Bird Sanctuary Trip

On Sunday, Juan, a filmmaker and our neighbor, took us to a wonderful sanctuary near the ocean that he filmed for a Mexican coast series. We drove north to Las Varas, then took a highway toward the Ocean through the town of Zacualpan (it is on lower edge of map, and we were on the beach near word Barraixtapa, north of Playa Chila). Shortly after driving through the town, we took a left and drove for 15-20 minutes on a gravel road through mostly land with some crops (sugar cane) and some cattle grazing. We finally came to a grove of palm trees and the estero. This wildlife area is being preserved and protected, hopefully from developers. There is small restaurant that will cook Talapia fish, rice, tortillas, coconuts freshly cut (drink the juice and eat the soft white flesh sprinkled with lime juice), chips with great salsa, and cervezas. In the photo the boys are throwing the net to catch some fish.

When we arrived, we were served large fresh coconuts with a straw to drink the juice. He cut open the coconut for us to eat the soft white fleshy coconut meat sprinkled with fresh lime juice, which was delicious. Learning about coconuts is fascinating, to see how people depend on them around the world. The water inside has been used for emergency IV due to its PH, mineral and sugar content.

Then five of us fit into a rowboat, and we rowed across the estero to land, and walked a very short distance and we were on an ocean beach. As we approached in the boat, we could hear the loud crashing of the waves. Juan and Deborah went swimming, but not me, nor Roberto. Victor tried it later, but the open ocean and action of the water and waves was a little too tricky. The beach was gorgeous, with no one is sight, just beautiful beach stretching for ever it seemed. A man came by on a horse with some grasses draped over the horse behind him. I did some shell picking and just enjoyed the beauty I was immersed in.

Back to the boat and the restaurant, while observing a variety of birds in the estero: cormorants, garzas(cranes), rose spoon bills, and more. We showered and got ready for our meal. Juan brought a nice big green salad to accompany our fish, Victor and Deborah had made the apple/raspberry crumble dessert. The spot was lovely, on the edge of the water with the cool breezes while we ate our scrumptious meal.

The Ecotourism project here is newly developed. We will return again, for a longer tour of the estero and a walk to look at birdlife. On the property is a small pool and playground for children. It was very pleasant to just sit at our table on the edge of the water eating and drinking, and be able to view different birds.