I was told by a local Mexican fisherman that on November 20th there would be a fiesta throughout Mexico.  Not sure why there would be a celebration, I conducted some research and learned this fiesta would be a celebration of the Mexican Revolution that occurred in  1910.   I was able to find the following summary of the history of that Revolution that I thought might be of interest.

The Mexican Revolution was brought on by, among other factors, tremendous disagreement among the Mexican people over the dictatorship of President Porfirio Diaz , who, all told, stayed in office for thirty one years. During that span, power was concentrated in the hands of a select few; the people had no power to express their opinions or select their public officials. Wealth was likewise concentrated in the hands of the few, and injustice was everywhere, in the cities and the countryside alike.

Early in the 20th Century, a new generation of young leaders arose who wanted to participate in the political life of their country, but they were denied the opportunity by the officials who were already entrenched in power and who were not about to give it up. This group of young leaders believed that they could assume their proper role in Mexican politics once President Diaz announced publicly that Mexico was ready for democracy. Although the Mexican Constitution called for public election and other institutions of democracy, Diaz and his supporters used their political and economic resources to stay in power indefinitely.

Francisco I. Madero was one of the strongest believers that President Diaz should renounce his power and not seek re-election. Together with other young reformers, Madero created the ”Anti-reeleccionista” Party, which he represented in subsequent presidential elections. Between elections, Madero travelled throughout the country, campaigning for his ideas.

Francisco I. Madero was a firm supporter of democracy and of making government subject to the strict limits of the law, and the success of Madero’s movement made him a threat in the eyes of President Diaz. Shortly before the elections of 1910, Madero was apprehended in Monterrey and imprisoned in San Luis Potosi. Learning of Diaz’s re-election, Madero fled to the United States in October of 1910. In exile, he issued the ”Plan of San Luis,” a manifesto which declared that the elections had been a fraud and that he would not recognize Porfirio Diaz as the legitimate President of the Republic.

Instead, Madero make the daring move of declaring himself President Pro-Temp until new elections could be held. Madero promised to return all land which had been confiscated from the peasants, and he called for universal voting rights and for a limit of one term for the president. Madero’s call for an uprising on November 20th, 1910, marked the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.

On November 14th, in Cuchillo Parado in the state of Chihuahua, Toribio Ortega and a small group of followers took up arms. On the 18th in Puebla, Diaz’s authorities uncovered preparations for an uprising in the home of the brothers Maximo and Aquiles Serdan, who where made to pay with their lives. Back in Chihuahua, Madero was able to persuade Pascual Orozco and Francisco Villa to join the revolution. Though they had no military experience, Orozco and Villa proved to be excellent strategists, and they earned the allegiance of the people of northern Mexico, who were particularly unhappy about the abusive ranchers and landlords who ran the North.

In March of 1911, Emiliano Zapata led the uprising of the peasants of Morelos to claim their rights over local land and water. At the same time, armed revolt began in many other parts of the country. The “Maderista” troops, and the national anger which inspired them, defeated the army of Diaz within six months. The decisive victory of the Mexican Revolution was the capture of Ciudad Juarez, just across the river from El Paso, by Orozco and Villa. Porfirio Diaz then resigned as President and fled to exile in France, where he died in 1915.

With the collapse of the Diaz regime, the Mexican Congress elected Francisco Leon De La Barra as President Pro-Temp and called for national popular elections, which resulted in the victory of Francisco I. Madero as President and Jose Maria Pino Suarez as Vice-President.

It will be interesting to see how the Mexicans in Lo de Marcos celebrate this important event in their history.  I will report my observations after the 20th.   Stay tuned.

The first indication that something unusual was happening in the bay was the number of pelicans close to shore. 

On any given day there are a few pelicans that congregate along the south shore of the bay.   Occasionally a school of fish will venture too close to shore and the resident pelicans put on an aerial display topped only by the Canadian Armed Forces Snowbirds.   These amazing birds use everything at there disposal to zero in on their unsuspecting prey.    Wind currents, direction of the sun, wave frequency are all factored instantly into the equation, as the pelican ascends, floats motionless on outstretched wings, then he dives straight downward hitting the water full force, and securing a fish in his large bill pouch.    He bobbs back to the surface almost instantly, and a wiggle of his tail feathers signals a successful mission.   The pelican then lifts it bill straight up in the air and with a couple of shakes swallows his supper whole.

Anyway, this afternoon while walking along the beach I noticed an unusual number of pelicans activitly feeding close to shore.  

