Changes at the Banana Plantation

A restaurant here in Melaque called The Red Lobster, provides a day trip out to their banana plantation for the low price of 500 pesos per person. Included in the price, you receive a breakfast meal, transportation on a bus to the plantation, beer and soft drink beverages, a day in the water pools and a great dinner of BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken or baked fish. We have participated in this event for the past three years and have enjoyed ourselves each time.

This year they had added a second pool and provided more shade areas. It is a very fun and relaxing day. Follow this link to one of the other posts for comparison photos.

Arroyo Seco ATV Tour #2

The night before we were to go on our ATV tour up Arroyo Seco, the moon had a late night showing of a Super Blood Wolf Moon. Starting about 9:30 PM the moon passed through the Earth's shadow in a total lunar eclipse. Due to the clear skies, and the fact that there would not be a total lunar eclipse again until May of 2021, I had to view the event and try and get some photos. I had a little success but did not get a photo of the true blood moon.  My camera, the tripod, and my impatience caused things to go south. I got frustrated and went to bed. We had an early morning coming so I tossed in the towel.

We met over at Ray's place and were assigned an ATV for the day. The tour was exactly like the one we did last year so I you want to read about it follow this link to the post.

Things that changed were the people we traveled with, the amount of water in the arroyo and how far we hiked when we left the ATVs.  This years group was much less mobile and so we decided to not hike to the falls. This was fine and gave us a chance to swim and play in the pools at the end of the ride.

Had to stop for round-up. Mexico!

Linda on her ATV.

Jacquie and Grant robbing a bank, just kidding.

No Adventure, Just Food

Yesterday we loaded into Larry's truck, The Frog, and drove over to Barra where we parked and then walked to the water taxi spot for the Resturant Mary's. We boarded the taxi and they ferried us over to Colimilla. There we had a very relaxing afternoon of eating, drinking, and laughing.

We have done this several times before and I have reported on each event, but this one had something added to it that I wanted to remember so thus the post.

Huachinango! Huachinango is Red Snapper prepared by placing a cleaned fish into hot oil and cooking it until it is crisp and delicious. Iris and Maggie ordered one of these meals. The waitress brought out two freshly caught Red Snappers and they were able to choose which one they wanted to dine upon. Then the fish was taken back to the kitchen and prepared. It came served on a plate with a wonderful garlic sauce for dipping.

Our meals were not as exotic. We had chicken quesadillas, breaded shrimp, and beans stuffed in a corn tortilla and cooked over an open flame. All of it was very good.

Palms, Tortugas and Salt

Jacquie takes in the view from the deck of Casa Ola Brisa.

13 people loaded into the van and we bebopped south to Manzanillo. We were on a tour with Mex-ECO, a guided tour company based in Melaque. We have been on two tours with this company prior to this and have enjoyed each one.

Hibiscus.

Today's tour took us to Manzanillo where we visited the Ola Brisa Gardens, or as they call it, The Civilized Jungle. This oasis was created by two expats, Tommy and Patty Clarkson, who for the past 11 years have created a beautiful refuge on the hillside outside the big city. The lot is not a huge expanse, but a normal-sized lot that they have packed full of palm trees and plants from all around the world and especially from Mexico.

Our tour took about three and a half hours and in that time we learned everything we will ever need to know about palm trees. It was overwhelming, but a very nice tour. Tommy led the tour and his enthusiasm about the gardens was very apparent and it was refreshing to see someone that put everything into this endeavor.

One of the beautiful palm trees in the garden.

We loaded back into the van and then drove around Manzanillo to the small beach town of Cuyutlán where we invaded a beach restaurant and had lunch. The town's economy was solely based on two things, salt and tourism. The beach was lined with empty hotels and beach restaurants. We seemed to be the only people in town this Monday.

We finished our lunch and then bumped along south to the El Tortugario Ecológico. In this area, we loaded into a panga and took a short tour of the mangroves. We viewed many birds and many mysterious splashes. Each time we were told that the splashes were little crocodiles. I have no photo proof of this, so you have to use your imagination.

A Thai Spirit House.

Finally, we went to the Tortuga breeding area and looked at several different varieties of Tortugas.  We were told that they are breeding these tortugas and then returning the young tortoises to the ocean. The pools where the animals resided were clean and the Tortugas looked healthy, but we really did not like the fact that they were in captivity and not free to swim the oceans. The final three pond areas were not filled with water, but were empty and lined with sand. These housed iguanas that were fed and cared for by the caretakers. These reptiles were free to wander but kept close to the food and water.

At the end of that tour, we drove back into Cuyutlán and drove by the closed Salt Museum. No one in the van was upset that we did not stop at the Museum. Dan, our guide, told us some facts as we inched by the building, the long day showing in everyone's faces. We hit the highway for a long hot drive back to Melaque. It was great to experience what we hadn't had the opportunity to see before.