We stopped halfway along our four-mile hike to snap our selfie. | |
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With tomorrow’s all-day dental marathon looming over me, I wanted an all-out day of sun and fun. That meant trekking the four-mile jungle trail between Boca de Tomatlan and Las Animas. Getting to Boca de Tomatlan is a three-bus affair. We catch the first bus a block away from Terralta, our gated community. That runs about 20 miles south to the Hotel District in Puerta Villarta. The cost varies between 15 and 20 pesos ($.75 to $1 US).
Then we took the city bus to downtown Zona Centro. That is another 5 miles. We took the Tunel bus this time. It landed us exactly where we needed to go in the middle of downtown. Here’s a tip. You have to use exact change on the city buses. They are 10 pesos ($.50 US). All other buses give you change if need be.
The final bus took us another 15 miles to Boca de Tomatlan, a tiny town tucked away in a deep narrow bay surrounded by mountains. It was 10 pesos. ($.50 US). For $2 US each, we traveled a total of 35 miles. At each bus transfer, we never waited longer than a couple of minutes. The buses are beat and rickety, but they are efficient people movers.
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PV’s city buses used to be decades-old Mercedes buses. The cobblestone streets of PV just hammers all vehicles. As beat-up as those Mercedes buses were, they kept plugging along. Two years ago PV started buying Dina buses, a Mexican company. They are nice buses when new, but after two years they are showing some age already. I seriously wonder if they will last the decades that the vintage Mercedes buses did. | |
PV’s city buses require exact change. The driver does not handle any money. The white machine as you enter the bus takes cash, coin, and a transportation card. | |
The interior of the Compostela bus that runs between Sayulita, through Bucerias, down to the Hotel District in PV. | |
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Boca is the farthest coastal town south of PV that can be reached by road. Towns like Las Animas and Yelapa are accessible only by boat, which you can hire in Boca. However, Las Animas is close enough to Boca, about 4 miles, to hike the rugged jungle trail. That was our goal today.
We reached Boca around 11 am. This is our fourth time hiking this route so we knew just where to pick up the trail. Boca occupies both sides of the long narrow bay. The commercial district, affectionately nicknamed the monkey side, is on the north side. The south side, or dolphin side, is all residential. A crystal clear river, draining the steep mountains behind Boca, feeds into the bay.
Boca’s tiny harbor is well protected. The river deepens and swells just before reaching the bay. It is perfect for the boats that are for hire. To reach all the way to the bay, the river has to snake around a sand dune, which further protects the little river harbor.
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Approaching Boca de Tomatlan. | |
The bus dropped us off on top of the hill overlooking the town. This is the street that enters Boca. | |
One part of the commercial district. | |
Boca’s little harbor and the outlet that leads to the ocean bay. | |
The river outlet to the ocean. | |
Looking across the harbor towards the residential side. | |
The clear mountain river that bisects the town. | |
A boat accessing the harbor from the ocean bay through the river outlet. | |
On the way out of town, the trail runs through the residential area. This side of town hangs off the side of a mountain. It doesn’t have any streets, just the crude path, and some short steep spurs that veer off the walkway. The walkway practically goes through peoples living rooms, which feels a little disconcerting. | |
The biggest residential building in town. | |
The main path through the residential area of Boca. It is crude and passes close to houses. | |
The main path virtually skirting the front doors of these houses. | |
I love how the utilities are laid down along the main path. | |
The path veers to the right. The steps to the left go up to a house. | |
A bridge on the main path. | |
Looking across the narrow bay. | |
This side of the bay is a mixture of poor and wealthy homes. The wealthier homes tend to be towards the end of the path before it turns into a jungle trail. | |
Looking down the narrow bay. Boca is tucked in way down at the end. | |
The path through the residential section of town varies widely. It can be steps, broken cement, cobblestone, a rickety wood bridge, dirt, or a breakwater like in this photo. | |
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Once past the last residence, the trail turns exceedingly rugged and steep. Stairs and steps give way to tree roots and boulders. The views are breathtaking. The first 1 1/4 mile is the toughest, but you are rewarded with the hidden beach, Playa Colomitos. This is a tiny beach that offers a fine swimming opportunity after a sweltering hike.
The surf can be fun here. Today, however, it was uncharacteristically calm. We stopped for a quick swim to cool off. It was perfect.
Just before you reach the beach, a remote exclusive restaurant is located on a roofed platform that hangs out over the water, called Ocean Grill. Some people hike to the restaurant, but most people take Ocean Grill’s boat from Boca for an extra 100 pesos ($5 US) round trip. Reservations are required. We have never eaten there, but I have read wonderful reviews. We must give it a whirl one of these days.
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Wanda following the sign to Playa Colomitos, the hidden beach. | |
Gorgeous views from the cliff top. | |
Wanda picking her way down a steep bank. | |
Another steep bank. Did I mention “rugged”? Some of these go up and some go down. There seemed to be an infinite number of these steep rugged climbs and descents. | |
Appoaching Playa Colomitos. The beach is in a tiny bay. | |
The exclusive Ocean Grill Restaurant. | |
The entrance to the Ocean Grill Restaurant. I see that the sign welcomes walk-ins with a $50 minimum. That is new. It has always been reservation only. | |
A water-taxi bringing tourists to Playa Colomitos. | |
I liked the tattoo on the guy in the red shirt - “All You Need Is Love.” | |
The next 3 miles from Playa Colomitos to Las Animas are even more spectacular and only half as difficult. The trail runs closer to the water. The surf pounds the giant boulders. A couple more hidden beaches spring up along the way. Next time we are going to try Playa Emma, a small promising looking spit of golden sand that is often completely devoid of people. | |
The last view of Colomitos from the trail as we continue on to Las Animas. | |
Bridge of Contentment according to the sign. I was content only when I successfully crossed the bridge without it colapsing. | |
This red tree caught my attention. | |
As we got closer to Las Animas, we came across a couple of isolated resorts. | |
A remote piece of oceanfront jungle for sale. | |
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Las Animas hugs the ocean and stretches for about a mile. There are no streets, just jungle-lined paths. Several eco-resorts are concentrated along the path entering Las Animas, with one featuring tree houses. We always wonder what the rental cost is for these unique cabins.