Unusual number of pelicans near shore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This group was four or five times larger than the regular group of pelicans in the bay.   As I watched them they appeared to be engaged in a feeding frenzy.   The frequency of their sorties was muy rapido, they were closer to shore than I had seen them previously, diving into the frothy foam of breaking waves.   Unfolding in front of me was an unbelievable fish story.   Jumping out of the water, ahead of the incoming waves were hundreds of small, silvery fish.   

Small fish leaping ahead of incoming waves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As each wave rose to a crest, before breaking, it became almost transparent, and I was able to see what was causing the small fish to come to shore so rapidly.   They were being chased by larger fish.  The action was fast and fierce with the larger fish moving with lightning speed, among the schools of smaller fish.   As the smaller fish got caught up in the backwash of the waves that had already made it to shore they were being picked off by the pelicans.    As I stood engrossed in what I was witnessing, this same scenario was repeated over and over.    I surveyed the deserted beach and thought to myself, where were the Mexican fishermen with their throw nets.   What an ideal time for them to fill their nets. 

The following morning, at 6.00AM I hurriedly walked to the beach to see if the fish were still performing.  I was greeted by a carnival atmosphere.    Normally, at this hour the beach would be deserted, however today was different.   The beach was full of Mexican net fishermen, their families, friends, and dogs.   The supporters were yelling encouragement and directions to the fishermen who waded shoulder deep into the surf.   Sometimes buried under large waves, the fisherman courageously hurled their nets out to sea.    After waiting a couple of minutes for the weighted nets to settle on bottom they gathered them up in a hand over hand fashion and came to shore to check the contents.   Wide smiles broke on the faces of the fishermen as they spotted the struggling silver victims trapped in their nets.    Proudly, they would run up on shore so as not to lose any of their catch.   Excited chatter circulated among their supporters as they removed the fish placing them in plastic 5 gallon pails or sacks.   I thought to myself, who needs a fiesta when you have fishing like this.

Fisherman running to shore with his catch.

Fisherman and friend removing fish from net.

I asked the fisherman in this photo what the name of the fish was, and he replied “Lisa”.   He said they had a better taste than Sardinas.   I later learned through research that the fish is officially known as a Liseta Mullet, or Mugil setosus.  It is a very rare member of the Mugiladae Family.   Globally there are 75 species of the Mugiladae Family, 7 of these are found in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.  The Liseta Mullet is a rare species and thus not well known or studied. It is smaller than other mullets, reaching a maximum length of 12 inches. The Liseta Mullet is found in shallow coastal waters over rocky structures.

In Mexican waters it is found only around the extreme tip of Baja California, along the coast of the mainland south of Acapulco, and around the Revillagigedos Islands.   So, based on it’s normal habitat,  this sighting was somewhat unusual. 

Photo of Liseta Mullet

I asked a Mexican lady, who lives near the beach, if this was an unusual occurrence.   She told me that the arrival of the Liset Mullet announces the change to cooler water temperature, and better fishing conditions.

So this explained the carnival atmosphere, the excitement amongst the Mexican fisherman and onlookers.

For a community that depends in large part on the sea providing food ,and revenue. I now could understand what all the commotion was about.

The day Liseta Mullet came to Lo de Marcos.

The inhabitants of Lo de Marcos, especially the men, are proud of their horses.  From what I have been able to determine, it does not appear that these animals are of the working variety, but are more of a status symbol, and for show.   On occasion I have seen men riding horses, cowboy style, through town or along the beach.   They are usually alone when they engage in this activity, so there doesn’t seem to be any competition among horse owners.   There may be fiestas that feature different types of horsemanship, but if there are I am unaware of such events.

The lack of pasture in this jungle setting results in horses being tethered, by a rope around their neck fastened to a fixed object such as a tree or fence post.    It is not unusual to see a horse tied along side a road, where the grass in long and plentiful.   As the animals eat the existing foliage, they are moved along to another spot.   Periodically a horse will escape from its bindings and roam at will, feeding on shrubs, flowers and grasses.    It goes without saying that where there are horses there are also road apples, so one must be ever vigilant when walking about the town.

During my daily walks I have had the opportunity to take some photos of the horses of Lo de Marcos.   I believe these photos are representative to the equine population here.   Hope you enjoy.

Chestnut tethered to utility pole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not much grass to eat in this front yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grey stallion enjoyed posing for a photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This horse was tied outside entrance to our trailer park.

Buckskin foraging in enclosure.

