Getting Ready for Maddy & Ryleigh

It looks like the girls have their passports in order, so we are ready to firm up our plans to have the two eldest granddaughters Maddy and Ryleigh come down to visit us.   It was a good thing we booked the rooms today, because they are a lot busier than we thought!

We were able to get the one on the beach from the 18th to the 22nd only.   We had to book another suite off the beach for the first part of their visit.    The last guests just moved out of the beachfront suite and they were cleaning it for the next guests so we were able to get in and take a few pictures.

This is a view from the side porch, looking in.   There's Gerry checking it out.

As you come inside there are two couches, these can be used for sleeping.   The kitchen has everything you need.   You can see the two windows on the left...these look out onto the beach. 

This is taken from the kitchen looking out toward the door.    

Here is the bedroom.   A kingsize bed and another couch.   So with the bed and 3 couches it sleeps 5, although the bed is so huge I am sure it would sleep 3 or 4 kids all by itself. 

 The bathroom is complet with shower.

Here is the kitchen taken from the bedroom door.

The next two pictures are of the porch, one looking at the porch, the other looking at the beach from the porch.

Unfortunatly, for the beginning of the visit we will have to use the off-beach bungalow.   We booked the downstairs suite.   There are two concrete benches just outside the front doors.  

People just arrived, and were off to the beach so we couldn't go inside.   The curtains were open though, so we quickly took two shots.   This is the kitchen.

There are two bedrooms off to the right, and a full bathroom.   Each bedroom has a kingsize bed and a couch in it.   So it sleeps 6 or more depending on how many you want to squeeze into those beds.

This is the Chapel right beside the off-beach bungalow.    I've never seen anyone in it.

This is the view standing in front of the off-beach Bungalow looking toward the beach.   You can see Myrtle, she is the 3rd trailer up.    The beauty of both of these suites for us is if the girls are uncomfortable staying in them alone, we can all stay in them together, or we can switch things up a bit and have Gerry and I take turns staying with the girls.     That way if Gerry has a migraine, he can have privacy in Myrtle and the kids don't have to worry about making noise.   It's perfect!!!  

We were just heading out for a walk and the produce truck pulls up, so we ended up buying a bunch of fruit and vegetables.   They have stuff I have never heard of and don't even know how to cook it.  See Myrtle in the background?   How often do you get your produce delivered within 20 feet of your door?    It sure brings back memories of the good old days when our milk, eggs and produce were all delivered.

We were aalking down the street when this old VW drives by.    It sure was running rough missing and smoking.   I would love to have this car down here.  If I come across it again I'm going to find out if he will sell it.

We went to this Cafe, that has free internet and is only one block from where we are camped.  I was thinking we could get their pass word and be able to pick it up from the Turtle but no luck there is a 2 story building between us.

Waited most of the day for my beer delivery this guy took forever to get here.   He said I ordered too much.

These next pictures were our entertainment today.  This Iguana was about 3 feet long.  It ran across the camp and climbed a tree across from us.  It's still there I guess it's waiting for night fall to get away.

Some rich dude pulled into the bay today this Yatch is easily over 100 feet long.

And just before sunset we went for our beach walk.

And that ends another lazy day in Sayulita. 

Sayulita - home away from home

Back in Sayulita - Home away from Home

We are very lucky that both of us have fallen in love with the little town of Sayulita.   We had a very quiet day today.    We both seem to be on the verge of coming down with something, so it is good timing that we have opportunity to rest.   The last two nights Gerry has had migraines through the night, but managed to stave them off in the morning.  

This little town has something for everyone (unless you are looking for a 5 start resort and nothing else will do...then you are on the wrong coast)    This is their website.  

http://www.sayulitalife.com/

We have a different spot this time around, 4th from the beach on the south side.  There's Myrtle, all cozy comfy, probably quite content to take a month off.   I took this picture from outside of one of the campgrounds rental bungalows on the beach.    The owner of the campground built it around his house, which is the orange building next to Myrtle.

