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Mexico 2023
March 10
The Perfect Day
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A little bit of Wisconsin in Puerto Vallarta. | |
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THE PERFECT DAY
We have had several wonderful days here; however, every once in a while, the cosmos conspire to present a perfect canvas to paint a terrific day. Today was one such day.
It takes three buses to reach Boca de Tomatlan, the jungle trailhead we tackled. We hit all three buses immediately - no waiting. The PV bus threw us a curveball that actually turned out to be OK. 99% of the PV buses go downtown. Ours decided to end its route 2 miles short. We could have easily continued on another PV bus but we decided to walk. It was a coolish day, and we needed to warm up our legs for the rugged jungle hike. And I got a photo of a dancing fiberglass cow on a rooftop to boot.
| Our bus only went as far as the beginning of the ocean walk. | Even though we were hurrying to walk the two miles to catch the next bus to Boca de Tomatlan, I did manage a couple of photos along the way. | The Church of Our Lady Guadalupe with its iconic queen's crown on top of the steeple. | The autobus to Mismaloya and Boca de Tomatlan. The fare to Boca is only 10 pesos (54¢ US). | |
The 3.5-mile trek from Boca de Tomatlan to Las Animas is arduous. We call it a triple; that is, due to its rugged ups and downs, we feel we can triple the mileage when factoring in its distance for bragging rights. 3.5 miles magically converts to 10.5 miles.
So, how can a strenuous hike contribute to a perfect day? For starters, several remote beaches along the way can only be reached by foot or boat. Next, there are spectacular views. The jungle is lush green against the deep blue ocean backdrop. Lastly, we were shocked by how well we zipped along. I can’t say it was effortless, but I remembered the walk to be much more difficult than we found today. I guess we are in better shape than we thought, and my sore toe felt good. That made us absolutely giddy.
Boca, the trailhead town, is a small sleepy village with a frenzied marina. Boca straddles the mouth of the same river we waded in at the Botanical Gardens. It deepens and widens just before it reaches the ocean, forming a quiet pool to give scores of water taxi boats a docking area.
|  | We disembarked the bus at the top of the hill at Boca. The orange building is the first landmark that catches the eye. | The water taxi business is the main economic engine of Boca. | Restaurants are the second largest economic engine. | This protected harbor is formed by a deepening and widening of the mountain river, Rio Horcones. | An artist was captivated by the harbor scene. | |
It narrows once again for its final 50-foot push to the sea. It is entertaining to watch the boats struggle to pass through this bottleneck here. Some boat captains have to get out and pull their craft over the shallow sand. Others have honed the art of gunning their motors, pulling up the prop just in time, and letting the momentum scoot the boat through.
Most boats don’t even bother with the river passage. They access the town from the sea. The competition for tourists is fierce. Tons of boats jockey for position to catch a fare. Boca is an excellent starting point to take people to several destinations. There is Las Animas, where we will be hiking to. There are remote beaches along the shoreline. There is the town of Yelapa. Puerto Vallarta can also be a destination. One of the more exotic destinations is Ocean Grill, a 5-star restaurant hidden in a remote part of the jungle.
To reach the trailhead, we crossed the river on a primitive plank bridge. It must have been laundry day. Three women washed their clothes in the river while their toddlers frolicked. The first half-mile of the trail practically runs through several living rooms. The houses hang off a steep cliff on this side of the river. The sidewalk, there isn’t any room for a road, doubles as a narrow front porch for many of the houses.
|  | The path runs past the front door of many houses and buildings. | Some boat captains must get out to usher their boats into the harbor. | Other boat captains can gun their way through the bottleneck. | It's clear sailing once you pass through the bottleneck. | As we approached the end of the town, the villas got fancier. | However, the path didn't get any fancier. |  |  |  | |
Once we cleared the town, we climbed the steepest and longest set of stairs imaginable. Enjoy the stairs, as they are the last bit of infrastructure on the trail. The rest of the stairs along the route are rocks, boulders, and tree roots. If you take it slow and easy, it isn’t as bad as it sounds or as bad as we remembered. Each time we stopped for a breather, we had vistas and views to wow us.
Playa Los Colomitos is the first remote beach along the way at milepost 1.25 miles. This first stretch was the hardest, so we were pumped when we reached it. Just before reaching the beach, a cool boardwalk hangs off the cliff that goes to Ocean Grill, the exclusive 5-star restaurant.