Mare shows off her new foal.

This horse was wandering along calle Las Minitas.

Today I wandered some of the back streets of Lo de Marcos.   I was interested in learning how the permanent residents live.   In particular I wanted to see what their housing was like.   Once off the main streets the roads were sand based, uneven with mounds and dips, with the dips holding standing water from the last rainstorm.    

One of the back streets of Lo de Marcos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As is typical of many Mexican homes, they usually have a exterior wall or fence around the house, and sign indicating who the property belongs to.   Generally, the houses are constructed of poured cement  and brick. Very little wood is used structurally, although wood is sometimes used for the front door.  Wrought iron is used extensively for gates, sometimes doors, and frequently for exterior of windows.    The houses ranged from elaborate haciendas to smaller casas.

One of the larger haciendas.

A smaller casa near the Plaza del Toros

Some houses are decorated with flowering shrubs, while others have detailed entrance gates.

Interesting entrance gate.

Some the nicer homes even have inground swimming pools.

Inground pool in front yard.

While other less fortunate are lucky to have a galvanized roof over their heads.

We have enjoyed another great day in this tropical paradise.   Warm temperatures tempered by off shore trade winds.  

Since arriving in Lo de Marcos the 27th of October, I have taken many photographs of the beach, from various locations, and at different times of the day.   I thought it might be interesting to post some of the photos in order to give you a better idea of why this beach is considered one of the nicest in the Nayarit Riviera.   I will let the photographs speak for themselves.

Early morning looking north.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking south from half way along beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lagoon at north end of the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oyster divers walking south into town.

Even the cattle have a palapa on the beach.

North end of beach. Shrimp boat in the spray.

The Pacific pounds the north end of the beach.

Lonely fisherman at sunset.

Hope you enjoyed the photos.  We are off to a Taco restaurant tonight with friends from BC.  Sure to be a great time here in Lo de Marcos.

There are still only two long-term campers in the park, ourselves and a couple from Victoria, BC.   A visual check of other parks nearby reveals the same scenario.   I would imagine that by the 1st of December we should start to see more northerners arriving.    El Caracol has been busy with many short-term visitors, mainly Mexicans from other parts of the country, renting bungalows.   

The campground sells bottled water in 5 gallon jugs, for 25 pesos.   They even deliver the bottle to your trailer.  We have availed ourselves of this service as it saves us getting bottled water in the village and lugging it home.    They gave us an interesting rack to hold the jug.    It really works well when you want to pour into a smaller container.   A metal noose fits over the neck of the jug so that it won’t fall out of the rack when you pivot the jug to pour.   See photo below.

Water jug rack makes pouring a cinch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Besides the beautiful tropical plants and flowers in the campground we have many species of birds, butterflies, and dragonflies.   We also have three friendly iguanas we call the “three amigos”.   There are two adults that are black and brown blotches of colour and a juvenile that is a vivid colour of green.

One of the adult Iguanas.

Juvenile iguana likes to hide amongst the flower pots.

We also have some neighbourly land crabs living under some of the plants next to our patio.  They only come out at night which has caused Nicole to start sitting on the trailer steps so that her feet are off the ground.    She has nicknamed one of the crabs, “Alberto.”   Last night, after dark, she was sitting in a lounge chair and a flower fell off one of the plants.   Thinking it was a marauding crab on the move she let out a shriek and bolted for the trailer.   I have never seen anyone move so fast.   I guess eventually she will get use to them.

Spent most of the morning trying to setup our satelite dish.   Locked onto the suggested coordinates I am getting a strong audio signal on my satelite finder, but for some reason the HD box isn’t receiving a signal.

After three hours of frustration I decided to try again another day.  

This afternoon I put a transparent varnish on some of my seashell collection.   Sure makes them shine in the sunlight.   I made a mobile wind spinner out of some of the larger shells.   Unfortunately, I have not taken a photo of it, but I will, and add the photo to a future post.

That’s it from here.   Another great day in Lo de Marcos.

In need of a few supplies, and hearing that Puerto Vallarta (PVR) had a Walmart, Costco, and Sam’s Club, I left Lo de Marcos at 6.00AM.   It is roughly a one hour drive, plus you lose one hour because Lo de Marcos is in the Mountain Time Zone, while PVR is in the Central Time Zone.   This would put me in town by 8.00AM or shortly thereafter.  

