Most summer evening I walk along the beach, la playa, at Chacala. I visit with friends, practice taking photos of sunsets, and of kids in the water, and swim. And scout out the trash situation. Usually I toss any plastico (plastic bottles and diapers) I find up beyond the high tide line. But I carry glass bottles with me until I find a trash can.
But Saturday nights, after a typical beautiful beach day, it's often kind of ugly. Visitors haven't quite gotten the knack of using trash cans and trash bags. And there have been storms out at sea all summer. The storms send in piles of debris. Mostly organic: palm branches, driftwood, dead fish, and some plastico. Usually broken up pieces of Styrofoam. Or nets.
The restaurants north of the camping area are really good about cleaning up their section of the beach every morning. Only one building along that section of the beach hasn't quite figured out cleaning yet. It's easy to see where that place is because the debris is only occasionally removed.Down in the camping area one of the four families who run camping areas are really good about keeping their beach clean. You can always tell when you are in front of Dona Lupe/Don Beto's section of the beach, because it's immaculate, right down to the water line. The other places aren't quite so nice. But okay.
Last night, a Saturday night, the beach had a lot of debris along the tidelines. Probably from tropical storm Ivo , and lots of plastico and styrofoam. So I went down very early this morning to pick up plastico. Usually the only times I miss trash pickup on Sundays is if none of the tiendas have any big plastic bags, or I am somewhere else (very unusual).
Anyway, I had a number of people wanting me to photo them. Mostly people cleaning the beach. And three of them seemed to know that I would post their photos on this blog if they wanted me too. So here they are.
I also took photos of restaurant owners, their families and staff, cleaning up in front of their restaurants. None came out very well, except for these little boys.
Luis and Suzie work at Las Brisas. Their pose reminds me of that famous farm couple photo.
There were kids swimming as the sun rose. At about 7:30am kids and young males were in the water. The temperature of the water is perfect in the early morning. Very refreshing.
This photo is proof that pictures can lies. It looks like these kids are swimming right near the boat dock area. But it's at least three blocks away. There is rocky point between the main beach and the boat docking area.
As I was leaving the beach, I ran into Viki and her herd of Chacala kids. Some were heading out onto the beach, for trash pickup. Other were distributing litter (in the form of anti-litter materials) that the state of Nayarit is distributing.Then I hung out at Mars Tres, my favorite restaurant for awhile. And then headed to the tienda for more plastic bags. And then home for breakfast. It's another gorgeous, hot, and not so humid day. I think am going to go swimming in a minute.
It's interesting about taking photos here. I always have asked if it's people I know, or if they will be identifiable in the photos. I don't ask if it's a crowded scene without easily identifiable people. But most of the time if local people see me with the camera they either ask me to take photos, or pose for me. Or ignore me. Or occasionally shake their heads, "no". Usually with a smile.
Of course, for all I know, there are lots of local people who don't like me taking pictures. So far I haven't noticed that reaction though. Maybe I am missing something. Very possible I suppose.
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