San Blas

Well it just gets better and better. We left Las Glorias on Saturday morning and headed south for warmer weather. The two nights before we left we had a great time with Guy and Celine, our neighbors at the campground. They invited us for drinks and dinner... wine, scotch, rum, shrimp and scallops (not for me), great conversation. Friends I hope we will keep. The patch in our tent did not hold, so we knew would have to buy a new one. Ezequiel, one of the workers at Mr. Moro's who Keith befriended, wanted our old tent. He lives with 6 other people and wanted his own casita for privacy. Keith and Ezequiel got to be very good friends although neither spoke the other's language. Keith always has his Spanish dictionary in hand, though. Zeke said he wants to come to the US to visit us and Keith said he wouldn't be surprised if Zeke showed up on our doorstep one day. This is Zeke with his family.

We left Las Glorias after meeting Zeke's family and stopping in nearby Guasave for a new tent. Old school style, long triangle, for $94. I guess Mexicans don't camp much so they know Gringos are the main customers for tents.

Made it as far as Marmol (on the coast just north of Mazatlan) and ran into a man who told us about free beach camping. Tried to pitch the tent, but were overcome by concrete slabs, billions of spiders, 2" thorns that penetrated the bottom of my foot, and wind. So we slept in the car. Woke up early the next am, got lost in Mazatlan before sunrise, and decided to head south for warmer weather.

Made it to San Blas and found lodging for the night. Since we got such an early start we decided to relax at the casita for most of the day. Wandered around town a bit when we first arrived and met people from Whitefish, MT. There is a large population of native Huichol indians here. They wear their traditional dress in town and sell crafts near the town square. Haven't been shopping yet, but I'm sure I can find something within my budget.

Now we are staying at La Quinta California. Far from the La Quinta chain in the United States. It's perfect. Just what we were looking for. Two bedrooms, screened-in porch/dining room, kitchen, 24-hour hot water (a rarity we've learned), internet access from our place. Sweet. We've been told there are iguanas behind the water heaters (outside) and our neighbors across the way have built a small enclosure for an injured iguana on their back balcony. !! Last night at the first place we stayed, which was clean and large and nice, I closed the window and a light yellow (almost white) gecko about 3-4" long fell at my feet! I screamed and hot-footed it out of there, hopped up on the couch next to Keith and told him to go find it. He spent the rest of the night with us and his little brown friend was living in the bathroom. They are cute, but fast, which translates to scary. There is another iguana here at La Quinta that comes down to a platform on the tree to be fed. I hope I can get a photo of him.

We are interested in seeing some cocodrilos (crocodiles) while we are here; I read there is a croc farm here! There's tons of history, so we will have to do some exploring. There's a very cool church on the main square; today we looked in it and there was a mummified-type body on display on one wall. !!


Went to the market for dinner ingredients. 3 ears of corn, a package of fresh strawberries, half a dozen limes, milk, and a red onion came to $2.50. It might be hard to leave here.