The trip into PVR is along highway 200, a twisting, turning, two lane road that is the principle route connecting  PVR to destinations both north and south.    Traffic was heavy, and loaded transport trucks struggled to make it up some of the inclines.   At some points top speed was 20 km.  Along the way one passes through a number of small towns including San Ignacio, San Francisco, San Pancho but to name a few.   This is truly a road cut through the jungle.   In many places the trees overhang the road and it is like driving in a tunnel.

As I neared Buscerias, the highway became divided, with two lanes in each direction.   The last time that I visited PVR was in the late 1980’s, and at that time Buscerias was a sleepy, little fishing village.  Not any more.   I couldn’t believe how much development had taken place.   Both sides of the highway were lined with small businesses, where before there may have been a couple of corner stores.    Beautiful, new hotels like the Brisas Vallarta, dotted the landscape.  Other new hotels were in various stages of construction.   The Flamingo Golf Course, once a forlorn par three in the middle of nowhere, now could match many PGA courses.    At the south end of town stood a new “MegaMex” store, apparent competition for Walmart.

During previous visits to PVR I had rented cars, driven around the area, and felt I had a pretty good idea where everything was.    With all the development that has taken place, nothing looked the same.   New housing developments,  new car dealerships, upscale shops, I was like a fish out of water.   It wasn’t until I neared the marina area that I recognized a few landmarks, such as the King Neptune statue that stands near the entrance.   Three large passenger ships were moored in the marina.   I managed a couple of photos out of ther truck window while stopped for a traffic light.

The Oosterdam from Rotterdam, sitting in harbour.

Norwiegan Cruise Lines vessel in harbour.

Luckily, the Walmart is located opposite the marina.    Getting there was another thing.    In many places in PVR when you want to make a left turn you must exit from the two centre lanes, to the right and onto a secondary road that runs parallel.   At the next traffic light you remain in the right and wait for a green left turn arrow.   When the arrow illuminates you make your left turn across and it front of traffic waiting in the centre lanes to go straight through.   Now this doesn’t sound all that difficult, but when you combine this unusual left turn procedure with heavy traffic and a lack of street and business signs it can be a challenge. The trick is to know when to get over to the right hand lanes.    Having missed my turn for Walmart I continued along a couple of blocks until I could make a U-turn quicker than Speedy Gonzales.   Content that no flashing lights or sirens followed me into the Walmart parking lot, I quickly exited the truck and tried to blend into the crowd of Mexicans heading into the store.

Shopping completed I wanted to look up an old friend, Juan Jose Estrada, that I hadn’t seen for many years.

I drove a short way to the Fiesta Americana hotel where he had worked as a waiter.    Upon arrival I noticed that the hotel had been enlarged and totally renovated since I was last there.   Even the swimming pool was twice the size.  I went directly to the palapa restaurant near the beach and spoke with another waiter I knew, Daniel Esperanza.   Even though it had been nearly twenty years since I was there Daniel recognized me immediately.   I learned that Juan no longer worked there, he now worked at the Grande Vellas Vallarta in Nuevo Vallarta.  Daniel told me Juan lived in the same house in Pitillal and gave me his telephone number.

Efforts to reach Juan by telephone failed as there was no answer.    Testing my memory I drove to Pitillal, made a wrong turn, and ended up on Veracruz Street.   A friendly mailman wasn’t familiar with the Estrada name, but checked all the mail he had on his motorcycle.   He even when to a payphone on the corner and dialed the phone number I gave him but still no answer.   I began driving in the area, because I recognized some places, although many changes had taken place.   One block over on Equinox Corona I hit paydirt.  I stopped at a small hardware store and asked the owner if he knew Juan.    He yelled inside to his wife and she immediately recognized the name, came out and pointed several houses down on the opposite side of the street.   The husband, watched as I parked the truck, and waved his arm when I got in front of the correct house. 

The small casa that Juan and his friends built had changed from what I remembered.   It appeared that he was in the process of adding a wall and exterior door that would give him a small courtyard at the front of the house.   The number 504 appeared twice near the exterior door. Once in brass numbers and then painted on the cement with white paint.   

The Estrada house in Pitillal

Unfortunately, no one was home. So I scribbled a quick note, and slid it under the front door.  Hopefully Juan will get in touch with me so that we can renew old acquaintances.

On the way back to Lo de Marcos I checked out the MegaMex store and found it similar to Walmart.   It sold almost everything but items for sale were geared more to Mexican tastes.  

All in all I spent another great day in paradise.

