of tennis retirement and packing my racquet but resisted- Jan is planning to play every day. The first few weeks of winter have been very wet on the west coast and the weather on our day of departure was described as an "atmospheric river-" I think they were expecting 150 mm of rain on the west side of Vancouver Island. The snow depths in the interior are ... read more

Melaque Sunday Spent the morning in Barra. Took a walk down by the pier. We talked to a guy down there and found out that the pier was severely damaged during Hurricane Patricia last year. They are building up the sides with big rocks to deter erosion, and will be rebuilding. We walked to the end of the current pier, past the big dredging equipment. Nice view inland from the end. Took a cab back to Melaque for two days, back to Hotel Hacienda Melaque. Stop signs are apparently optional. Saw a man riding down the middle of the highway with his wheelchair, which seemed a bit dangerous. Bob said he was looking forward to getting back to the hotel and "his" hammock. Our room was not quite ready when we arrived, so we stashed our ... read more

Barra de Navidad Friday This morning we walked along the lagoon. We got many requests to rent a boat. When we were in Barra several years ago, there was a hotel along the lagoon with a display of birds. Couldn't find it this time. Out by the end of the Malecon we saw a couple of guys bringing in their catch of oysters. One was in the water in a wetsuit, carrying a net bag of their find. They will probably sell them to a restaurant. The seafood is very fresh here. The entire pier has disappeared. We think they may be dredging to make the entry deeper for bigger boats to come in, then rebuilding the pier. When it got really hot, we went back to the hotel lounge for a game of Scrabble. Very ... read more

Barra de Navidad Wednesday Spent a few hours by the hammocks, reading and bird watching. Saw the male painted bunting again, as well as a gila woodpecker. The area is full of squirrels. Fun watching the wildlife. A little later we caught a taxi to Barra de Navidad, where we have reservations for four days. The hotel is the Sarabi, a very clean, comfortable place with a small pool on the main floor. There is a nice lounge on the second floor, perfect for reading, blogging, and just hanging out. It also has an exchange library. Noticed the whole hotel is decorated in blue and yellow, the walls, drapes, bathroom fixtures, towels, the lounge, etc. You'd think we were in Sweden. The location is convenient, across from the main square. We got settled and then walked ... read more

Melaque Monday This morning we headed out to find a bakery. We asked directions and ended up at a big bread factory which supplies to the stores. We bought a small loaf, still warm, very good. After breakfast we decided to go to Manzanilla, a small beach town north of Melaque. The bus left at 9:45, was about a half hour ride, and cost less than $2 total. The bus was very crowded so we didn't have seats. A singer entertained us on the way. He was really quite good. We got off right on the road to the beach. Great beach for walking, very fine sand and no stones. We walked to the end, found a couple of chairs, ordered some drinks, and read our books. The waves were lapping in front of us, beautiful ... read more