It wouldn't have felt right to leave Mexico without seeing at least one of the beaches here, so one day in Colima, Pepe and I drove down a 1000' to the coastal town of Cuyutlan. Colima is a quiet and overlooked state in Mexico- Cuyutlan is nearly a beach ghost town.
It is a very small village strung out on a spit of land between the unbroken beach facing the open ocean and a lengthy mangrove swamp and river from the mainland. There have been industrial saltworks in operation here since the time of the conquistadors, and with the value of the salt, their ownership has been in contention since then, only settled in the 1930s.
Apparently, some days of the year, the town explodes and overflows with tourists, most of the time, however, there is a trickle of people who come for the salt musuem, the Tortuguario, and for the black sand beach.
It's a muggy, mosquito infested town, so I was happy I brought repellant. However, I didn't put it until after we'd left the salt museum. I probably would have found it more interesting had I not spent the entire time slapping mosquitos and dancing to keep my legs moving.
The ancient man acting as the doorman, guide, and cashier was very amiable, and he and Pepe got into a long friendly conversation. I ended up buying 2 kilos of sea salt in a bag for about a dollar, mostly from pity and to support the town a bit. Apparently, its highly prized salt due to its large natural crystals.
I was initially going to ask for a pass on the Tortugario but I was interested in the mangrove swamp boat tours they offered. I'm actually really happy I went. The Tortuguario is a combination of ecological park, research center, and outreach via tourism.
When you arrive, they play a 10 minute video explaining the work they do and a bit about turtles. Apparently, the majority of sea turtle species nest on Mexican beaches, many of them around Colima. The video ended with an exhortation to not eat turtles, turtle eggs, or buy tortoiseshell products.
The young guide (all the staff looked like they were in their early 20s), took us around the tanks, which were basically tiled pools under a canopy and talked about the different types of giant turtles swimming around in them.
Then they took us (well, the four of us on the tour), over to the enclosure where they had the buried turtle clutches in the sand. The guide talked about it for awhile. I admit I kind of zoned out. I was thinking about mosquitos and just kind of zoning out mentally as the proximity to the beach does that to me. The guide returned with a styrofoam cooler filled with squirming baby turtles, all of which were under 15 days old. (did you know that baby sea turtles have an internal food reserve that lasts them 15 days after hatching?)
I had to admit, they were pretty cute. We followed the guide with the baby turtles out to the beach. At this point, I kind of guessed she might be releasing them, but I wasn't really thinking hard at this point. It was hot. It was nice to be on the beach. I looked at the surf and imagined what the water would be like.
The guide drew a line in the sand and then proceded to hand out baby turtles. She gave me two and I carefully held the squirmy little guys, one in each hand. I watched the other visitors and at the right time, I gently set them on the far side of the line on the sand and they immediately started flip flopping towards the water. The rest of the box was emptied, and there was a little mob of little black turtles on the black beach, racing for the waves. I couldn't help but think at that moment the incredibly low odds of each baby turtle's survival. We stood watching for awhile, their tiny black heads poking out of the ocean as they swam out.
Pepe was invited back to a house/research station to help with some measurements and I came along. The guide was joined by another young woman and they uncovered a plastic crate to reveal a 14" long juvenile crocodile, apparently only a year old. The guide threw a tee shirt over it and then wrapped a hair scrunchie around its jaws to keep it from biting. Pepe then held the reptile while the girls took various measurements.
After the episode of Pepe: Crocodile Wrangler, I decided to pay for the two of us to take a tour of the mangrove swamp. They had a long boat with an outboard motor and we jumped in and headed out.
I love boats, especially these kind of small boats plying the mangrove tunnels and flying across the open lagoons. I was, however, eaten alive by mosquitos. They attacked my legs (even after I'd applied repellent) and especially my arms and even my back through my tee shirt. I was killing multiple mosquitos with single slaps, they were so thick on my body. However, the really mosquito infested places were relatively few and most of the time I was able to devote most of my attention to birdwatching. I saw a lot of Cormorant, a few white egrets, and even an osprey. It was worth it, even with the mosquitos.