I had mentioned in an early post that when we got to Lo de Marcos I would post the cost incurred in using the toll road from Nogales.   This may be of interest to others wondering what the current tolls are.  We found the tolls mentioned in road logs and books, published two or three years ago were out-of-date and that in many cases the tolls have risen. These figures are based on a one-way trip, and listed in pesos.  We have a Ford F350 (not a dually) towing a Bighorn (3055RL) 5th wheel with two axels.    Costs vary depending on the type of vehicle you are driving.   Obviously the costs for smaller vehicles are cheaper.  

1. 15/10/2008   0655hrs   Cobro-Nogales     $75.00
2. 15/10/2008   0932hrs   Cobro-Magdelena   37.00
3. 15/10/2008   1134hrs   Cobro-Hermosilla 119.00
4. 19/10/2008   0657hrs   Cobro-Guaymas      49.00
5. 19/10/2008   0839hrs   Cobro-Esperanza     93.00
6. 19/10/2008   1005hrs   Cobro-Fundicion   116.00
7. 23/10/2008   0956hrs   Cobro-San Miguel  100.00
8. 23/10/2008   1133hrs   Cobro-Fsalazak       36.00
9. 23/10/2008   1142hrs   Cobro-Brisas           78.00
10. 23/10/2008   1325hrs   Cobro-Culican         78.00
11. 23/10/2008   1431hrs   Cobro-Costa Rica   226.00
12. 27/10/2008   0729hrs   Cobro-Marmol        198.00
13. 27/10/2008   0906hrs   Cobro-El Rosario    138.00
14. 27/10/2008   1017hrs   Cobro-Acaponeta   320.00
15. 27/10/2008   1058hrs   Cobro-Ruiz             145.00
16. 27/10/2008   1144hrs   Cobro-Trapachillo    81.00

                                             Total Cost               1,889.00

In order to have an accurate conversion to US dollars, one would have to use the proper currency conversion rates from pesos to US dollars for each of the dates above.   However, to get a ballpark figure, I used the current rate of $1 US = 12.79 pesos.    So the rounded toll costs in US dollars for the one way trip amounted to $148.00

This proved to be an interesting exercise in that it confirmed what we had heard.   From Mazatlan to Tepic is the most expensive part of the highway #15 toll road.   Assuming we pay the same tolls on the way north next spring, we can expect to pay roughly $300.00 US round trip.

Sure hope this information will be of assistance to anyone travelling on Mexico’s highway 15 with a rig similar to ours.

 

Sunday is a day of rest here in Lo de Marcos.   It is a time when Mexican families get together, either gathering a someone’s casa for food, drinks and some music, or they head down to the beach for a picnic.  I walked into the village and was surprised how quiet it was.    Many of the shops were closed, except for small corner stores. and the pharmacy.    There were vendors selling flower arrangements along the sidewalk. and a table of old men were playing dominoes in the park in the centre of town.   They play this game with enthusiasm, and smack the table top when they lay their dominoes down. 

I managed to snap a few photos along the main street, Luis Echeverria.   This would be almost impossible when the place is busy, because of the vehicular traffic.   It may not show in the photos but all the streets here are made of cobblestone, and in places are rough.   Sand and dust on the streets makes it difficult to see the occasional topes.  Each morning the locals sweep the sidewalk in front of their houses, then water down the street to try and keep the dust down.  

Looking east down main street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking west along main street.

View of a side street. Note clothes drying on the roof.

Speaking of clean clothes, there is a laundromat (limperia de ropas) along the main street.   It is equipped with a good number of washers and dryers.   When you arrive at the front of the laundromat a lady behind a counter places what you want to wash on a weigh scale and the charge for doing your laundry is 14 pesos per kilo.   The machines are not the coin operated variety.

This vendor only sells inflatables for swimming, from his house.

Another variation of clothes drying. Blue jean shorts on wall.

When I returned from my walk, Nicole, Sunny and I spent a relaxing afternoon on the beach.    The surf was rolling in pretty good so I tried a little boogie boarding.    With the right wave and a little luck you could ride the crest of the wave about 20 metres, right up onto the beach.    The only problem, sand in the shorts.  It was with true grit (pun intended) , and determination that I kept going back for more.   By the time I finished the pockets on my shorts were half full of sand.   Changing without spilling the payload in the trailer was a challenge.  

That’s it from here.   Another wonderful day of fun in the sun.

We are having a terrific time in the tropics.   With many different species of birds, butterflies, flowers, and warm temperatures moderated by ocean breezes, who could ask for more.

