Its been a while since I blogged about anything but our recent trip to Mexico deserves more than a few photos posted on facebook or instagram.
For the past few years Taylor and I have enjoyed visiting Mexico, we fell in love with the beaches, the culture, and the chance to get off the grid, and unplug. Last Spring we visited San Juanico ( small fishing village with some amazing surfing) Getting to San Juanico was not easy, its 750 miles south of San Diego and it would require 15+ hours of driving, or 2hr plane ride and a 4 hour drive. in the essence of saving time we chose the latter. The drive from the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific Ocean was an adventure in and of itself. What it exposed us to was the "Real" Mexico, outside of popular tourist towns, all inclusive resorts and spring break hot spots. Certainly I would say towns like Santa Monica ,Myrtle Beach , Wisconsin Dells, and Orlando are part of the culture of the USA. So to are those touristy spot in Mexico. Are they the "real" USA or Mexico, I'd argue no ( a discussion for another day) but they have a part to play. You want "real" you have to get out of those tourist traps and high walled complexes. We were bound and determined that our next trip south of the border we would continue our search for more of the "real" Mexico.
If you, like me have seen Shawshank Redemption on TBS a million times, You will no doubt have heard of
Zihuatanejo ( it's where Red meets Andy at the end of the movie).
Pretty much everyone shortens the name down to Zihua as a time savings if nothing else. Zihuatanejo is a mouth full for sure.
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| Taylor was telling me that Zihua shares the airport with the all inclusive resort town of Ixtapa |
I had done some research prior to our trip, but my main focus was to get us off the grid and onto a sandy beach. I searched google maps, travel blogs, trip advisor etc. Found a small little village south of Zihua called Barra de Potosi, (simply Barra to the locals) . A quick search of B&B's and unique housing options, and we settled on a little place called
Hacienda La Rusa , It was just a quick cab ride south of the airport, but as we had hoped, we found someplace "real"
I could go on and on about the lodgings and the lovely folks who run and work there. The owners Staysa and Mike are some of the best people you could ever meet. What they have done to help the animals in Barra and surrounding communities with their organization
Amigos de Animales is just amazing! Check out the photos, we were blown away, you would pay over $400/ night for a room like this in the US.
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| Our friends Stasya and Yogi |
From the backgate of the B&B it was about 20 steps to the beach and what would become our base of operations for the next few days , La Condesa. This little spot is one of many emramadas ( arbor in English) that is exactly what they are, small driftwood and bamboo frames with coconut palm frond roofs. There are about 10-15 emramadas in town but La Condesa was closest and had unobstructed beach views worth a million dollars. The menu was filled with local fresh seafood, handmade tortillas, and one of the best pina coladas that I have ever had.
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| This is the Lagoon which is separated by the actual barra, you can see some of the enramadas along the beach |
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| the view north from La Condesa along Playa Blanca |
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| Cheap beers and priceless vista.. |
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good view of the enramada and the gorgeous views
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Taylor and I both enjoy adventuring and exploring, so we decided to take a day and do a bit of exploring. We were told that we could paddle the lagoon or a short hike to a 25 mile long deserted beach. Naturally we decided to do both, we set off on paddleboards at sunrise, returned about an hour later, a short trip but a great workout on a small SUP.
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| New SUP took a bit to get used to so Taylor starts out "knee standing" aka: kneeling |
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| Surrounded by mangroves on a back channel in the lagoon, dry jungle up on the hill |
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| The mouth of the lagoon: when we visited the barra was completely separating the ocean and the lagoon |
Our hike in the afternoon to the uninhabited Playa Tortuga ( turtle beach) took us across the barra and into the dry jungle/ mangrove forest. It was so interesting to see the plant communities change so abruptly, from the aquatic, to nearly desert. We saw, mangrove trees, coconut palms, airplants and cacti of all shapes and sizes. As a self described biology nerd it was really fun to hike through a new ecosystem and see all the different plant and animals. Upon reaching the beach we found we were not alone, about 15-20 brown pelicans who were diving just past the breaking waves. It was so pleasant to see an completely undeveloped and uninhabited beach. As its name implies this beach is a very important nesting ground for three species of sea turtle. As it turns out we had great timing, after spending an hour or so on the beach, we ran into a tour group of about 30 young kids making the hike. Personally I was glad we just had to share the beach with the pelicans!