We waved goodbye to the park staff eating lunch outside by the parking lot- the two girls/guides, the young boat pilot, and an older woman from whom we bought tickets.
Climbing into Pepe's hot car, covered in sweat and stinging mosquito bites, we were both ready for a drink and the beach.
Pepe drove us back to central Cuyutlan where there a slew of beachside bars/kitchens which parceled up the beach. We parked and walked out to the the beach. At the bar, Pepe ordered one of the coconut cocktails and we grabbed some wooden folding beach chairs under a line of umbrellas.
The beach, like the village, was mostly abandoned. There were perhaps five or six other people I could see looking up and down the beach. I quickly changed into my bathing suit and joined Pepe in the powerful surf.
Because cuyutlan opens out to open ocean, the waves are large and powerful, and there were really strong currents. Pepe warned me about the undertow. Apparently, there's a natural phenomena which occurs at certain times of the year called the ola verde (green wave) which is a kind of tidal wave. Actually, it's destroyed the village a few times, and killed numerous people, including Pepe's grandfather.
The water was surprisingly warm, and highly salty. The waves, the sand, and the sea were a tonic for my itching legs, and once we were back drying on the beach chairs, passing the alcoholic coconut back and forth, I felt great. We sat and watched the roiling ocean for awhile. There's something hypnotic about the expanse of the horizon, the endless crash of waves upon the shore. My mind wandered.
After a few hours (?) on the beach, I went in for a last dip, and standing with my back to the Pacific, began the Long Return. I retuned to the beach, and from there to the village, and from the village to the city of Colima, and from the city of Colima to Mexico City, and from Mexico City I shall return to the United States tuesday, closing the Mexican cycle.
We did stop for fresh coconut milk on the way back to Colima however. Pepe had them slice open two of the nuts to drink, and he threw another ten in the trunk of his car.
The bus ride back to Mexico City was uneventful other than the surprising ease of everything. Pepe took me to the bus station and fifteen minutes before departure, I bought a ticket to take me 10 hours away. Stop and think about that for a minute. It's kind of like being able to, on the spur of the moment, traveling from St. Louis to Washington DC. The bus had wifi too.
It is a very small village strung out on a spit of land between the unbroken beach facing the open ocean and a lengthy mangrove swamp and river from the mainland. There have been industrial saltworks in operation here since the time of the conquistadors, and with the value of the salt, their ownership has been in contention since then, only settled in the 1930s.
Apparently, some days of the year, the town explodes and overflows with tourists, most of the time, however, there is a trickle of people who come for the salt musuem, the Tortuguario, and for the black sand beach.
It's a muggy, mosquito infested town, so I was happy I brought repellant. However, I didn't put it until after we'd left the salt museum. I probably would have found it more interesting had I not spent the entire time slapping mosquitos and dancing to keep my legs moving.
The ancient man acting as the doorman, guide, and cashier was very amiable, and he and Pepe got into a long friendly conversation. I ended up buying 2 kilos of sea salt in a bag for about a dollar, mostly from pity and to support the town a bit. Apparently, its highly prized salt due to its large natural crystals.
I was initially going to ask for a pass on the Tortugario but I was interested in the mangrove swamp boat tours they offered. I'm actually really happy I went. The Tortuguario is a combination of ecological park, research center, and outreach via tourism.
When you arrive, they play a 10 minute video explaining the work they do and a bit about turtles. Apparently, the majority of sea turtle species nest on Mexican beaches, many of them around Colima. The video ended with an exhortation to not eat turtles, turtle eggs, or buy tortoiseshell products.
The young guide (all the staff looked like they were in their early 20s), took us around the tanks, which were basically tiled pools under a canopy and talked about the different types of giant turtles swimming around in them.
Then they took us (well, the four of us on the tour), over to the enclosure where they had the buried turtle clutches in the sand. The guide talked about it for awhile. I admit I kind of zoned out. I was thinking about mosquitos and just kind of zoning out mentally as the proximity to the beach does that to me. The guide returned with a styrofoam cooler filled with squirming baby turtles, all of which were under 15 days old. (did you know that baby sea turtles have an internal food reserve that lasts them 15 days after hatching?)
