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.

On The Road During Semana Santa 2019 - Part 1

We were not exactly sure what Semana Santa held for us this year until the kid's SUP Team coaches put out the idea of going to the USA for a race in North Carolina.  Coach Bicho was going to be competing again so our question to Alex and Trace was, "Do you want to race"?  The answer came back an affirmative "Yes" so a few days into Mexico's Spring Break we headed off to the airport.

The hope was to take the kid's new boards, paddles and other gear to Atlanta and from there rent a car and head north 3.5-4 hours or so to Ashley's parent's house in South Carolina.  Their house was a great mid-way stopping point between Atlanta and the race location in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.  We had not seen the Templetons for a few years so the plan of an SUP race coupled with a grandparent visit was put in motion.

After successfully getting seats on a flight out of Puerto Vallarta, we ended up with a brand new upgraded rental in Atlanta and we were off just before dark!  Not far down the road I could see that the loaded boards were shifting on the rooftop.  There was a permanent rooftop antennae at the rear of the cab which prevented us from putting the boards down the middle of the car.  So after several freak outs, a few board loading ideas, lots of time wasted strapping and re-strapping the boards to the roof we settled on a side by side load that still caused me some frayed nerves.  Even at 60 mph it felt like the boards would fly off so we ended up going north very slowly and we eventually arrived at 1am in Columbia, South Carolina.

One of our goals while in Columbia was to get the kids on their race boards for a paddle.  The nearest place to do that was Lake Murray about a half hour from Ashley's parent's place.  We had contacted a SUP outfit called California Republic and met up with the owner, Steve, who was happy to go out for a paddle with the kids and safely show them around the lake.  The kids really have no experience paddling on a busy water way where there are boats zipping around.  The morning we met up with Steve was grey, cold, windy and drizzly so while the kids dealt with the conditions Ashley and I found some coffee and sat in the warm SUV.  The water was flat but the headwind on the return trip of the paddle was tough and Trace was less than impressed with the morning's 6 mile outing but the kids got some needed paddle time and that was the goal.  What we did realize is that we are woefully unprepared for cooler paddle temperatures and perhaps rain.  A quick trip to get the kids outfitted with some colder weather gear was needed as well.

Paddling with California Republic

We spent most of the week doing some shopping, shopping some more, running around, going to church functions(at Grammy's request), yard work and meeting up with some of Ashley's friends that still live in the area.  Needless to say we did not get sit still long enough to get bored and it felt like we were always getting ready to go do something.  The kids clean up pretty well in their new clothes as the photos below show.

Trace dressed up and ready for church.  Yes, he did wear shoes eventually.

Alex in her awesome new dress.

Trace's new "dry land" passion is basketball so we picked up a ball for him and found a local playground where he could shoot a bit.  One of the afternoons we were at the playground court when the boys from the after school program came out to play and before Trace knew it he was a designated captain to select a team for some local "pick up" games.  It was great to have him included and get some game experience especially since the boy's style of play was a little bit different than he was use to back in Mexico.

Trace playing some playground pick up with the boys.

Ashley's friends in Columbia are good people and we look forward to hanging out with them when we come to town.  Ashley makes sure I am along so I can drive her home since "the girls" like to party it up a bit.

We took this crew bowling too and then out for beer and wings at the joint where Ashley worked during college.  Ozzy was top scorer at 154 after not bowling for almost 10 years.  Let's just say that, with the exception of a few turns like this one we can honestly Alex can dance and paddle a whole lot better than she bowls.

After a day going for a short hike in a nearby state park and some last minute shopping we packed up and were off to Wrightsville Beach to check-in to the Blockade Runner Resort.  Only a 3.5 hour drive away from Columbia, we were happy about our short travel day since it allowed us to get the kids out on the water late in the afternoon.

A blog post about the race coming soon!

Sayulita Scenes - Semana Santa 2019

Photo by Dorsett Photography

Photo of Playa Los Muertos by Curt Barter

Adventures In Our Own Backyard - Playa La Lancha

As the two week Semana Santa spring break came to a close we decided to stretch our legs and revisit a beach that we had not seen for a while.  Playa la Lancha beach is about a 20 minute drive away followed by an easy 10 minute jungle hike from the parking area.

