0080 13th Aug - San Juan de Alima to Playa Azul

Windy night, but that meant it was quite cool.  Unfortunately no shower available, but that was the first time in a while, so not too bad !!  Set off down the road, on highway 200 heading south. On maps it looks as though the road goes along the coast, but it doesn’t – It actually wanders in and out, up valleys and over rivers and then up steep windy passes to get over rocky mountains.  And all  the time you are in thick thick jungle, so you keep getting glimpses of the magnificent beaches and surf, but no where to really pull over to admire them properly or to take pics.  And there is always rubbish everywhere you stop too, which is a shame.

About an hour up the road I dove down a dirt track to get down to the beach, attracted by a sign saying something about ecotouristica.   Got about 100 yards down to the beach, and there was this wall saying “Regadaras – Showers”.  Interesting.   Went behind the wall and tried the tap, and they worked !!  Turned around and there were two toilets – Bit scruffy but they had doors and appeared to be working.  What was this place ?  Wandered further down on to the beach, and there were these quite large huts – And all these people lying in hammocks, or sitting around talking !  “Buenos Dias” all round, then we start talking English – It turns out that they are a group of young people from all over the world – Italy, Israel, Hong Kong, Mexico, and elsewhere !!  This beach is one that 3 types of turtles use to come ashore and lay their eggs, and this is an organised conservation effort to help increase the turtle hatch rate by moving the eggs as soon as they are laid, and relocating them in a secure area where birds, dogs, and other predators cannot dig them up before they hatch, and eat them. There is a dormitory with bunks, and a kitchen area, and then of course there are the showers and toilets that I had already found !!  Had a very pleasant hour or so chatting with everyone about what they were doing, and they in turn asked what I was up to.  I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them all – The young people today really do get out and get on with things and get to some amazing places – Good on them.  Hope you all have safe travels after you finish up on the beach, guys !

 Then carried on down the coast – There really isn’t a lot I can say about it.  Jungle, rivers, beach views, repeat !!  Very windy road, so most of the time I was only doing about 60 kms / hr, so it was quite a long day without really getting very far.  Had a few interludes.  Found a bunch of ugly vultures sitting in a pile of discarded coconut shells – They were quite happy to keep doing their thing while I sat there. Then a little further down the road I stopped on a cliff edge to take a photo of the view, and there was a small restaurant there too, as well as their Bano, or toilet, perched on the edge of the cliff, under a coconut tree !!  Lots of Pawpaw trees (or Papaya, depending where you are from !!), as well as banana trees today.  And only one Army roadside inspection today – He asked for my passport and then spent about 5 minutes staring at blank pages in it – Eventually handing it back to me without ever seeing the page with my details on it.  Hmmmmm !!

Saw some great caves washed out of the mountainside by rivers, and passed pick up trucks with big old bulls in them going to market, and later on, had quite a lot of deviations where they are building massive bridges over ravines – Doing a lot of work to this road.  I have the map with me of over 40 years ago when Janet and I did this trip in about 1972, and this road isn’t even marked on the map as it didn’t exist then. 

Finally came into a little town called Las Penas where I had been told there were camp sites available in the hotel – A fairly routine situation here where you have security inside the grounds of the hotel.  So I went into Hotel Gambusino – And it is magnificent.  Simple, but magnificent.  And overlooks a beach and rocks and the ocean, and has little tables set up for dinner or breakfast out on the cliff edges. The owner Antonio Omelas and his brother Francisco were very welcoming, and showed me around, but apologized that they no longer provided the service for campers.  Before leaving they showed me where they crush rocks for gold – Apparently Gambusino means Gold Mining or similar in Mexican, and they continue to mine for gold !!  Gambusino’s is on facebook at ://gambusinoresortboutique and if anyone wants a holiday with a difference, it would be an amazing place to come to.  Email is hotel.gambusino@gmail.com if anyone is interested – Price is about 800 pesos a night, which is about US$ 64 !!  The photos of the views will impress you, I think.

 Anyway, went on another 20 kms to Playa Azul, and found a hotel there that does a similar deal where you stay in the hotel grounds.  What is also nice is that you get to use their facilities, so tonight I have had a swim in the pool, got wifi, and generally am enjoying the safety of being locked inside the grounds of the hotel !  Life is tough !

 

Pics here  https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0081SanJuanDeLimaToPlayaAzul?authkey=Gv1sRgCMe08MDsovH0mwE#