S, one of my riding buddies, suggested we do a long beach walk today. We were originally going to make a full day of it by going to the Estrella del mar golf course (about 20 miles/32KM round trip), but she’s leaving this week and didn’t have time. Instead, she suggested we do the four hour round trip walk to ‘the washrooms.’ I’d heard about them as being the turnoff point for people driving the beach to get to town, but hadn’t seen them so I figured that was a good destination. Yes, walking to the bathrooms in the middle of nowhere. Do I know how to have fun or what?!
These helicopters are scouting for tuna!
Very low in the sky.
Very, very low!
We took off barefoot at 10:30, with the tide starting to come in and just walked and gabbed and walked and gabbed till we got to the washrooms. They were open and I really needed to pee, so I decided to check them out. To my immense surprise, they were clean (albeit grungy), with paper, soap, water, and brand new seats! 😀
The waves were carving out the beach.
Bathroom oasis in the distance.
The walk back seemed quicker and the waves were really coming in fast and furious, nearly knocking us off our feet a few times. On the way in we had met a Mexican friend of S who explained that the waves get like this every year around this time and that it has something to do with the rotation of the earth. It happens between the end of March and the beginning of June and announces the start of the rainy season, although there’s always a few weeks reprieve before that happens. Fascinating! I love meeting people who have lived in a place all their lives and know the climate so well. So if what he said is true, I might have rain before I leave…
I love this grove of short and plump coconut palms.
A few more high tides and this one will be done.
When S and I got back to the populated part of the beach, we ran into our horse guide, who greeted us with a big hug. We told him about our adventure and he laughed and called us his crazy Canadian gals for walking to a bathroom of all places for no reason but exercise. A lot of the Mexicans I’ve met don’t seem to get the idea of walking for the sake of walking and I wonder if that’s a cultural thing or if I just met a cluster of people who get enough exercise in their daily life to not need to seek it out.
It was a great walk, but the bit from the beach to home on the HOT sand was very ouchy! I could have put my flip flops in a backpack, but I really didn’t feel like carrying them. My feet are much tougher than they were when I got here, though.
I came in and took a shower to wash the salt and sand from between my toes, then made lunch. Which will be the subject of my next post later today since S brought me a Mexican delicacy!
Yes those are tuna boat helicopters but they are just going to the airport from the boat and being a nuisance to those of us on the beach by flying low. Often they are carrying the owners and various investors of the boat to and fro.
The bathrooms are for the use of the Jungle Boat tours. The people are brought to that area of the beach after their tour to just sit for a bit before coming back to the populated area of the Isla.
The entire beach area used to have the cocos all along the edge of the sand. I met someone once who described it all to me. Once long long ago there was nothing here.
Their are many Mexicans who walk the beach each and every day, most early in the morning and a few at sunset. I find it funny to see them walking with hats and long pants and coats. It is their winter after all, although this has been an usually warm one.