Playa Los Colomitos is recessed in a tiny narrow bay. We were surprised that a new restaurant and bar, Paradise Bar, had been built. This little beach was always a pleasant primitive little stop to cool off along the trek to Las Animas. With the new bar and restaurant, the beach is full of activity. There are too many boats ferrying revelers in and out of the tiny bay. We decided not to swim here. Instead, we got a margarita.
|  | The top section of the final stairs before leaving Boca. | The stairs are now rocks, boulders, and tree roots. | Above and below: Ocean Grill is a 5-star restaurant. There is a $50 US per person minimum required. | Overlooking the intimate Playa Colomitos. | Paradise Bar is the new bar and restaurant at Playa Colomitos. | The table, chairs, and umbrellas are also new this year. | Thus fortified with our margarita, we pressed on to a more remote beach. The next tiny beach is Playa Escondida. Only one other party occupied a spot. We laid out our towels, and I went swimming. The water was fresh and refreshing. There were no boats, no restaurants, and no frenzy. When I emerged from the water, my pockets were full of sand. | The rock stairs leaving Playa Colomitos on the way to Las Animas. | One last overlook of Playa Colomitos. | Although the remaining 2 miles to Las Animas is still rugged and primitive, it is a little less strenuous than the first section from Boca to Playa Colomitos. | We took a swimming break at quiet Playa Escondida. | The remaining two miles to Las Animas are a little easier. The path doesn’t climb as far up the mountainside. We went by four or five more little beaches, separated by expanses of majestic heaps of boulders. There was no development until we reached La Troza, an exclusive resort plopped down in the middle of nowhere. The landscaping at the resort is tropical at its best. Near the resort is a crude cement boat dock that seems abandoned. Last year, to our surprise, on our water taxi ride from Las Animas to Mismaloya, we stopped at this dock and picked up a couple of passengers staying at the resort. | The rock formations varied from smooth to jagged. | Five iguanas were sunning themselves on this rock. | The luxury resort of La Troza. | The dock seemingly to nowhere. | We were surprised by a brand new restaurant and bar complex that sprouted a half-mile before Las Animas. It was huge and looked to be fancy, meaning expensive. The kitchen area featured a large round firepit. Seating included a deck overlooking the ocean plus overflow seating on the sand beach. The bar was in a separate A-frame cabana. Even the baños were housed in their own A-frame. The loud instrumental music blurted out in an incessantly heavy bass-drum beat. We walked on. | The brand new weekend hangout near Las Animas. | Above and below: The busy kitchen at the new bar and restaurant complex. Notice the smoke arising from the round firepit. It isn't exactly a grill. The iron frame suggests hanging meats - just guessing. | The first quarter of Las Animas is laid out like an eco-tourist community. There are treehouse rentals and thatched roof cabana rentals. The path through town dives under a green canopy of tropical plants. Las Animas is not accessible by car, so there isn’t a need for streets. A couple of paths suffice. The entire town is supplied by boats. | Entering the outskirts of Las Animas. | |
Treehouse-like bungalows for rent. | |
As our custom, we chose a different restaurant for supper, El Caracol. This is our fourth trek to Las Animas, so El Caracol is our fourth different eatery. All have been terrific.
After supper, we headed for the dock to catch a boat to Mismaloya. Mismaloya is another village close to Boca. Since it is slightly closer to Puerto Vallarta and closer to Los Arcos, a snorkeling haven, its harbor is even more frenzied than Boca’s harbor. Unfortunately, it was getting late, and we could only find a boat going to Boca. We took it.
| We ate at El Caracol. We chose to sit on the upper deck. Walking through the restaurant with its ocean theme was fun. | Overlooking the beach and harbor at Las Animas from the upper deck of El Caracol. | Beef nachos with guacamole. The sauces and salsas were wonderful. | Leaving Las Animas in a water taxi. We wanted to go to Mismaloya. However, it was late in the day, and this boat was only going to Boca. What took all afternoon to walk only took 20 minutes by boat. The fare was 100 pesos each ($5.40 US). | |
The dock at Boca was being repaired, so we had to jump out of the boat at the beach. The beachfront is still crowded at 6:30 pm. | |
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The 3-bus ride back to Bucerias went smoothly. We were pleasantly bushed when we arrived home at 8 pm. We attacked a left-over yogurt-gelatin fruit concoction that Wanda made with papaya, bananas, oranges, grapes, pineapple, and strawberries. It had an oatmeal-date crisp on the bottom. It was fun food that hit the spot.
What a fabulous day!
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