Rotary in Chacala

One of the Omaha Rotary's was in town last week, following up on their work the past few years on the Kinder and Telesecundaria. This week their partners, Shawnee (K.C.) Rotary is doing more work on both places. They are wiring in six ceiling fans at the Telesecundaria (Jr. High) and fixing the roof on the original Kinder, repairing the bathroom, and doing shelves, painting, and other stuff on the new Kinder room, which was also funded by the Rotaries and built by Noe (Vicki's husband) and his helper Javier. I talked with Tom Miller and David Houston of the Shawnee Rotary and was really impressed with their attitude and hard work. They are working on hooking up with some other Rotary groups in Tepic in order to get more funding for international projects. Rotary is really impressive. I am really amazed at all the good work they do all over the world.

Chacala Thoughts

I have been thinking alot about what it's okay to write about on this blog. Particularly when some of the people that read it are interested in coming to Chacala and making decisions about where to stay, etc.

I know I do some self editing, and also that some of the things I write are only my opinions and my reality (and that sometimes I probably present my version of reality as the "Truth").

And sometimes I make mistakes, or have a very different view of reality in Chacala than some other people.

It's hard to know what's okay to write, and what's destructive or not nice or something.

I have gotten pressure (I guess that's the right word) from a couple of rental owners about what I have commented on. In both cases I mentioned something negative that I had personally experienced/seen. And I know other times I may have made mistakes or assumptions that were wrong, or misunderstood something. If I find out I erred I try to correct what I said as soon as I realize I misunderstood a situation or whatever.

But when I saw something with my own eyes, and know it was something I would want to know about when I was making my decision about where to stay in Chacala, I usually feel like telling it like I saw it. Which does not go over well sometimes.

Sometimes I am torn between wanting to please people I like and respect here, and wanting to share my experience and observations here. Maybe it's feeling toward between loyalty to people I like who live here, and a desire to provide as accurate information about rentals, etc here in Chacala as I can.

I have decided to be really, really be careful and make sure I know what I am talking about before I make negative comments about rentals. And I am going back and reviewing what I have written before in order to update any changes or improvements or correct any errors.

It's another beautiful day in Chacala. Whales were out this morning. The water is perfect. Sunny and high seventies about 10am. Another perfect day in paradise. More or less.

Chacala from the Sky

A guy who posts on the Lonely Planet Thorntree message board sent me a picture of Chacala from the sky that I really like. I think it was taken by someone named Katie from SF. But then I couldn't move it over to Blogger. I will try again later.

When I was in Las Varas a few days ago I was in a little store, a grocery, and as I was waiting to check out I looked up and realized they had a functioning security camera, in full color. Really surprised me.

Then I had another surprise when I was going thru the clothing in one of the used clothing booths at the Friday street market in LV. A bunch of the clothes had Value Village (a big US chain of thrift shops) tags on them. I asked Jesus, a former neighbor in Chacala, whose wife runs the booth said someone in his family ships the stuff down, or brings it down from the US. I guess I should have realized that the clothes I see in the booths came down in bulk lots, and were not donations from visitors or something.

Anyway..... another beautiful day with whales swimming by. about 70 degrees F at 6am and about 82-84 mid afternoon. Lots of sun and a nice breeze off the ocean. The are about 20 motor homes around town and five "yatchies". I am computing from Majahua and five of the boat people are here enjoying the view, having a drink, and sharing stories about this and that.

Chacala and Me and Consumerism

I just finished reading the March issue of Tricycle magazine, which I think is officially a Tibetan Buddhist magazine. But most of the articles and coverage seems to be aimed at any kind of Buddhist or person who meditates. My son brought that issue and a copy of the latest Shambala Sun down last week. Plus The Sun, another great mag. Those are the magazines
I miss the most in Mexico. People have been really nice about bringing them down to me.

Anyway, one of the many great articles this quarter/month was about consumerism from the Buddhist point of view. One of the remarks was that to make the most effective changes to reduce your consumer/environmental impact, you should look at your transportation and housing/energy usage. I thought, well I am doing pretty well with transportation since I haven't had a car for more than two years. And I almost always ride public transportation or get a ride with someone who is already heading my way. But then I started thinking about a car ride I took with a friend of mind a few days ago. It would have been just as easy to take some collectivo rides to get there and we didn't even consider the idea. I don't know why.

Anyway. My direct energy usage is pretty minimal. I have two light bulbs, one for my tent and one for the eating table outside. And I only use one or the other at a time. Plus my small refrigerator. But I do use electricity from somewhere about three times a week to charge my computer battery. The electricity at my place comes via four or five extension cords and serves five different buildings plus the camping area. So I am nervous about using it for the computer. A

And my ramada ( the open, roofed structure coverning my tent and camping area) is made from wood posts that have already re-sprouted and are now small trees. And the covering is prunings from palm trees. And the floor is a rock base covered with sand. Pretty ecological I guess. I use toilets that are flushed with buckets of water, and showers that are warmed by the sun mid day. I do have trash, but not much.

But I am still filling some of the holes in my life with consumerism-type activities. Lately I was on a kick for about two weeks about these colorful plaid plastic carry-all type bags they have around here. I got the idea (after two years of thinking they were really ugly) that they would be good for hanging on my rope clothelines and storing tools and toilet paper and my umbrella, etc. So for about three town trips in a row I was focused on looking for these bags. It sort of keep me focused on anything but me for a bit. They only cost about a dollar etc, but it was the distracting quality of my short-lived fascination with collecting the bags that seems sad to me.

