Jungle Tour in San Blas

We extended our time at Chacala a little longer than intended. That is the great part about not having anywhere to be for the next three to four years. The weather was fantastic, the beach clean, the surf good and the water warm. We were anchored about three hundred yards from the beach and every day we swam to the beach. We spent hours swimming, learning how to kayak in the surf, and boogie boarding. Every night we fell exhausted into bed. On our fourth day, we heard our old friends Sunbaby announce on the SSB Amigo net that they were traveling to Chacala that day. We had been planning to pull anchor, but quickly decided to stay. We hadn't seen them since December in La Paz. Their future plans were much like ours, - next day, San Blas and in a week or so, Mazatlan.

The following day, we both pulled anchor and moved to the brand new marina at San Blas. Now a quick note to the other cruisers who read this blog, San Blas marina is NICE. The cleanest, most upscale marina I have ever been in, anywhere. Marble counters in the shower/bathrooms! And Raul is just great. And right now there are just four cruiser boats in it! Do not believe the hype that is circulating in the cruiser's group. The channel is a piece of cake, just hug the red markers. We went in at low tide and the lowest reading we had was about 9 feet. There are not swarms of bugs as many think. For an hour at sunset and an hour of early dawn, there are a few no-see-ums, so close your hatches then. Otherwise there are no bugs to speak of. The marina is within walking distance to the town plaza. San Blas is a wonderful small Mexican town. Wonderful shops, great local crafts for sale at amazing prices, wonderful historical buildings, and a beautiful town plaza. San Blas has a lot to offer.

Today, Sunbaby's Bill and Sue and the Just a Minute crew took a guided jungle cruise on a panga out into the mangrove forest. We had been told to start out early and it was great advice. We were the first ones up the channel in the early morning calm and it was breathtaking. Once again, I was having a Marlin Perkins moment. We saw hundreds of birds - blue herons, green herons, broadbilled herons, a flamingo, white egrets, a type of cormorant, a black hawk, an eagle, and lots of jungle birds that I have no idea what they were. The air was alive with calls. We also saw various size crocs sunning, turtles, lots of fish in the crystal clear water, beautiful blooming lilies at the water's edge and bromelia hanging in the branches, and hanging termite colonies under the canopy of trees that reached across the channel from side to side. It was a very wonderful experience.