We hopped in the dinghy and went up the channel in the estuary to explore the mangroves. In 2 hours, we only saw a few birds and no crocodiles or iguanas. It was very pretty and peaceful as we drift-paddled about half way back, but we saw so much more when we explored the mangroves at San Blas 6 weeks ago.
Where are all the birds???
After hanging the weights on our "flopper stoppers" (boards to stabilize a boat in a rolly anchorage), we sailed across the bay to La Manzanilla (N19°16.924' W104°47.476'), about an hour away, where we dropped the pick on the 17th. Anticipating a night-time offshore wind we then also placed a stern anchor to keep us bow into the swells to avoid rolling side to side.
Do not confuse La Manzanilla with Manzanillo which is further south and has a population of over 100,000. La Manzanilla is a delightful small town with newly paved roads and most basics available. It has a lot of the typical palapa restaurants along the beach and quite a surf to master when landing your dinghy - timing is everything! The market at the town square had lots of colourful glassware, ceramics, clothing, a little produce, and even 1 iguana that wondered through the street!
Very tired or bored vendor at the Friday market
At the end of a road in La Manzanilla, we came to a high wire fence. Behind the fence were live wild crocodiles in the water which was quite a surprise. We heard the fence was constructed to keep the crocs away from the areas of general population.
You can only see about 1 m of this 4-m long croc
During our stay at La Manzanilla, we enjoyed spending a lot of time with old friends from Victoria who also have an Endurance sailboat, SV Kasasa. Hopefully, we will meet up with them once again if we all do the fabulous Pacific Puddle Jump next year to the South Pacific!
Kasasa and Sea Turtle anchored
No comments:
Post a Comment