I had to admit, they were pretty cute. We followed the guide with the baby turtles out to the beach. At this point, I kind of guessed she might be releasing them, but I wasn't really thinking hard at this point. It was hot. It was nice to be on the beach. I looked at the surf and imagined what the water would be like.
The guide drew a line in the sand and then proceded to hand out baby turtles. She gave me two and I carefully held the squirmy little guys, one in each hand. I watched the other visitors and at the right time, I gently set them on the far side of the line on the sand and they immediately started flip flopping towards the water. The rest of the box was emptied, and there was a little mob of little black turtles on the black beach, racing for the waves. I couldn't help but think at that moment the incredibly low odds of each baby turtle's survival. We stood watching for awhile, their tiny black heads poking out of the ocean as they swam out.
Pepe was invited back to a house/research station to help with some measurements and I came along. The guide was joined by another young woman and they uncovered a plastic crate to reveal a 14" long juvenile crocodile, apparently only a year old. The guide threw a tee shirt over it and then wrapped a hair scrunchie around its jaws to keep it from biting. Pepe then held the reptile while the girls took various measurements.
After the episode of Pepe: Crocodile Wrangler, I decided to pay for the two of us to take a tour of the mangrove swamp. They had a long boat with an outboard motor and we jumped in and headed out.
I love boats, especially these kind of small boats plying the mangrove tunnels and flying across the open lagoons. I was, however, eaten alive by mosquitos. They attacked my legs (even after I'd applied repellent) and especially my arms and even my back through my tee shirt. I was killing multiple mosquitos with single slaps, they were so thick on my body. However, the really mosquito infested places were relatively few and most of the time I was able to devote most of my attention to birdwatching. I saw a lot of Cormorant, a few white egrets, and even an osprey. It was worth it, even with the mosquitos.
We waved goodbye to the park staff eating lunch outside by the parking lot- the two girls/guides, the young boat pilot, and an older woman from whom we bought tickets.
Climbing into Pepe's hot car, covered in sweat and stinging mosquito bites, we were both ready for a drink and the beach.
Pepe drove us back to central Cuyutlan where there a slew of beachside bars/kitchens which parceled up the beach. We parked and walked out to the the beach. At the bar, Pepe ordered one of the coconut cocktails and we grabbed some wooden folding beach chairs under a line of umbrellas.
The beach, like the village, was mostly abandoned. There were perhaps five or six other people I could see looking up and down the beach. I quickly changed into my bathing suit and joined Pepe in the powerful surf.
Because cuyutlan opens out to open ocean, the waves are large and powerful, and there were really strong currents. Pepe warned me about the undertow. Apparently, there's a natural phenomena which occurs at certain times of the year called the ola verde (green wave) which is a kind of tidal wave. Actually, it's destroyed the village a few times, and killed numerous people, including Pepe's grandfather.
The water was surprisingly warm, and highly salty. The waves, the sand, and the sea were a tonic for my itching legs, and once we were back drying on the beach chairs, passing the alcoholic coconut back and forth, I felt great. We sat and watched the roiling ocean for awhile. There's something hypnotic about the expanse of the horizon, the endless crash of waves upon the shore. My mind wandered.
After a few hours (?) on the beach, I went in for a last dip, and standing with my back to the Pacific, began the Long Return. I retuned to the beach, and from there to the village, and from the village to the city of Colima, and from the city of Colima to Mexico City, and from Mexico City I shall return to the United States tuesday, closing the Mexican cycle.
We did stop for fresh coconut milk on the way back to Colima however. Pepe had them slice open two of the nuts to drink, and he threw another ten in the trunk of his car.
The bus ride back to Mexico City was uneventful other than the surprising ease of everything. Pepe took me to the bus station and fifteen minutes before departure, I bought a ticket to take me 10 hours away. Stop and think about that for a minute. It's kind of like being able to, on the spur of the moment, traveling from St. Louis to Washington DC. The bus had wifi too.
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