We have been in Guanajuato for a week now after having a nice visit with family in Vankleek Hill, Ontario. The apartment we have rented here is very nice, well located, and with a spectacular view as shown above.
It is the end of the rainy season and we have experienced thunderstorms almost every night but fortunately the days are sunny. You can see in photo above, when it rains hard the water flows down the small walkways in torrents.
Life here is very active. We walk of necessity all over the centro including up and down the hills. The photo above is from the concert we attended last night for 80 pesos ($5.50). We gone to CineCub twice and saw a play at Teatro Cervantes. Already I have sampled many of my favourite foods from my favourite vendors such as empanadas, helado, and tamales, and have eaten in a couple of favourite restaurants.
On February 22 we took an over-night bus from Guanajuato to Puerto Vallarta and then a local bus to the Los Muertos pier where we met up with Karen and Stewart. From there we took the water taxi to Yelapa.
Karen and Stewart left Yelapa on March 1 and we enjoyed our time together hiking, beaching, and eating. One day we hired a boat to take us to Las Islas Marietas. We swam through a cave into a hidden beach but the water was cold so we didn’t snorkel. The highlight was seeing grey whales swimming up close and breaching at a distance. We also saw porpoises, a manta ray, and tons of sea birds.
Now that Karen and Stewart have left we need to figure out how to enjoy the next four weeks here. Yelapa is beautiful but small. We are “glamping‘, an interesting and economical option here. The campground is 5 minutes up river, nestled in the jungle. The sounds of native birds, chickens, roosters, toads, horses, mules, and ATVs is overwhelming at times.
Yelapa is a special place: beautiful with beach, ocean, mountains, and river through the jungle. There is a small local population of friendly people who live primarily off the tourists. There is a daily parade of day-trippers from Puerto Vallarta that arrive on boats in the morning and leave in the afternoon. They usually either walk to the nearby falls or ride a horse/mule to the further ones, and then spend some hours on the beach being serviced with food and drink.
A smaller number of visitors spend the night in a variety of rustic accommodations that span the luxury scale. There is also an ex-pat population who regularly spend the winter here. The small village has about three tiny grocery stores and ten restaurants. We have Internet access but it does not support streaming video, which is a problem for us. Our daily routine is slow and boring but we are trying to adjust and appreciate the beauty, ocean, and excellent weather.
The negative aspect of Yelapa for us is its marijuana culture for which it must be famous. It is hilarious seeing the hippie generation here smoking up everywhere there is a social gathering. Where we are staying people wake up to a joint and smoke all day as far as I can tell by the smell. Sad but normal to see the local youth also using.
