La Isla Isabel

(Note: First off, I am absolutely terrible at blogging regularly. I do nothing for a month and then dump a giant load in the space of a few days.  Terribly sorry! With this one I have a bit of an excuse- I was waiting to get the photos from a friend of the trip, as they are from a much nicer camera and therefore demonstrate the beauty of the island much better. However, I think if I wait any longer to write about the island trip, I'll forget what went on there, so here's the rough version of the post, very belated.)

At the beginning of January, there was a weekend trip with exchange students to Isla Isabel, a volcanic island and  bird sanctuary. We set off from the port of San Blas, and headed about two hours across the ocean. It was a fantastic overnight trip that included whale watching, dolphin sightings, snorkelling, and much much more.

At the bright and early hour of 4:30 am Saturday, the exchange students of Guadalajara, Vallarta and Tepic met up in San Blas. We then divided into groups to go on the lanchas, the tour boats that would take us to the island.  One the way there we raced a pod of dolphins, and got a few distant sightings of humpback whales! The entire exchange group kicked into tourist overdrive and we were scrambling around the boat in an attempt to snap some quality photos of the marine life. Unfortunately, the whales and dolphins looked way more awesome in real life than in the photos, but I'll include some in any case, so you can get the general idea. Basically big, majestic, and so much more amazing in the wild, as opposed to in some resort or zoo.

Reenacting the scene from the Titanic (sort of)

Leaving San Blas

The crew of our little lancha

Dolphins!

And even more!

Upon arriving, the first thing I noticed was the huge amount of birds absolutely EVERYWHERE (which I suppose isn't that surprising, with it being a bird sanctuary and all). In the sky, on the beach, weighing down all the branches of the trees. Not an ideal place for anyone with even the faintest phobia of birds. Luckily not being ornithophobic (yep, I looked it up), I just enjoyed the presence of the varied tropical wildlife. Pelicans, blue-footed boobies, frigatebirds were everywhere you looked! Also, there were a large amount of these hideous (but still awesome in their own way) iguanas underfoot.

The male frigatebird with it's giant balloon-like throat

'Whatchu lookin' at?'

View from the top of the hill

The little house is where we set up camp

That day we explored, then hiked to the other side of the island and did some snorkelling. After dinner we made our way up the hill to watch the sunset, which was absolutely gorgeous. (I'm still waiting to get the better quality photos from my friends, but here are mine for now) The entire sky and sea turned beautiful shades of orange and pink, and from our high vantage point, you could see for miles all around you.

After returning, we played this massive game of cards called PENDEJO (but you could easily substitute with another nasty word for idiot if you liked). Basically in a large group of people, you pass the cards around as fast as you can around the table until you have three of a kind. At this point, you put your hand on your nose (while still passing the cards, no easy feat), and at that point the cards basically cease to matter. Those who notice you put their hand to their nose as well, and the last to notice loses that round and recieves a P written on their forehead. The next time you lose, you receive the next letter, and so on. However, this game gets really interesting after the first round. Those who have writing on their face can talk to anyone they want to, however if anyone responds to them, they also receive a letter! You can only talk to those with the same amount of letters as you, which gets very difficult as the game progresses as you don't know how many each person has! (Not helped by the very dim lighting.) By the end of the game, people were yelling at others and trying to trick them into talking, throwing cards around the table, and just generally having one of the rowdiest, best card games I've ever partaken in. At the end, Johannes was the pendejo of the game, but many others (myself included), had various letters scrawled across their forehead.

The collection of pendejos

We slept in this dilapidated house, on the concrete foundation. While not the most comfortable accomadations, it didn't really matter, as we didn't sleep much!

The next day, we went whale watching and this time got much closer to the action! I can't explain how awesome it was to see the sheer size of them, to catch a fin or a tail briefly waving in the air, but it was absolutely one of those MY LIFE IS AWSOME RIGHT NOW moments.  We then went to another snorkeling spot, a bit further out form the day before, and luckily the water was much calmer. It was fantastic, and I saw all the characters from the aquarium in Finding Nemo (except Nemo himself, unfortunately). As I have the mental maturity of a small kid sometimes, that's how I identified the marine life. Not the most scientific, but the characters tend to stick with me better than latin names!

Tail AND spouting water!

I think the whale was waving to us!

Gaby trying as hard as the rest of us to get in a good shot of the elusive whales

Ready for snorkelling!

Me and the Frenchies!

