THE CHILDREN

The Children in Mexico are beautiful. This was in celebration of Our Lady of Guadelupe Day.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CHURCHES

From pueblo to the largest cities, you will always find a church in the middle of the square. The most majestic one in Oaxaca is the Santo Domingo de Guzman with it's Baroque architectural style.

What nativity scene would be complete without the baseball players!! The rabbit is an "alebrije" Mexican folk art made from brightly painted, hand carved wood. Another B&B we stayed at named "el Diablo y la Sandia" (the Devil & the Watermelon") & of course, the Pinata.

"EL ARBOR DEL TULE'

One of the oldest (2000 years old), largest , widest (more than 119 ft. around) trees  in the world found in Tule, outside of Oaxaca, Mexico. It is a Montezuma Cypress tree.

CASA ADOBE

The B & B that we stayed at in Oaxaca. It was a beautiful, tranquil setting with lots of artifacts from the area. 

TEOTITLAN, OAXACA

 We took a "collectivo" (taxi) to this family's home where they have been weaving rugs for 5 generations. Rosalito spent 2 hours showing us how they prepare the dyes for the wool. The cochineal is the bug that grows on the cactus & is used to make the various shades of red. The indigo plant makes all shades of blue - a very expensive & time consuming process & then there were the yellows & the greens, etc. all made "au natural". Absoulutely fascinating.

Ernesto is an award winning weaver. He was making a spectacular rug which he figured would take him at least 4 months. It was incredibly intricate.

This is the rug we bought for the boat. The pattern signifies the mountains and the rain.

LOS "PERSONAS" DEL OAXACA

STREET SCENES IN OAXACA

SAN JOSE DEL PACIFICO

Stayed in this little mountain village to break up the 7 hour twisty-turny trip from Oaxaca to Huatulco. There were about a dozen "cabanas" here & one of the best Italian "Taberna" we have eaten at! The vistas were stunning & it was quite a bit cooler (5,000ft. elevation). They would come in & light the fireplace for you at night.

ALEBRIJES

                                Hand carved, brightly painted animals from Oaxaca

BAHIA CHACHACUAL

Beautiful bay about a 2 hour sail from Marina Chahue. We had it all to ourselves. The first night was pretty rocky-rolly because of the ever present Pacific swell, but moved to the other side the next night & it was beautiful. Decent snorkeling too.

LITTLE TOWN OF CRUCECITA, MEXICO

The main town in Huatulco is known as Crucecita. Charming little fishing village.

QUINCEANERA CELEBRATION

This is a celebration of a young girl's 15th birthday which marks her passage into womanhood. The little 2 year old on the left is just practising for her big day 13 years from now!!

A COUPLE OF HITCH-HIKERS

These are a couple of the critters we found in the anchor locker upon our return. One was an alligator lizard about a foot long & then there were at least a dozen newly hatched frogs.....one of which landed on my face at 2 in the morning scaring the crap out of me!!

CHIAPAS MARINA, PUERTO MADERO, MEXICO

This is where we stored our boat for the hurricane season. Returned Nov. 2016 for our 11th season of sailing. Will head up the Mexican coastline approx. 1000 miles to Bay of Banderas.

SO MANY VARIETIES OF PALMS AT CHIAPAS MARINA, MEXICO

ROAD TRIP TO THE MOUNTAINS OF EL SALVADOR

The heat was just too oppresive by the water so we decided to take a road trip into the mountain area. What a great idea that was!! We bused it along the "Ruta de las Flores" and stopped in a couple of the colonial towns. Stayed the first night in Juayua & had a fabulous dinner at the "R &R" restaurant.

PAINTED BUILDINGS IN ATACO & JUAUA, EL SALVADOR

The towns along the Ruta de las Flores are known for their beautifully painted murals covering many of the buildings, especially in Concepcion de Ataco.

VIEWS FROM RUTA DE LAS FLORES

HOTEL SANTO DOMINGO, ATACO

THE LOCALS GOING ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS

The town of Ataco took pride in maintaining their buildings. We saw several painters putting a coat of paint on buildings along the main street. We found the sales people on the buses to be pretty amusing. They jump on board, give their spiel & hop off at the next stop. They sold everything from water, candy, fruit,  to this women selling jewellry hanging from a coat hanger.

FUN SIGHTS ALONG THE STREETS

EXCELLENT FOOD/DRINK - ATACO, EL SALVADOR

We had some absolutely great meals on our road trip to Ruta de las Flores. Fancy coffees, micro brewed beer - it all was such a pleasant suprise. El Salvador - who would've thought! !

CHURCHES ALONG THE RUTA DE LAS FLORES

SUNDAY BBQ AT LYNN & LOU'S

Expats, Lynn & Lou open their beautiful home in Costa del Sol to all the cruisers in the area every Sunday. Bring your own meat & something to share & the afternoon is yours to spend in the pool.

PUPUSA NIGHT ON ISLA CORDONCILLO

Eight cruisers took advantage of this once weekly pupusa night on this tiny island located in Bahai del Sol. Jeff is not your typical pirate with a parrot - he had a rooster just come up & land on him as we were waiting for our food!!

PLAYA PUNTILLA, COSTA DEL SOL, LA PAZ

                            Waves are up making it impossible to leave Bahia del Sol.

SAN SALVADOR

                Sorry, not much to this city, as a matter of fact, it's pretty much a dump!

FACES OF EL SALVADOR

COWS, MACAWS, MONKEYS, PENGUINS.....???

PUPUSAS - THE LOCAL FOOD

  Playing in the waves & then heading out for pupusas at the local comedor, with Matt & Joelle.

BEACH SUNSET

Thanks Matt & Joelle for coming to visit us - it's always so much fun!!

DAY TRIP TO TASAJERA ISLAND, EL SALVADOR

Visited a local island near Bahia del Sol. Stopped for lunch at one of the several restaurants on stilts. Had the local fish & camerones (shrimp), which were excellent. Some brave souls even ventured into the water - go Pete!!

"THE PEOPLES" BEACH

Semana Santa week is a busy week in Central America & El Salvador is no exception. The beaches were full as were the restaurants. Love the military presence!

BAHIA DEL SOL BAR CROSSING

                            Ernesto guiding us over the sand bar in El Salvador

                     A happy crew after a successful crossing - rum punches all around!!

THE CREW ON APPLESEEDS

SAFELY AT BAHIA DEL SOL MARINA

SAILING TO BAHIA DEL SOL, EL SALVADOR

Had a beautiful spinnaker sail from Barillas to Bahia del Sol, about 30 miles.

TOUR OF THE SPIDER MONKEYS

Went on a tour of the plantation in search of spider monkeys with Mariseo. He had no problem finding Pancho & Maria who were more than happy to scarf down our bananas.

MANGROVE TOURING

Went for a tour of the mangroves looking for crocks. Didn't see any that day, but one went by the boat the next morning. Ended the strenuous day with rum smoothies in the hand cranked blender.