This is the opposite picture from the last one.  Here I am standing beside Myrtle taking a picture of her view of the beach and bungalow.   It's only about 50 steps to the beach, I think I can handle that.  We can rent this bungalow for visitors, and just may be doing so for the two eldest grandchildren later this month.    Who knows...maybe more family will come visit while we are stationary.   There is lots to do here including a whale watch, deep sea fishing, horse back riding, surfing, zip lining, hiking, and chilling on the beach.       

 Here is a beach perspective of the Sayulita Trailer Park.   On the south side is a bar/restaurant that often has bands at night...surprisingly they are not so loud that they are bothersome.   To the north side is a restaurant, then another section of the Trailer Park where large rigs can park.

mmmmm...where else can you get fresh fruit delivered to you while you sit and watch the ocean?

We got a kick out of this dog trying to catch fish.   The water is about 4 inches deep here, but there are tons of little fish swimming about.   They haven't gone back out with the tide because of all the little rocks around keeping a pool of water here.

January 18th & 19th, Turtle from Colola to Barra de Navidad and on to Sayulita

We got up bright and early (ok, 8ish), hoping to see more action on the beach.  Alas, the turtles were all gone back out to sea.

We started with a walk on the beach and came across a bunch of dogs digging up Turtle eggs and eating them.    We tried chasing them away but to no avail.     As soon as we walked away they would come back and dig them up again.

Here is one of the culprits.    Doesn't he look like he got caught with his fingers in the cookie jar? 

This was 50 feet from where we were camped.  To think, while we slept a huge turtle waddled up, dug a hole,  laid her eggs, covered them up again, and then went back out into the ocean.    

We stopped in at the Turtle Sanctuary and said bye to everyone.   What a great bunch of kids, giving up 3 weeks to help out and even pay for the experience.   One girl told us it  was her 3rd time here.

Every one of these stakes is a nest of eggs they dug up and put here so they can watch over them.   Each one has about 400 eggs and they incubate for 40 days.

This is the road into a camp ground that was closed.   We blogged about it being closed on our way down the coast.    The couple we met in La Ticla camped there anyway for one night, and said they saw lots of interesting and beautiful birds and a tarantula.   So we decided to check it out.

It was totally overgrown.    Once we were in about 100 yards we were commited until we found somewhere we could turn around.

We only lost one 3 foot part of our top rail or luggage rack on the drive in.   I' m sure this place was nice in its' day but now it's so overgrown you can hardly tell where the camp site was.   We didn't see any birds or spiders.   

This is the road sign.    Rancho Bugainvilla is still listed in Churches book so take warning and don't drive in there unless you walk it first.   Myrtle is only 26 feet long and we wouldn't take her in again.  Try it if you like, but we have seen much better places to stop than this.

We had a good drive and made it to Barra de Navidad in just a few hours.  We stopped in to the Cadillac Ranch again.   Once we got all set up for the night we road our bikes to town and had dinner with Kevin.   We met up with Kevin in Puerto Vallarta, and once again our paths crossed.  He had gone to Mazatlan and Guatalajara while we headed south along the coast. 

What a great meal!  It was served in a Lava bowl and was so hot you had to wait to eat it.    It was chicken and shrimp  but we both totally forget what it was called.   :)  Maybe Kevin remembers, the next time we bump into him in our travels we will have to ask.  hahaha, if we remember. 

We were having such a great time with Kevin we lost track of time and before we knew it, it was dark outside.    Good thing we packed flashlights and have lights on the bikes.    Unfortunately (or perhaps it was a good thing), when we got back to Kevin's hotel we found  Brenda's bike had a flat tire, so we had to take two cabs back to the campsite.   One cab for the bikes, and one for us.    