After my morning walk with Sunny I decided to check out the northern end of the beach.  I had not had an opportunity to explore this area, which is roughly two kilometres from where we are camped.

View looking north from in front of our campground.

Covered in 30 spf sun tan lotion, and wearing my broad brimmed straw stetson, off I went.    The sand on the beach is not hard-packed, so walking is a bit of a chore.    Especially when it almost 90 degrees at 9.00AM.   The incoming waves break at the water’s edge, then roll on up the beach at different intervals, so one has to be quick afoot to dodge the surf.   As I wheezed along, I witnessed a Mexican fisherman battling the waves, and trying to throw his weighted, circular net out to sea in order to catch unsuspecting fish.  More than once he was knocked over by the large waves.

Fisherman casting his net out to sea.

A little further on the Lo de Marcos river, flows down to the beach and fresh water collides with salt water in a shallow stream that cuts through the sand.

Lo de Marcos river flowing to the sea.

In order to continue my trek I had to ford the river in water about knee deep.    After successfully crossing the stream I came upon some free ranging cattle.   They had been walking along this isolated part of the beach, then climbed a two metre high sand embankment to feed on greenery there.  

One of the cows feeding on wild flowers.

As I continued northward I passed five oyster divers heavily laden with their equipment and sacks of oysters.

As I got closer to the rocky point at the north end of the beach I noticed a senora, with three young boys, and a man in the water struggling with an inflated inner tube, trying to get to shore.    He was obviously an oyster diver by the diving mask and swim fins he wore.   He had a hard time dragging the inner tube behind him through the crashing surf.   As he got close to shore I was able to give him a hand with the inner tube.

In the centre of the tube was a net firmly attached that was full of oysters.   As we struggled to get his catch to dry sand I was amazed at how heavy the oysters were.    The diver, was quick to thank me for assisting him and introduced me to his family.   This divers name was Jesus Estrada, who lives in El Monteon, small village between Lo de Marcos and La Penita.   He told me he had been in the water for three hours in order to fill the net in the inner tube.   

I know absolutely nothing about oysters, so had many questions for Jesus.   He told me in spanish that the oysters attached themselves to rocks on the ocean floor and by using a small crow bar he is able to pry them off the rock, and then place them in his net.   Once ashore he emptied the net, spilling the oysters onto the sand.   He then went in search of a large stone that he strategically placed near the oysters.   With a dull type of machete he pounded on the hard oyster shells, splitting them in two.   Once he completed this task he sorted the oyster shells into two piles.   The best ones were placed in a large flour sack.   He told me that he would sell these to a seafood restaurant in Bucerias. 

The other pile he tackled with a sharp knife, first forcing the shell open, then cutting the oyster meat where it attached to the shell.    The oyster meat  was placed in a bucket of ocean water and rinsed well to separate the meat from any remaining pieces of shell.    As Jesus opened the shells he offered me a fresh oyster.    He told me that they would normally eat them raw with lime juice and a hot salsa.   Now I am not the greatest seafood lover and this was a first for me.    I tried to swallow the oyster whole as I have seen done on television, but the gag reflexes kicked in, and I ended up chewing the rubbery, gritty, salty tasting morcel.

By the time his youngest son brought me the fourth oyster to down I graciously refused stating I didn’t want to eat all his profits.   

Jesus sorting the pile of oysters.

I watched him  worked for almost an hour shucking the oysters, and in end he only kept a small, plastic bag of oysters filled with salt water, for his family.    I am not sure how old Jesus was but would guess in his mid-thirties.   He was probably about 5’10” tall and would weight no more that 150 lbs.   He wrapped himself in a back-support belt, and I helped him hoist the sack of oysters onto his shoulders.   I am guessing but would think the sack weighed close to 50 kilos.   I watched in amazement as he carried the sack across his shoulders for roughly one and a half kilometres, while sinking deeply in the loose sand.  The children and his wife tagged along helping carry his equipment. 

Jesus lugging heavy sack of oysters along the beach.

  

 He later told me that he did this same routine every day, and it was a way to support his family.  I thanked him for his hospitality and he said that if I ever got to El Monteon to come and visit him and his family.

The last I saw of the Estrada family they had loaded the oysters, and kids into their old half ton truck and were headed to Buscerias.   

Later on this afternoon, Nicole thought she might try swimming in the ocean.   Equipped with a noodle she made it to the water’s edge, but decided the waves were to big for her.

Nicole not quite ready to take the plunge.

We will see what advertures tomorrow has in store.