Well we are back from Mexico, got back to Vancouver late Friday night (very late, 23:45, late), so we stayed at a hotel near the airport and had Dar’s Dad pick us up Saturday morning. We got back to Surrey, and the trailer, by mid afternoon, Saturday.
We totally enjoyed ourselves in Rincon de Guayabitos; the Resort (Decameron Los Cocos) http://www.decameron.com/eng/mexico/cocos/overview.html it was what we expected. The room was a (Best Western standard) type hotel and the meals were basic, but very fresh and tasty. The restaurant’s served plenty of authentic type Mexican dishes and deserts. There was also sufficient amount of American dishes, for those who didn’t want Mexican. The resort is very good value, for the dollar. If one is looking for a place that is laid back, friendly, safe and away from the fast pace of the big Mexican (tourist) cities and Americanized, then this the place to be. The town of Guayabitos is quite little town of under 5000 people and is very laid back. It is a resort town, serving the tourists, mainly Canadian, American and also plenty of Mexican tourists. There are also a number of RV trailer parks and Bungalows (motel type rooms, with full cooking facilities), in and around the area. The beaches in the area are great and not so busy, that one can’t enjoy themselves.
While there, we took in a few tours, one to Puerto Vallarta (PV) for the day. This tour also included a stop at the Leyva Tequila Distillery. The distillery was a family run operation and operated in the old traditional way, by cooking the “Blue Agave” cactus root in the ground for seventy two hours, including cooling time, and root is then broken down and allowed to ferment. It is then put in the “still” and heated and allowed to condensate. I bought a bottle of the “vintage” Tequila. http://www.puertovallarta.net/miniweb/agave_leyva/index.php We then went on into PV for shopping and site seeing. Dar wanted to go to “Old Town”, where she stayed 22 years ago. Dar found the apartment where her and her girl friends had stayed and also we found the Bar (Andales) http://www.andales.com/ where they all partied at. We had a drink and some lunch there, just for old time memories. We then caught a real old time Mexican city bus, back into the main part of PV and did some site seeing.
The next tour we took was the “Sunset Cruise” tour.
This cruise was in a smaller type fishing boat, with an outboard motor on it. The operators, Jorge and Jose were two great guys, and they loved having fun.
Also the other 6 passengers, all from Saskatchewan, were great people to be on a three hour tour with. We got to see the sun setting down into the ocean and we also got to see a pod of Grey whales. The area around that part of the Pacific Ocean is where the whale’s winter and “birth” there young.The final tour we took was the “Huichol Indian” tour. This tour allowed us to discover the secret world of the indigenous people of Mexico. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huichol This tour is a once in a lifetime chance to see ancient cultures still alive, hidden away in the mountain valleys.
These people have there own language and have been given special rights and are protected by the Mexican Constitution. They are the only citizens of Mexico who are allowed to have “peyote” http://www.erowid.org/plants/peyote/ the hallucinogenic drug from a small spineless cactus plant. 
While we in Mexico, we wanted to find some RV Parks to get an idea about costs, setup, power etc. We also wanted to talk to some of travelers, so we get some kind of idea about the highway system, driving conditions and camping life in Mexico. One day we rented a taxi for the day and went up coast, we had been told there were more RV Parks north of Guayabitos, not much luck in finding more parks, but did have a nice day seeing the country side and some nice beaches in Chacala and in Platanitos
. We also saw plenty of Mango, Hicima and Agave Groves. We also got to see Coffee and Sugar Cane Plantations. There were also plenty of little farms that were growing all kind of vegetables, as well as Dairy Farms. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and really enjoyed ourselves. Hope you had the opportunity to see the entire set of pictures, that Dar posted earlier, if not, go to the post titled “Pictures” and click on that word. We also went to “Market Day” in La Penita (Penita de Jaltempa), on the first Thursday we were there.
To get to La Penita, you take the “Collectivo”, a taxi (van) that everyone just piles into for 6 pesos (.60) each. A “Collectivo” is like a small city bus that runs a route from La Penita to Los Ayalas, just south of Guayabitos. Anyway, the Market is a fun place to be if you want see anything under the sun, from nuts to bolts to pots and pans. This is where all the Mexicans come to sell their produce and their crafts. I picked up a very good map on Mexico (Guia Roji, guide to Mexico) and a handpainted wooden fruit bowl. Dar got a beautiful hammock, which I am sure I will use often. We also picked up some gifts for the grandkids there.
I also got to go with our new found friend Miguel and his girlfriend Dalia
to Tepic one day.We went in Dalia’s brother-in-laws Van as he had to get some work done on the Van. It was very nice of Miguel to invite me to go with them. They took me to the “Market” that is truly Mexican. When they say they use every part of a slaughtered animal, they are not kidding. There is a shop for slaughtering each of the animals and the product is sold in that shop. Very interesting!!! Again, all the produce that is grown on the farms around the area is also sold at the Market. It sounded like every person was talking at once, on their loud horns, advertizing their product. The whole opportunity was very worthwhile and I toughly enjoyed the day.
The rest of our time in Guayabitos and the Decameron Los Cocos was spent at the bar, eating or lying around the beach. We enjoyed every moment of our time there and we will surely take the opportunity to go there again.