After returning to the house for lunch, we packed up and made our way home. It was a relaxed, gorgeous day and it was awesome watching the sunset as we made our way across the ocean. About halfway there, we stopped by a whale shark and (almost) got to swim with him. I say almost because our guide on the boat stopped the boat and asked who wanted to swim with the beast (about 12 metres long). Naturally, I was raring to go, and so Sara and I put on snorkeling gear as fast as we possibly could. Just as I was about to jump in however (and Sara actually did), we were informed that as a Rotary rule we weren't allowed to swim with the shark because of the risk. I was quite miffed, but at the very least we got very close to it! Maybe it'll happen another time in my life, who knows. Because saying 'I swam with the whale shark' sounds infinitely more badass than 'I swam with the dolphins!'

The whale shark

Adios, Isla Isabel!

Some stoked exchange students

One very sunburnt Wendy

A pensive Sara

Nothing but the ocean, the sun and the sky

It was a fantabulous trip filled with ocean, sun and general tropical Mexican excellence. One of those weekends when you wouldn't want your exchange to be anywhere else in the world.

(Here's a quality picture, taken by our resident Rotex photographer)

La Boca de Tomatlan! (Wendy y los Abuelos)

This past week, I was lucky enough to spend an entire week with my grandparents (my REAL, Canadian-British grandparents to clarify), who were staying a few hours away from Tepic on vacation. It was an absolute blast, and it was nice to live as a Canadian for a while in Mexico and speak 'Canadian' for a bit. I feel like I'm some sort of Mexican-Canadian hybrid now with the language, and even my perspective on things! Which is a pretty amazing feeling. Despite standing out as a tourist (which unfortunately will not change due to my freckly, very non-Mexican appearance), I definitely don't feel like one. In fact, I found it easier sometimes to converse in Spanish than English (surprising everyone around me as they realized the youthful gringo could understand their conversation, muahaha). No one believed that I had only been learning for six months which made me pretty stoked. The best compliment you can give an exchange student is that they seem to be from their host country, and as I won't be receiving that anytime soon, this is the next best thing! Woohoo! I guess up to this point I hadn't realized how developed my Spanish has gotten, or how useful it's going to be later on when I travel. Obviously not even close to perfect, but I know the profanities, how to ask for various yummy platters of food, and haggle over prices. What more do you need? (Kidding.)

I headed down Monday morning with my previous host dad Hector (who has a tortilla and tostada factory/business down in Vallarta). We had a delightful conversation for the entire trip. I greatly enjoy spending time with Hector, as he loves to talk about anything from deep philosophical topics to television shows, which makes for great company! En route, we stopped in a little hippie surf village called Sayulita and took the scenic route through Puerto Vallarta so I could see the hotels and some touristy locations. I was naturally squirming in my seat with excitement, as I was looking forward to a week of vacations on the ocean and a chance to see a new place in Mexico. Something about palm trees, sandy beaches and ocean gives me an insta-doze of happiness and excitement. The fact it's only a 2 hour drive from my current home is pretty darn fantastic.

Anyways, we met with my grandparents in one of the oldest
hotels in Vallarta, where they had been staying. We parted ways with Hector, but not before exchanging a polar bear puzzle for a huge bag of tostadas. My grandparents were at a bit of a loss with bag filled with the Mexican kitchen staple, but I promised to show them various ways to use them up. We lugged my suitcase along the Malecon to the bus station, stopping to admire the various sculptures. Naturally, my grandparents knew the backstory or significance of each one. Just a wealth of information, wise beings that they are!

By far the best one- an artist's perception of the evolutionary chain- with a woman at the top, I might add :)

This man's main body is a giant black rock, pretty awesome!

Dang, can you imagine the patience this must require?  While not perhaps the most useful, this is undoubtedly a brilliant skill to possess.  (Looks like practice makes perfect)

We caught a bus and 25 minutes later arrived in la Boca de Tomatlan, a tiny town located along a river that flows right into the ocean. There are loads of tourists there, with many bed and breakfasts located throughout the village, but the atmosphere is very tranquil and definitely much more authentically Mexican (as opposed to Vallarta). To get to our condo at the Posada Pacifica we had to walk down the steep streets from the highway, cross a concrete bridge over the river, and then lug my bags back up a hill on the other side. The condo was absolutely lovely and had a huge balcony with an awesome view looking out on the river. We spent the rest of the night exploring our side of the river, after making a very resourceful and creative omelet with our limited kitchen setup.

Get off the bus and then walk down this hill to enter the Boca (it's even steeper than it looks!)

La Posada Pacifica!