Family day

Ashley and Alex

We loaded up the boards and paddles and headed out looking for waves and to be away from our busy pueblo and the construction site we have been living in the last two months.  We found out that La Lancha is now a very popular day spot.  The amount of cars in the parking area is not a good indication of how many folks may be on the beach.  There is a retail area near the trailhead with a surf school and the public bus now drops off/picks up right there as well.  Needless to say a lot more people were having a beach day complete with umbrellas, coolers and even chairs than we expected.  Just as it should be on a Sunday during spring break.

Gathering tee pee supplies

The surf was pretty flat so the activity of the day turned into walking the beach, Tee Pee building and people watching.  Not a thrilling day but fantastic to get out and do something as a family and go see a place we had not been to in a while.

Sayulita Scenes - Semana Santa 2018

We have been out of town the last two years during Semana Santa so seeing the crowds again has been a bit sobering but not really unexpected.  The organization and support has been so much better than it has been in the past so kudos to the people doing that!  We are now living on one of the main arteries into town so we see all kinds of folks headed off to enjoy the holiday on the beach.  The peak will be over this weekend and slowly taper off early next week with a small increase next weekend.

Photo by Curt Barter

After the spring break is over then things will be pretty much back to normal in Sayulita which is busy but a far cry from these crowds.  We try to hit the beach by 8am to get some paddling in but it makes for a long day trying to avoid the extra 1000s of people in town.  Great people watching from our front terrace though.

Semana Santa 2017

We managed to escape the crowds in Sayulita for Semana Santa again this year.  I kept up on the social media posts talking about the crowds but more importantly about the substantial volunteer effort that was organized this year to handle a holiday crowd.  This aerial shot of the beach during the holiday break was taken by Curt Barter gives you a good idea of just how packed it can get.

Oaxaca

Easter week in Mexico lasts two weeks and it is called Semana Santa. The coastal towns become very busy with city folk from the interior, so we coastal folk head to the interior. This year was our first of such trips and it will not be the last as we want to travel more around Mexico and Semana Santa is the perfect time to do it

Oaxaca City bound.  We travelled with friends John, Amy and Ava for 8 days. We drove two hours to Tepic, spent the night and caught an early flight out on Tar Airlines. Arrived early afternoon and got to our fantastic Airbnb rental, La Callera, an old Limestone factory. There were 7-8 rooms or apartments to rent. Amy and John had one, we had one and the three amigos had their own, which they thought was pretty awesome. They all had kitchens so we could eat a home a bit but not too much as Oaxaca has wonderful food and is known for its Mole sauces. John told the kids that for each new food they tried they would get a trinket. Trace was all in, he certainly does not have the taste buds of an eight year old.

Oaxaca has many excursions in and around the city, anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours. Many times we just hopped on the bus two blocks away and others we either took a cab or got a fantastic driver named Diego.

One of our many bus experiences

Day 1:
We visited a famous Oaxaca church called Santa Domingo de Guzmán which is near the Zócalo and ate a great lunch full of Oaxacan food along with the first taste test...chapulines!!! That would be crickets to us. These were cooked and kind of shredded so you weren't eating a whole cricket. And guess who loved them? The Trace man!!

Santa Domingo de Guzman

Alex looking out the window

Day 2: Big day!!
We had a lot we wanted to see so we started at the furthest point and worked our way back to the city. Diego drove us two hours away to Hierve el Agua,  beautiful,  natural and very cold springs in the mountains.

One of the pools

We then we went to John's (different John than the one we are traveling with) beautiful and state of the art  Mazcal factory that he is building.  John lives at La Callera and met Amy and some friends in Tequila a while back.  Awesome guy with a life full of travel and experiences and the stories to boot.   Beside John's new factory is a small factory, if you can call it that, that makes Mezcal the traditional way so we were able to see the process.

Cooking the Agave leaves in an open fire pit

Next the cooked leaves are smashed with this stone wheel pulled in circles by Mules

It is then placed in large barrels, etc

Trace eating one of the cooked agaves.

Los tres amigos

Next we went to a rug maker, Bulmaro Perez Mendozo, in the town of Teotitlañ. We learned how the colors are made using local fruit, limestone and limes, how the wool is dyed and even how they hand make the rugs, which can take months. Now I know why the quality rugs are so expensive!

Our final stop was Santa María del Tule, the thickest tree in the world, where an adorable local girl walked us around the tree with a green laser and pointed out characters in the tree such as an elephant, deer, an angry face, JLo's butt and something to do with Monica Lewenski.

