Pictures Of Mexico

I’ve collected some pictures made in Mexico that didn’t necessarily fit in narratives already quite long enough. I hope you enjoy them.

La Manzanillera, Michoacán

I like driving Highway 200, but not everyone is enthusiastic about the curves and the drop offs and absence of shoulders and guardrails. Fortunately for them there is a shrine roadside where they can leave a votive candle to help them on their way.

Not without cause perhaps!

Rusty enjoyed the view.

It is not easy to get pictures of the winding torment of the highway as the turns come fast and dropping off the edge of the road is easy. Layne was not in the mood for photography as she is not fond of sitting on the edge but I found the drive exhilarating even in my five ton tank. This was a straight stretch, and I can only imagine how it looks in summer when rainy season releases all the leaves in their greenery: 

Topes of course, just to keep you on your toes! 

We met up with Ron at a junction as he rejoined the main road. He said it looked like they had a big plan down by the beach but the sign appeared to over promise. There was nothing visible he said, in the way of campgrounds.  

As we stood and talked Rusty made another friend. Several other dogs appeared and he, feeling surrounded, made a prudent withdrawal to his bed on our bed. 

I crossed the highway looking for a view and found this: 

Ron remarked how pleasant it was to see someone with all the time in the world to amble with her family down the road. No frenzy, no rush. 

Layne wanted to muck about pretending to cook at a stove that wouldn’t have been out of place in a Roman city. Indeed I have see similar cooking ranges at Pompeii:

Enough tomfoolery and time to get back on the road. We lost touch with Ron at this point when we turned off to explore and he went on ahead. I am not fond of the idea of caravanning with other travelers as if glued together. We knew we were heading to Maruata but when something came up we had no phone to let him know our change of plans. I’m sure he understood because we travel separately. We called it buddy boating when sailing.  

This is what came up when we turned down a side road:

We wandered off the highway the first time in search of eggs and milk and maybe orange juice. We found them down another of the cobbled strip roads. Long life milk for my tea, and I still have a few Yorkshire Gold teabags…and eggs for Layne who took her six egg holder into the store much to the amusement of the store keeper who sold the eggs by weight, not number! We prefer to buy eggs in small stores as they don’t refrigerate them and thus they last longer. They also taste rich and delicious. 

After we had looked for Ron hoping he had stopped at the surfer hang out at Bucerias we returned to “our” beach. Ten bucks a night for a toilet with seat, a cold shower which is not so cold around here and a shaded parking spot with the entire post holiday campground to ourselves…we settled in. 

Unhappily this is not a swimming beach. If it were we’d never have left and you’d not be reading this as there is no WiFi or cell reception at La Manzanillera. 

The sand is so fine and silky you sink into it rather than walk on it. It is strangely difficult to traverse. 

We took a walk up the road to a hotel but there is no restaurant so we fell back on our own resources. Which isn’t a problem as we came prepared. Zucchini pasta for lunch? See the Chef at Caffe Gannet! 

Rusty missed the grass from Hotel Gonzalez but he liked the gravel parking area here. He is weird in that way. He used to enjoy sleeping in the sun on pea rock on Cudjoe Key when we gave him every other option.  

Our spot:

Seen from the palapas: 

The campground owner doubling as school bus for his two kids:

No lifeguard on duty! No one else on the beach!!  We limited ourselves to wading, sinking deep into soft sand and nearly getting knocked over. 

Taking a nap it looks like this: