Jungle Fever

We sailed from La Cruz Sunday leaving the backdrops of large hotels, para sailor and jet skis and replaced it with lush jungle and isolated bays. We are anchored just a few miles from Old town of Pv and found a beautiful anchorage in Boca De Tomatlan. We are the only boat in the bay and for many reasons. The first is probably because there are no other boats here, pangas are running in and out all day from this fishing village causing a nice roll, and the bay is very deep. A usual anchorage is in 15 -30 feet, here we are in 70 feet of water. It's not so much that it is deep it's that the bay is very deep until about 50 yard off the shore where the shelf comes up quickly.

The steep walls of the jungle crawl right down to the ocean and houses peek out from the canopy of trees. We have instant entertainment watching the pangas get up to speed and shoot the mouth of the shallow river, kicking up their outboard motors seconds before hitting the sand bar.

We arrived at sunset and made a quick trip to the shore to get some milk and stretch our legs a bit. Our quick trip turned into an unexpected exploration of the town with one of the locals and a simple dinner at the towns local taco stand.

The night was actually pretty comfortable despite the constant roll of the swell coming into the bay. It was just the right amount to rock us all into a very deep sleep.

Yesterday Christmas break was officially over and the home school routine kicked back in. After a few hours of academia we hit the road for some Social Studies. P.E and Spanish language study. We packed a lunch and headed off to Chicos Paradise a spot we had been to on past trips to Mexico. After a quick walk through town we boarded the local bus( kids ride free in Mexico) paid our 8 Pecos and took off for our exhilarating bus ride. I think that crazy bus rides are just standard here. Something you get used to. We obliviously haven't been here long enough yet. We were on the edge of our seats. Tristan asked why the man talking to the bu s driver( distracting the bus driver)was standing by the open door. I answered with, " He wants some fresh air" but the crazier the ride became I thought to myself he probably wants a quick escape.

The fun ride ended for us at the entrance to Chicos Paradise. The kids were beside themselves and exclaimed, " This is so awesome, better than Paradise" Paradise is the fancy Marina with all inclusive resort and a pool with water slide.

We were quickly greeted by Marco who was eager to show us around and get us a nice spot to swim. We settled on a spot over a clear pool of water on a warm granite boulder, with great views of the zip lines and the occasional tourist that flew above us and over the canopy of trees. We thought Marco was looking for a tip but refused our gesture and just said have a good time. We realized shortly after that he didn't want us to tip him for his guide services but the hair raising show of cliff diving he was about to put on. This was indeed worthy of a propina.

The first dive was scary enough to watch as he had to clear at least a 10 foot overhang and then land in a small pool surrounded by rocks. My heart was pumping and was relieved to see his head pop up from the pool, only for him to scale the cliff once again for dive two which included a front somersault. By now I am fearing that we are going to have to administer first aid. He again popped up and scaled the wall for the third time. I could barely watch but focused the camera and held my breath for the third dive, this time blindfolded. Applause and relief was heard throughout the canyon walls from onlookers above at the restaurant and from the swimmers below.

We were inspired by his cliff diving skills and did a bit of our own, but at a much more basic level. We had a fun afternoon and headed back to the boat only to see our friends on Gypsy Wind rounding the point and heading into the bay. We were excited to see them and enjoyed an evening on board Gypsy Wind, making Pizzas.