San Blas

After 4 days in Sayulita, the travel bug bit me again. The rest of the gang headed for Puerto Vallarta and I took off solita (that's Spanish for alone) to do a little exploring further up the coast. Next stop, San Blas, about a 2.5 hour bus ride along the coastal road from Sayulita. San Blas is also a quiet surf town, but definitely more local. I saw maybe 5 gringos in town the whole time. I took a surf lesson one afternoon from the Mexican long board champ (a local to San Blas) and ended getting a private lesson, mostly because no one else was around. Anyway, I got up several times - good times!! Besides surfing, the other main attraction in San Blas is the river tour through jungle mangroves up to the spring (La Tovara). Along the way we saw 4 or 5 alligators, turtles and tons of exotic looking birds. Once at La Tovara, you can swim in the spring (which is fenced off from the alligators!) and there was a trapeeze swing to jump into the water. The first time, I slipped off the swing sideways (see photo) and crashed into the water hard (ouch!). But got better with successive attempts!

I had also wanted to visit the island and fishing village of Mexicatlan, but had run out of time. Luckily, I met some Mexican tourists (all about 25 and doctors in training) who were heading there and invited me to join. Really nice to meet and travel with locals...an advantage to traveling sole and hopefully they'll come for a visit to GDL soon too!