We were both pretty exhausted, so neither one of us heard any roosters through the night.    We got up bright and early  this morning (ok, so it was 9ish), and headed out at 10:30 to make our way back to Sayulita.    We pulled into Sayulita at 4:30 p.m.    It was a long day on the road, with only one stop in Nuevo Vallarta for groceries.     The first thing we did was go for a fish taco at our favourite taco restaurant.    Without a doubt, Sayulita makes the best taco's from San Blas to Playa Azul.    We are pretty exhausted, but happy to be home.   We will stay here for a month, before heading inland to visit the Monarch Butterflies.  

Tortugas Santuario Maruata y Colola

Santuario Maruata y Colola

Turtle Sanctuary

GPS Location:  18.30359 North  -103.42464 West

We highly recommend you put this in your GPS and visit this amazing place.

We stopped in Colola on our way up the coast again because we had seen signs of turtles on the beach when we briefly stopped there a few days ago.    After making a deal with the owners of the Bungalows to spend the night, they told us that the turtles come up out of the water between 8 and 9 p.m.    They said for 35 pesos each one of the workers would come show us.     We weren't really sure what he meant, but figured we would find out.

We went out onto the beach at 8:00 p.m., with our flashlights and a Lucas came by in a four wheel drive.    He told us to hop on.   We figured, ok, he is going to drive us up and down the beach until we see a turtle.   WOW!!!    He drove us about 1 kilometer down the beach, on the way we saw at least a dozen turtles digging holes in the sand.     

We had no idea he was taking us to a Turtle Sanctuary for a tour.    The beach is patrolled 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by 40 full time vounteers, and a couple of dozen transient volunteers.    The transient volunteers come from all over the world, but mostly from other areas of Mexico.   There were Germans, Americans, Canadians and Mexicans there last night.    The transients stay in these barracks.   They pay 35 pesos a day to participate, and work for about 2 hours every night from 10:00 p.m., to midnight.   Their job?   Finding the turtles as they lay their eggs.   The eggs are removed and reburied in a safe place.    40 days later they hatch and are released into the ocean.    

You can learn more about the program here:  http://www.charityvillage.com/cvnet/viewlisting.aspx?id=229785&eng=True&fs=True&fa=False   

If you are travelling in an RV, just stop in and you can volunteer any night you want.   50 pesos to boondock on their property and an additional 35 pesos if you want to participate in egg collection and releasing the young into the ocean.      If you don't want to stay at the Sanctuary, you are welcome to boondock less than a kilometer south down the road at Cabanas de Colola...you can't miss them.       

They need volunteers.   There are huge sections of the beach that they do not collect eggs from because they don't have enough volunteers.     

They took for a walk around the beach so we could see the turtles laying their eggs.    Every night hundred of turtles come up onto this beach.    I can't express what a treat it was to see these magnificent creatures making their way out of the ocean.   It takes up to two hours for a turtle to dig her hole, lay the eggs, then cover them up and head back to the sea.  

After walking the beach for about an hour we went back to the Sanctuary to see if any eggs were going to hatch tonight.   They hatch at night after the sand cools down.   We were in luck.   They dig their way up out the sand, there is one....oh wait...two.....nope three, four, five, six, seven.....woah....better put a cage around these little fellows before they get out of hand!  

 

   We were pretty tired, and didn't have the stamina to stay up and volunteer with them, so they gave us each one turtle to release into the ocean.    We walked out closer to the water and set them down.   The silly little creatures were flip flopping here and there, sometimes heading toward the ocean, sometimes heading away from the ocean.   We got so tied up in watching them, we weren't watching what the ocean was up to!!!   Suddenly, woooooshhhhh, up comes the tide and washes them away as we make a run for shore!   lmao...what fun.     

We will be back.   We would have stayed a few days longer, but there is no wireless internet on this stretch of the beach as of yet, and our familes and friends would have started to worry if they didn't hear from us.     

There is very little to do in Colola.    The volunteers take turns going into town to get groceries and take their turn at kitchen duty...other than that they enjoy this pristine beach, read, play volley ball etc.