Turtle To La Ticla

Sorry no internet yesterday.  This blog is about our drive yesterday from Barra de Navidad to La Ticla, the first fifth of the Michoacan coast drive.   Today we drove the rest of the coast, but that is another blog.    We started out on one of the better roads we had seen in awhile.It was a toll road and cost us 20 dollars.I love this retorno.    If you missed your turn or need to get to the other side of the hwy you just go up this ramp and down the other  side.

We saw lots of banana plantations.and sugar cane but the blue bags over the banana's look pretty neat.   Not sure why they bag them I was going to look it up before I blogged but never got it done, so I leave that to you to find out why they do that.   Please let me know if you get around to finding out, I'm pretty sure Brenda and I are going to forget to look it up at least a few more times.

Then of course we hit the good road this went for awhile, it was not too bad but it was a slow drive.

This is a rooster farm every one of  the lean to\s is a rooster house.  I want to stop here on the way back and find out if these are fighting roosters or what the point of all this is.   If they are being raised for fighting roosters, it is disturbing to say the least.   Given the number of roosters that we crowing this morning to wake us up, perhaps there is a market for them?

We went over some good sized hills  yesterday.  It was like looking out a window of an airplane.that was a very long way down.

When we got to the camp we were going to stay at it was closed.   We had been driving for 3 hours, and Brenda's back was already in bad shape when left in the morning.  She had been down for 2 days with it, but was a real trooper and agreed to turtle on down the road anyways.   We spotted this RV,  which we had seen in Punta Purala and spoke to the owner a few days ago.   He rubbed me the wrong way, made me feel like he didn't want us parking in the same campground as he did.   Brenda was more optimistic about him than I was.   He has been coming down to Mexico for several years and knows this coast like the back of his hand.   We drove up beside him and asked if there was another park around here and he said there wasn't.   So I just started following him thinking he was going to park some where.

Well, he pulled over and says that I have to go about 3 hours down the road to find a park.  I said where are you going he said he was going to a surfers beach.  .I said thats alright with me and I will follow you he said "no, it's only for surfers".  ????huh????   Then he sat at the side of the road waiting for us to pull out and pass him, I had more patience than he had.

So I just kept following him and he stops on a corner and waves me by.   So I pass him and keep him in my mirror.  Finally I saw him turn off the road so I turned around and follow himed, right into a campgrounds and bungalows on the beach in La Ticla.

If you see this guy from Oregan Try to avoid him or at the very least, don't trust him.  It turns out he doesn't like Canadians on his turf.

I have never came across someone RVing like him before.  We met other people in La Ticla that had run into him in Punta Perula as well.   He told them he had to keep the Canadians out.   There were quite a few non-surfers camping here, and the rest of the surfers didn't seem to mind one bit. I am quite sure the owners of the campgrounds would be upset if they knew he was chasing business away...especially in this depressed economy.

This was a nice park.  100 Pesos a night with electricity and water. They had washrooms and cold showers.   No internet, and you are not allowed to use air conditioning.   The electricity fluctuated and there were a lot of power surges, so we didn't want to plug in our electronics.   Thankfully, the nights get cool so not using the air conditioning wasn't that big a deal.   We were able to cool Myrtle down with fans.   Even the fans would die down when someone else turned something on.     

This is the beach

We are parked behind the Palapa, most of the tent campers set up under the Palapa.  It is quite a nice set up.

Can you see us???  Myrtle was a bit too tall to pull in under the shade.

We met some interesting and nice folk in this campground.   One couple had lived on a sailboat with their small child, and he used to work for the UN.    They've done some serious traveling and have a lot of very interesting stories.   Not the least of which is his battle with throat cancer and the effects of treatment over the past 10 years.   We have their email addy and hope to see them again on our travels.   I wish we could remember their names!!!!!!!    

Another couple we met were young with two small children.   They were riding their bicycles to Panama.   They started out in Hamilton Ontario, took a train to the west coast, and off they went.     They call themselves the Pedal Powered Family.  Their motto "Live simply, give generously, travel slowly".   Nice folk.   If you are interested in following their blog go to www.pedalpoweredfamily.com or twitter @pedalpoweredfam.    

We got up early this morning, we were serenaded by all the roosters in town.   It was impossible to figure out how many voices were raised in their song.    We decided to Turtle on Down the Road for 3 reasons, no internet, we didn't much want to wake up to those roosters again, and the dude from Oregon was putting a damper on our enjoyment.    We drove the rest of the Michoacan Coast today...a blog to come.  The one thing I will say is the coast is absolutely breathtaking so it took us 6 hours to do a 3 hour drive.