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| Amazing giant orchid cactus, close relative of the "Christmas Cactus" |
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| Beatutiful colors on this airplant (tillandsia) |
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| Trail through the dry jungle/ mangrove intersection |
When we got back from out hike a few cool down cervezas were definitely in order. We hit the pool and a few Coronas, cleaned up and made our way out to the beach to watch the sunset. Watching the sunset is something I will never ever get sick of, its even better when you get to share it with your favorite adventure partner.
ATTENTION THIS SECTION DEVOTED TO AN AWESOME FISHING STORY, PROCEED TO PHOTOS IF NOT SO INCLINED...
If you know me, you know I am obsessed with fishing. I normally travel with the most advanced tackle , rods and reels. This trip was different, I hadn't planned on fishing and left all of my gear at home ( so a sure sign that the fishing would be good) . So it started while I was sitting on the beach the first afternoon. I saw a bunch of birds working along the shore, mostly brown pelicans, cormorants, terns, but then more and more birds showed up, magnificent frigate birds, turkey vultures and diving birds called brown boobies. I have been around enough to know that when the birds start gathering like that, something is about to go down. Sure enough, just past the breakers about 100 yards the beach the ocean is frothing with activity , I can see a big bait ball being herded into the shallows, fish blowing up through the middle and all around. As I sit there on the beach no rod, no reel, no lures I am having a huge FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) moment. Despite wanting to be out there I sit back down and order another beer. The waiter notices the ruckus over my shoulder and yells into the kitchen, 30 seconds later there are two guys in board shorts running down the beach with big hand lines. They wade out into the breakers , making huge swinging cast with their homemade lures the birds are diving all around and then one guy hooks up then another, within the next five minutes half a dozen more guys come streaming out of the enramadas and are running down the beach towards the feeding frenzy. Bamm!!!, I am watching as one of the first guys is hooked up,(fighting a big fish through crashing surf is hard enough, fighting that same fish on a handline is really challenging). He fights the fish for about 10 mins and finally drag a huge 20-25lb
pacific jack crevalle up the beach from the surf. He tosses that fish up the beach and barrels right back in the surf. A few cast later and he is hooked up again this time he was fighting a skipjack tuna, they were interspersed with the jacks making the water boil with activity. Then as fast as it happened the baitball broke up and the activity slowed. During the next few hours while I was relaxing on the beach I saw another 3-4 frenzies, each one being predicted in advance by the frigate birds which seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Fast Forward to the next day, Taylor and I are walking along the beach watching birds gather again and me just talking about all the fish I would catch if I just had brought a rod. It wasn't long after we ran into another couple who we were staying at the B&B with. He was also a fisherman and mentioned that he had been using the owners gear, and that I was welcome to borrow it. Whoo Hoo! I have a chance... Maybe, I was hoping I wasn't goin to be trying with some freshwater bass setup. To my surprise our friend comes back with a big Penn surf reel and a 12ft Okuma surf casting rod. This dog will hunt!!! I tie on a large flashy spoon and throw it out in front of the fish I can see crashing bait in the surf. BANG first cast and I am hooked up!! I fight the fish through the crashing waves and get it up near shore and make a huge rookie mistake, instead of dragging the fish up the sand like I saw all the guys do previously I grab the lure, them watch helplessly as my 6-8lb skipjack flops back into the ocean and speeds off. Two cast later and something hits the lure and then bites right through the line... lure gone.With none of my own gear I try and fish with a small fresh water spoon, but i cant cast more than 15 yards due to the wind and heavy gear. I give it up for the morning and decide I can try again later. Lucky for me the owner had a nice big yozuri tuna popper, I tie that on a wire leader and head back out for the afternoon bite. The wind had kept up which was pushing the baitfish up along shore and giving the fish and birds a good chance of corralling them. Made a few blind long cast with no takers