Every beach is different

Monday, February 9


As I go for my daily walk at 7 am, I find it not only a bit cooler, but also a lot busier on the street. Well, it’s Monday and people have to go back to work. Not us, we’ll be enjoying another day at the beach.
Mom and Ramiro are suffering from caffeine withdrawal, so I suggest we go to Starbucks. Having just a coffee is not good enough, it needs to be accompanied by cheesecake.
We attempt to find a cache across the street on a little path that leads to the beach, but with sandals and short no one is comfortable entering the bush. There’s all kinds of stuff crawling around there and getting bit by a scorpion or snake is not exactly what we have in mind.
We walk back to the car, watching all the activities on the street. There are people everywhere. Loudspeakers announce the zoo, which is in town, others announce BBQd chicken for lunch. It’s a madhouse. These Mexicans are so loud.

We drive north through an area of banana and coconut plantations. Along the road we see several fruit stand and stop for bananas and oranges.
Our first stop is Barra de Navidad. What a lively place. Lots of souvenir stands, plenty of places to eat and many interesting streets. I like this place and which we would have been able to spend more time here.
We drive for another hour os so to La Manzanilla. Not quite as large and less touristy. Except on the beach itself. There are mostly North American tourists filling the many restaurants along the beach. We eat at Jolanda’s owned by a Dutch couple. On Wednesday’s they offer Indonesian Ricetafel. OK it’s not Wednesday, but our choice is nevertheless just as tasty. Ramiro orders Lekkerbekje with French Fries. Mom order whitefish and mossels and shrimp in a tomato leek sauce and I have a curry shrimp dish.
We change into our bathing suits and spend a little bit of time at the beach before we turn back south again.
On the way back we stop in Melaque. A totally different scene. Not quite a lively as Barra de Navidad, but the beach view with its many boats is rather nice.
There are no two places the same in Mexico, the towns may seem the same but the beaches are definitely different.

We’re back before dark and are ready for happy hour. It’s so nice to be able to sit outside until after dark.