The next day, we went and visited a Bed and Breakfast that was even higher up the hill than the Posada. My grandparents had stayed there previously and gotten quite close to the owner, who is a retired lady from the United States. They counted once how many steps to get up to the actual building, and the number was around 200! You would get your daily exercise in just by going down and up to your room. The building was absolutely beautiful, and I'm definitely bookmarking it as a potential place to stay when I return to Mexico. The owner was a lovely lady, and one of those perpetually happy, motivated people that instantly gets you stoked about basically anything you're talking about. She essentially arrived in Mexico and  decided to build a Bed and Breakfast in the Boca. Despite all of the difficulties of being an entrepreneurial gringo in Mexico (eg. achieving concrete property rights, working with a very macho society, becoming a part of the community even with the cultural and language barrier), she definitely proved everyone who doubted her success wrong! Very inspiring, and gives me some ideas for a potential post-retirement occupation... Well, either that or running a bakery with a specialty in alcoholically flavoured goodies (an excellent idea thought up by my equally enthusiastic baker friends).

Casa de la Ventana B& B from the perspective of the bridge

These are only half the steps!

The view is pretty spectacular from the patio of the house

Starting the trek up to the B & B

For lunch I treated my grandparents to some authentic guacamole (That is, I just mashed and sprinkled and somehow managed to pull together a pretty tasty dish), with the prized tostadas. Then we headed down to the beach for a swim. While the water originally felt pretty fresh- I am going to be so embarrassingly intolerant with the cold when I get back- after a bit it adjusted to lovely and refreshing. Earlier that day my granny and I had hiked up the hill on the other side of the river to request a roasted chicken from the mildly iffy-looking chicken shack (I really wish I'd thought to bring a camera to take a picture of it).  After collecting the pollo  in the afternoon along with some yummy accompaniments like tortillas and salsa, we made a salad and put together another excellent meal. Despite the questionable facilities in the shack, the chicken it produced was scrumptious. (Lesson for eating in Mexico: never judge food quality by the classy or possibly even sanitary conditions of the restaurant. Often the most dilapidated hut will produce one mind-blowingly excellent meal)

Modelling the tostadas and guacamole

The following morning I went with Christina to a Rotary meeting at the six-month old club in El Tuito, a colonial town about half an hour into the hills. Being a baby club, there was not much going on, but it was cool to see the town. Kind of interesting to spot the little Rotary wheel in the small, sleepy town. Rotary really is everywhere, once you know what to look for!

The president (to my right) and a few members

On the drive home we stopped at what looked like just a roadside shack (these shacks, so deceptive), but at second glance you realized it was a bakery. The oven had been built into the rock wall, and they were cranking out a sizeable amount of aromatic breads from this resourceful appliance! The extent of their advertising was a cardboard sign a hundred metres up the road. The bread was mouthwatering. Filled with various yummy flavours of jams, chocolate or cream cheese, I would never have believed it was all produced on the side of the highway! That's Mexico for you. The sketchiest shack on the side of the road produces astonishingly delicious food.

Yep, oven literally hollowed out from the rock.

After returning, I promptly set off again with the abuelos on a seaside hike. It took us through the forest, across various white beaches with palm trees, and through some very nice, private resorts. We finally ended up at a beach called Las Animas, where we found a restaurant, and tried out their tostadas with shrimp and shredded marlin. We took a water taxi back to the Boca, and what took us four hours walking up and down along the ocean took just 10 minutes by boat. Water taxis are pretty effective, and definitely an entertaining type of transport! You have a fantastic 360 view of the ocean/shore while you bounce along the waves and try not to fall off (lifejackets not included).

Photos of the journey, basically views of the forest, beach, forest, more beach!

Yes, my granny most certainly is using a soya sauce bottle as a water bottle. 

Brief break at Play Colomitos!

Tourist tree (see explanation further down in blog)

Back at the Boca!

Refueling after a good day of adventuring.

On Thursday the abuelos and I went up to the Botanical gardens, where they were volunteering for the duration of their stay. My grandparents are extraordinarily savvy about all things nature related,  each with a specialty in plants or birds. My granny can look at a plant and very often give you a lesson about said plant! And my grandad can pick out the species of the bird just by hearing the noises it makes. Pretty fantastic- I don't know many people that can do that. I'd say the gardens lucked out in getting them to help out!