and then on the next cast the bail flipped closed during the cast and the lure snapped right off the line, I was about waist deep in the water and I could see the lure floating there, knowing that if I took my eyes off it to drop the rod on the beach I would lose it. I just started to swim, one arm keeping the rod out of the water and the other doing a crude side stroke. I caught up with the lure about 60 yards offshore in about 10 -12 feet of water. Now the tricky part getting myself back in to land with dunking the rod , losing the lure or y camera. I make it back on land, all the while my wife and our fellow B&B travelers were watching wondering why I was swimming so far out. Taylor wasn't concerned so no one else batted an eye. Well I was lucky that I got the lure back and that I didn't catch a fish because my knot wasn't tied right and definitely would have slipped off losing the lure and the fish. I retied my knot and headed back out looking for the birds. The frigate birds were heading my way and then as if on cue the water below me erupted baitfish were smacking into my legs and up my shorts, then a few big fish ran into me, I cast right out into the frenzy and may one pop with the lure and then it it got smashed. The fish took off like a rocket, even with a long rod and heavy line it was hard to make any headway, drag was screaming and I was chasing the fish up the beach through waist high breaking surf. I assumed this was one of the big jacks that I had seen earlier based on the fight in the fish I knew it wasn't small. After about what seemed like an eternity ( actually about 10-15 mins) I get the fish in the shallow water. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice I grab the rod and drag the fish up the beach. That's when I notice that our B&B compatriot Susan was there take some action shots!! ( My wife didn't want to jinx me since I had lost the last fish trying to show her, so she stayed back and kept my beer company😉)
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| Big jacks right in the surf (look for the long dark spot in the breaking wave) |
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| Skipjack tuna corralling bait in the surf , frigate birds waiting from above |
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| Fighting the fish and breaking waves is not easy, just had to get a bit more leverage a low angle |
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| Beautiful yellow-green back on this fellow, hooks are still in his face |
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| This is one Happy Guy! |
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| Popper at sunset! |
After getting the fish up on the beach and seeing the few that were harvested the day before I didn't give it a second thought. Dinner was served.... I was only after that I had given it to the waiter at La Condesa that I realized I NEVER see jack crevalle on the menu, like EVER. Oh boy, did I just kill a nasty tasting fish!? Either way we were committed, the fish was off in the kitchen still flopping. Waiter suggested 1/2 Vera Cruz style and 1/2 garlic , I knew that if anyone knew how to cook a jack it would be these guys, so I gave them the go ahead and sat down to revel in the catch with a cold brew! After about 25 mins two huge plates come out, one piled with all types of citrus, avocados, onions and peppers (Vera Cruz) and the other grilled with roasted garlic and onions, plates of fresh made tortillas followed. The meat of a jack is very red and can spoil very quickly giving it that very undesirable fishiness (which is why you don't see it on menus ever). The fish in the platters was grilled and was as dark as a steak, but where you would typically expect a strong flavor it was light and flaky and the citrus and garlic cut right through the oiliness of the fish and it was devoured by our small but very grateful group. I am not sure about you, but as a fisherman nothing gives me greater pride than being able to provide my friends with a great story and even better meal.
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| Our lovely host Stasya telling me how proud she is of me, apparently it is very rare for a "gringo" to bring a fish out of the surf |
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| Family style fish on the beach! Nothing Better!!! |
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| Downtown Barra, the one main street is paved and planted with some great palms |
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| Virgin de Guadalupe is big in Barra |
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| This lovely woman custom made us a poncho for our niece during our visit!! AMAZING |