For a town that has no road access, Las Animas is a beehive of activity. The harbor is a constant hub of activity as boats haul tourists and locals in and out of town. Tourism is the only industry in town. Bars and resorts rule. For such a small town, there are endless choices for drinks and supper.
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Part of the main path through the outskirts of Las Animas. | |
This is the first bar and restaurant, called Maraika, that we encountered. It is on the very edge of Las Animas. It looked like a good candidate for dinner, however, we were early and wanted to continue into town. | |
Bananas and large flower pod. | |
One of the eco-resorts in Las Animas. This treehouse cabin must have a terrific view. | |
Grass rooftops of another resort. | |
We have barely seen an insect on any of our winter trips to Mexico. This Crab Spider is the first spider. Wanda guessed it to be a Crab Spider. I looked it up and sure enough, she was correct. - smart girl. | |
The beach and harbor of Las Animas. | |
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From all of our options, we picked El Coral Restaurant Bar & Grill mainly because of the outdoor wood-fired grill. So, entering the grass-roofed outdoor seating area is where I showed off my splendid dexterity.
After my cataract surgery, my distance vision has been restored to a marvelous 20/20. My near vision sucks. I got the bright idea of getting sunglasses with progressive lens - no prescription on top, and a reading prescription on the bottom. For most situations, this works great. Stairs, however, suddenly become dangerous. The reading part of these glasses makes everything past 18 inches a blurry distortion. In normal situations, this isn’t a problem. However, when I look a little down, through the prescription part of the lens, as I go up and downstairs, it blurs and changes the perspective. When I am not careful, I can misjudge the step.
I misjudged the step going from the sand beach up to the cement platform of El Coral. The swan dive I took made for a grand entrance. I fell hard. Fortunately, being the resilient 69-year-old geezer that I am, I sprung back up as if nothing happened. The startled looks of concern on the surrounding people were precious.
As soon as we sat down, we got chips and salsa, and a sample shrimp with a dipping sauce. Wanda reported that her margarita nailed “high” in the power registry. We ordered all things wood-fired grilled shrimp. The shrimp plate was the best we’ve had yet. The large delicately roasted shrimp were divine. Ancient and primal as it is, wood is still the most flavorful cooking medium.
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Downtown Las Animas comprised of beach bars and restaurant. | |
The wood-fired grill at El Coral. The cook is holding up a rack of fish just finishing up grilling. | |
Tortilla chips, salsas, and sample shrimp. The salsas were especially wonderful. We asked for and got more. | |
As per our custom, we each ate half of each plate. The grilled shrimp were perfect - grilled yet moist. | |
The shrimp plate was a culinary work of art. I didn’t expect that from an informal beachfront establishment. | |
Looking out from our dinner table. | |
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The main dock has a steady stream of water-taxis going and coming to and from Boca. You could hire a boat to go to any other town, like Yelapa, Mismaloya, and PV. Jeff knows someone that would take us all the way from Bucerias to Yelapa. That would be a neat ride.
Anyway, we grabbed the boat to Boca. Getting in the boat is tricky, and after my swan dive at El Coral, I made sure to take extra care. The dock’s infrastucture is long past its prime. The ladder down to the waiting boat is bent, rusted, and missing one side of the hand railing. I think it is a great sport for the locals to watch the tourists, mostly older people, negotiate this death trap.
The same infrustructure greeted us at Boca as we disembarked. I am proud to say that I was as graceful as a 16 year old on both ladders.
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All these boats are for hire. Notice all the Yamaha outboard engines. In Mexico and the Caribbean, Yamaha outboards absolutely dominate. We have Yamaha on our pontoon boat back home. We also have a Yamaha motorbike. I am starting to like Yamaha even more than Honda. | |
Here is a water-taxi picking up people for the Las Animas to Boca run. Getting in and out of these boats is not for the faint of heart. | |
A couple of party boats anchored in the deep part of the harbor. | |
Heading to Boca via boat. The trip cost 100 pesos ($5 US). This is up from 70 pesos two years ago. | |
Apporaching the commerial dock at Boca. | |
You pay at the end of the ride. | |
Waterfront shops at Boca. | |
More commercial shops in Boca. | |
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The bus ride back was mostly uneventful, however, at Mezcales an ancient man came on board with his beat-up guitar in worse shape than Willie Nelson’s. He proceeded to serenade us with traditional Mexican folk songs for tips. He was very good. Wanda tipped him.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: At this juncture, I must announce that I will be laid up for a while. I have been advised that my bone and gum grafting is honest-to-goodness surgery and will require lots of rest and little sun. Basically, no fun and no adventures. I do not know exactly how long I will be out of action. However, be assured that as soon as I can return to the road, I will write about it. With that, I will take a short break. See you on the other side.
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