The gardens were absolutely gorgeous and I wandered around awestruck taking over 500 photos of varying types of flora.  I was especially excited to see cocoa, vanilla, and coffee plants as I have never seen them before. With everything already in the packages in the stores in Canada, you don't usually think about where it came from. I was also really surprised to see the pineapple growing in a sort of bush (for some reason I always imagined a pineapple tree). I even learned about the origin of Chiclets and gum in general- it originated from this super sticky tree sap the natives used as an adhesive. I picked up a bunch of interesting nuggets of botanical info from various garden guides and my abuelos, and actually remembered a fair amount!

Three Canadian couples that are friends with my grandparents came and visited them that day, so after touring around we ate lunch together at the Garden's restaurant with a great view overlooking the garden. I can honestly say that despite being the youngest member of the group there by at least 50 years, I really enjoyed talking with these people- they had all travelled all over the world throughout their life and were still adventuring. It was fascinating to listen to them. One couple was still travelling to Mexico at the ripe age of 90- I certainly hope I can hold up that well!

Joel was possibly the best tour guide I've ever had. Apart from extremely knowledgeable about plants and their link to history, he made the Mexican flora history  into a fascinating story as entrenching as a soap opera- that takes a pretty impressive set of skills!

Am I the only one who was beyond excited to see this?!

The apparent aphrodisiac- theobroma cocoa. 

Some beautiful jade orchids

Check it- the tourist tree, named for the red peeling skin. Ouch. But coming from a pasty 'tourist', it is very aptly named. 

Coffee berries!

The restaurant and gift shop behind me

The tree behind me is the biggest tree in the world! Well, the baby dwarf relative of the biggest tree in the world, which is located in Oaxaca, Mexico. 

This one may have a bit of growing to do.

My new friend Luis the scorpion spider (very friendly and approachable)

What a beauty, eh? Check out those pincers

Upon returning to the Boca, and after reenergizing with some quiet time (all three of us with our electronic readers on the balcony, enjoying our books), we headed out to eat. We enjoyed some fresh  fish dishes on top of the rooftop of a restaurant called Delfines. It was the family's home, with the roof being used as the patio for customers. The poor kids were acting as servers, so had to carry our meals up various flights of stairs to get to our picturesque dining spot. The meal was, of course, delicious.

The small house in the middle of the picture at the top of the hill is Delfines, looking out onto the ocean.

Friday was my last day, which was very sad. The week had gone by so fast, and I didn't want to leave! Before setting off for Vallarta early afternoon, we managed to get in one last tour of the Boca and a lunch of pina coladas and quesadillas on the beach.

Over lunch, we decided this monster will be our collective family home. Good location, nice house, and in Mexico. We don't know how much it's selling for, but I'm sure with the collective contributions, we can do it!

A perfect picture describing Mexico

Once in Vallarta, we walked back along the Malecon, took a tour through the market to buy a cheesy keychain for my blazer, and then ended up back at the hotel Rositas. We met up once more with my grandparent's friends who were all staying there, and went up to one of their rooms to watch the sunset over the ocean. We went to this seafood restaurant called Barracudas, where I ordered the Camarones con coco (coconut shrimp) that I had literally been craving ALL WEEK. It was absolutely worth the wait, as I was in food heaven with these delectable, gigantic shrimp coated in crispy coconut and mango chipotle sauce... Definitely one of the most delicious things I've eaten so far in Mexico. And if you've been following my blog at all, you'll know that there's a rather sizeable amount of things I label delicious.


An event of fantastic coincidence occurred at the restaurant- out of all the restaurants and places for the one exchange student of Vallarta to be on a Friday night, she just so happened to be at Barracudas the same time as me! She was there with her Spanish class, and we quickly caught up (having not seen each other since the island trip at the beginning of January). I also got to meet some of her classmates, two of whom were a couple from Holland who were travelling the world and hadn't been home for almost two years! I would truly love to do that, and the girl enthusiastically encouraged me to do it- she stated that there was nothing more amazing than travelling and exploring the country with nothing more than a basic plan. (I know, I'm not even back home and I'm already planning on setting off, but what can I say- I've caught the travel bug!)

(Apologies for the terrible photo quality, the lighting in the restaurant while creating great atmosphere, wasn't ideal for photos.

The Vallarta pirate ship (tourist adventure) in the background

I was a fan of the lamp shade material they were using- plastic fencing. Incidentally, the exact same orange fencing that ski hills in Canada use to block off runs and race course.

The fabulous camarones con coco

So in conclusion, it was an absolutely fantastic week jam-packed with activities. The best part is that it's one of the earliest big trips I was looking forward to this year, but there are countless more to come. Huzzahhh! Thanks for reading this monster of a post!

Saludos
Wendy