Sayulita Scenes - Semana Santa 2020

Today should be one of the busiest days of the year for the beach here in Sayulita.  A much different scene on Easter Sunday this year.  Memorable photo by Dorsett Photography.

Corona Virus - Sayulita April 8, 2020

Things here are getting a little more intense in the effort to limit the spread of the Corona Virus.  Many of the coastal communities have taken to shutting down non-essential traffic entering their towns and Sayulita is done the same.  Check points are now set up at the front end and back end of town.  These check points turned away hundreds of vehicles during just the first day of the two week Semana Santa holiday.  The news about the situation was clear in advance.  Do not come here or anywhere along the coast thinking this will be your refuge. Stay home.  People still just figured they would show up anyway and are sent packing.  The videos of traffic leaving places like Guadalajara were surprising and concerning.  Where were all these people going when everything is shut down?

Check point entering Nayarit from Jalisco

Check points have been set up at the border of Nayarit/Jalisco as well and any tourist traffic traveling north along the coast to destinations like Guadalajara has been routed east through Mascota avoiding Nayarit.  Similar procedures have been set up for those traveling from the north towards PuertoVallarta and are being turned away.  Much of this traffic is from Guadalajara.  Puerto Vallarta's famous Malecon is even shut down, patrolled and barricaded.  No, do not come here.

Sayulita residents received car windshield stickers identifying the car as a "local" and cars entering town with the sticker do not have to wait long in any check point lines entering town.  This has become a challenge for anyone who works in town but lives in other communities as they have to prove why they need to enter town.  Many houses are left empty as the tourist traffic is gone and many owners are from other places. The check points are a round the clock operation and we are thankful for the volunteers organizing this and have donated to the efforts to secure the town.

Our "official" car sticker designating us a residents of Sayulita

Liquor stores are officially shut down until the end of the month.  This includes beer and liquor sales in grocery stores too.  The most popular surf breaks and beach access points are now being patrolled along the coast.  Only a few surfers are using the break in Sayulita.  They get chased off occasionally but seem to reappear once the beach patrols leave the area.  Sad to see the they think they are the exception to the effort and take advantage of an empty line up.  Most everyone has stayed away which is still encouraging considering this is a surf town and being in or on the water is part of the lifestyle for so many.

The BIG news came in yesterday.  There will be a mandatory total town lockdown for 5 days.  This means that there will be no one in and no one out.  All the streets will be washed during this time.  This will be during what normally would be the busiest weekend of the year for beach goers.  Ashley went off to be sure we had a few things in the house for the town being isolated into next week.  No big grocery store runs.  Our shelves are in good shape and we have not gone anywhere for pretty much three weeks anyway.  A mandatory town shut down will not effect us all that much.

State police keeping an eye on things at the highway 200 turn off to Sayulita.

Alex and Trace are officially on school vacation so there are no assignments to keep up with.  Alex' Chemistry class continues though.  This unfortunate situation has given her some time to catch up with her online class curriculum.  Hopefully she will complete a big chunk of the class with few other distractions but I am not betting on it.  Ashley is awaiting her confirmation from Delta Airline about taking a month's leave.  If approved she won't have to go back to the US until June.  That information won't be announced for almost another week so we will wait on that for now.

Empty Sayulita Streets

If you are interested in reading more then click on this link for Sayulita Life's El Sayulero Newsletter dated April 8th.  It talks about all things Sayulita during this time and might provide some additional color and details to what I have mentioned above.  All fine from here for now.  Just long days with few outlets but that seems to be the case for just about everyone out there in the world.

Quiet Sayulita morning with coffee.

Corona Virus - Sayulita April 5, 2020

Another week has gone by and what day it is no longer matters.  It is just another day.  We are still sane but the edges are fraying just a bit.  The kids finished up school via online assignments this week and handed in all their work to their teachers.  They are officially on what normally be spring break but I am sure they wouldn't mind being in school right now.  We are very impressed by the way the kids, especially Trace, knocked out their school responsibilities during the last two weeks.  They had a few Zoom meetings with their teachers and classmates and it is clear when you see their faces during these sessions just how much they miss their friends and school.  Trace was actually bugging us to be allowed to go to online school next year but once he got a taste of being home alone doing work everyday he admitted that it was a bad idea and going to school every day was just fine with him.

Ashley is frequently checking on the airline world.  Delta is offering early retirement packages and leaves of absences to try and thin the ranks a bit as the number of airplanes in the air has been reduced by a huge number.  The flying schedule has been decimated and we are beginning to be nervous about the future with possible furloughs and pay cuts looming.  She is considering a one month leave added on to her time off this month.  That way she wouldn't be expected to be back flying until almost June.  A decision will be made shortly on that but her staying home in Mexico is the best decision for keeping her safe and out of airports for now.

Empty jungle runs are great early morning.

So what are we doing to stay sane?  Alex and Ashley have been doing online workouts and Alex has begun joining me for early morning jungle runs.  We will see if that lasts.  Trace is sleeping a ton and online gaming with his buddies constantly.  I think he actually had enough of his couch potato ways finally and went out for a run on his own yesterday afternoon.  We have plenty of house projects to do but we feel going out and shopping for supplies defeats the purpose of the quarantine. Plus, if this situation goes on for several months spending money on house improvements now might be a poor choice in the longer term.

Mexico has elevated it's response to the virus with a nationwide stay at home shut down until the end of the month.  As a result the kid's school return to school has also been delayed as well.  I really do not see the kids going back to school at all this year.  Sad since Alex' class will all scatter at the end of this year as she graduates "Secundaria" and the highest class level her school offers.  The traditional spring break holiday has been shut down in Sayulita to the relief of most everyone.  The thousands of beach goers and 100+ tour busses per day are non-existent.  Right now a local neighborhood watch type group has even set up a blockade at the entrance to town to prevent anyone entering the town unless they are a resident or have business to attend too.  No visitors or tourists!  The beaches are closed and the usual sea of spring break is no where in sight this year.  I have heard report and seen videos and photos of masses of traffic going somewhere out of cities like Puerto Vallarta or Guadalajara.  Where they are headed is anyone's guess with so many of the normal beach town destinations closed off.  Public food assistance for local residents has been set up too for those who are out of work as well and need help.   The lack of a real safety net for workers in Mexico is a real concern.  No one is traveling, vacationing, spending money or even moving around like they would normally. The result is a huge part of the population not receiving income right now.  We will see what happens in the weeks to come.

I have not heard of any kind of virus testing in Mexico so I am not exactly confident in what will happen when the numbers of infected begin to climb as they have in densely populated areas around the world.  As in the States people are trying to get out of urban places like Mexico City and Guadalajara and wait this out elsewhere.  People who offer nightly rentals here have not been open to anyone but people who have already been in the community for a few months but you can still see some new faces around once in a while.  Our rental, The PŌNO Suite, is currently shut down totally but we have received a few requests for long term rentals.

Main beach Sayulita in the last week.

Sayulita main beach Semana Santa 2018

We are anxiously keeping an eye on the summer calendar still but we know things change so fast lately that it is hard to even keep up with developments.  It really does not matter how much we stare at the calendar.  What happens will happen.  We are all home, our families are well and that is what matters.  I figure I might have to learn Spanish, do a few push ups or something during this time.  More updates as we get them.  Be well.