Day 3:
We really wanted to see true, local markets. We found them, filled with lots and lots of local food, breads, meat, chocolate, vegetables and textiles. A great way to indulge your senses and test your patience. I love markets like that but for a short time and with only myself or just a few other people. We had 10. But I had a great meal of fried Chile Relleno smothered in mole sauce. So good that I got one more for myself and one for Trace. His plain quesadilla all of a sudden wasn't very good when he tried my food.

Trace digging into a delicious fried Chile Relleno covered in Mole

Can you pick out the gringos?  I felt like we were on display

Fresh Tortas 

Fresh bread everywhere

Freshly fondled meat

Beautiful fresh vegetables

Chapulines aka crickets

Alex is thinking HELL NO while Trace is thinking OH YEAH

Trace once again digging into the goods

Alex, Kaila and Ava waiting for lunch

Ozzy navigating the market? Or running for the exit?

Day 4:
Zona Arqueologica de Monte Alban, local ruins.  They are all over in Mexico.

La Familia

Had to get a selfie

Day 5:
Day to Chill

La Calera, our Airbnb complex also hosts events and while we were there they were hosting the Mexico National Rubix Cube contest for two days. Wow! These people were fast! We were able to hang out and watch. The kids were intrigued. John bought them each a Rubix Cube. Trace was really into it and is very proud of his timing getting one side done.

La Calera was such a cool place to stay, so many neat areas to hang out, and many great photo ops.  Each of the apartments and any other design on the property was recycled and built using only materials that were found on the property, so it was very industrial but in a modern, earthy way.

Alex and Trace at a sitting area

Three of the apartments

Inside the factory

The table in the background was our social area.  Drinking and many games of Catan were played here.  We also got shushed here during the Rubix Cube contest while they were competing blindfolded.

More apartments

A section of the kids apartment

Day 6:
On Easter, the kids along with friends that were also in town enjoyed searching for candy that the Easter Bunny brought for them. La Calera is a fantastic place for hiding candy.

In line ready to hunt

 Easter evening we went on a wild goose chase on local buses to a place far away to watch Licha Libre, i.e. Mexican Wrestling. Completely entertaining and a highlight of the trip. We were the only gringos there and definitely got many looks.

Day 7:
Last day, booo

We had Diego again for the day and hit the last two places on our list. We quickly stopped in to San Bartolo Coyotepec where the famous black pottery is made.

And finally we went to the place that the girls wanted to go all week. Nothing like making them wait huh?  San Martin Tilcajete!  aka the town where Alebrijes, aka wooden painted figures, are made.

This is an Alebrije

These are awesome!   I could not believe how much work and time went into making one.  Like the rugs!  They also make their own paint using vegetables, lime and limestone.  There are about five different processes and at least one or more years that go into making one Alebrije.  And the size can range anywhere from a finger to a life sized bull and costing anywhere to $10 USD to well over $20,000+USD.  Each group of people specialized in a particular part of the process.


The carvers:

Carving the Alebrije

The process begins carving your piece out of wood.  Then comes sanding, soaking in gasoline to prevent termite infestations, drying which could take a year, fixing cracks, sanding again, etc.


The fixers:

These guys were fixing the places where the wood cracked by wedging a piece of wood into the cracks, and more sanding.

And the painters:

The intricate details of the painting was amazing.  The painters start off as apprentices working on small Alebrijes and then they become Master Painters.

Master painters at work

A master painter finishing an Alebrije.

The grounds of this particular workshop were just beautiful!

There was even an area where you could buy Mescal and it just so happened to be Ozzy's birthday so shots were on the house.

Alex ran into Tanya, her art teacher from school 

The kids each were able to paint their own Alebrije which is why they wanted to go so badly.

And while they were painting we were able to relax in the beautiful gardens.

And shop.  I bought this guy.  I had to have him!

Trace being Trace!

The kids showing their personalized Alebrijes at lunch

Trace chowing down again

And then we came home.

This was such a sensually and emotionally filling trip.  The senses where so alive the entire time with beauty, vibrant colors, and the sights, the taste buds were exploding, as well as the nose with the aromas of the food everywhere.  And then there were the usual sounds of Mexico which I love but the best was the sounds of my children laughing, playing and being so happy.
The emotion came from watching the kids so comfortable in their surroundings, taking care of themselves and their own apartment, eager to see, do, try and learn, navigate, grow.  And of course just being with them and getting hugs and kisses whenever I wanted.  I love seeing the people they are becoming and it really shows when we are traveling.