But, on the other hand. I make do most of the time. Replace elastic, mend clothes, look for stuff I can use (like wooden crates in the trash for bookshelves, etc) I can use, and make things for myself rather than buy, buy used clothes to replace my disinigrating wardrobe. I have been wondering if my favorite expense, magazines, is another consumerism thing. I guess it is. Both seeing all the ads, and just seeking out my favorites.

At least I have given up TV again. After about a month of watching a novela (soap opera) about three nights a week, I got disgusted and quit. I really never have liked TV very much. I rarely watched it as a child, and didn't have one (no electricity or access) from 1960 til the mid 80's. Really, it was hanging around with the crew at Chico's that was the draw anyway. But now that Ms. Chico, Narcisa, is having bed rest at her daughter Aurora's, there isn't much of a draw to watch TV. Except for that month of the soaps I haven't watched TV at all for about 27 months. No biggy. Or seen a movie either, now that I think of it. I am a reading addict though.

I am tired of writing about this, but I am thinking about how I keep myself distracted via collecting objects, even seashells, sea glass, driftwood, etc for my camp.

Just a reminder, if you want to contact Trini about Spanish classes you can email her at trinimoya2 (at) hotmail.com or go to Trini's blog. When emailing use the symbol @ rather than (at) please,

Or for info about airport pickups/rides to Chacala, boat rides to watch whales or surf go to airport pickups and boat rides

Chacala Thoughts

I went into Las Varas this morning, Friday. This is the day the LV street market is open and I wanted to get some plants and maybe some pots. And some elastic for a sewing project, and some peanuts. Everything went well, except no plants. I think I was there too early.

I intended to arrive about 8:30am, but, darn, the collectivo came by just as I walked out to the beach road, so I got into LV about 20 minutes after I walked away from my camp. Or about 7:50 am. Going home went well too. As I was walking up to the collectivo stop in LV a young woman started to talk to me. She was local and wanted to practice her English with me. Her English was good and it turned out her teacher was Trudy, a Canadian who lives in La Penita. Trudy taught English classes to Chacala students and adults for about six or eight months last year.

The woman, Consuela, and I got on the La Penita collectivo (she was on her way to work) and I got off at the Crucero de Chacala. I walked around the corner, and a couple of young women who work at Mar de Jade picked me up about two seconds later. So it was a very quick trip. I was home before 9:30am. Some kind of record for me.

The market was great. I got two three gallon buckets (plastic) to use for planter pots. They were only 10 pesos, compared to 35pesos ( about 3.25 US) for regular pots the same size. They had the elastic I wanted, and the peanuts. And two nice little wallet cards of Guadalupe and a couple of grapefruits. I found some gladiola bulbs, which I shared with Esperanza. She didn't recognize the name, but we are going to look them up in the Spanish language plant book I gave her later.

The plant truck wasn't at the market, but when I got home Esperanza and Henia told me the plant truck is coming by on Sunday morning, coutesy of Maria/Palila. She's the small lady who is busy all over town and knows alot about plants and herbs. Last summer we traded lots of plants and I learned alot from her. Plus, when the plant truck came driving around Chacala, she would run up to Gordon's house to let me know they were in town. In return, I would get a couple of plants for her.

Last night Esparanza, and a couple of her adult sons, were visiting at my camp, and it came up that E. goes thru my trash (I put it in a large black plastic bag and carry them over to her house when they are half full). I had a package of twelve white washcloths my son had brought me sitting on the table while we were having cookies and apple juice. E. told me she had found one of the washcloths in the trash and had washed it for me. Then we started talking about what I put in the trash. I was sort of appalled and started worrying about what embarassing thing I might have but in the trash, but I couldn't really think of anything. Except that I throw away food that I don't like the looks of.

Then this morning E. came over with the freshly washed washcloth for me and I gave her back that one and a couple more. She also washed a badly stained embroidered tortilla cloth I had given up on. It was sparkly white. I had just cleaned out the plastic containers I keep food in and the fridge and had a plastic bag of this and that waiting for her. They feed the old tortillas to the dogs and chickens, etc etc. And I don't like eating out-dated eggs and give them to her. Etc. I said, here's some old food (comida vieja), like usual, and she told me not to put any food in the trash, to keep it separate and give it to her. So I will.

When I first moved to E's camping area I had a bag of pretzels and everyone in the family except Ginka, one of the adult sons, hated them. We made jokes about yucky gringo food. But now they all like pretzels and I have to eat them privately or they are all gone in one day. Pretzels aren't very popular in Mexico, but they do often have them at Walmart, in PV, where I go about once a month. The other big markets are cheaper so I usually go to them, but when I am having a salt attack, I go to Walmart for pretzels. I really miss Wheat Thins, and Cheezits but they don't have them here. Except at the gourmet place for 80 pesos a little box.

My favorite event for the day was at the market, the tsangui. There I watched two little kids, a boy about 2 1/2 and a girl under 4, unloading boxes of hardware type items from big plastic boxes and carefully laying the items out on the low plywood market tables. Their Dad was unloading the boxes from a truck and the Mom was nursing a baby and organizing some clothes for sale. The kids was working hard and clearly were an important part of the family team. And they were doing a good job. The little would carefully pick and item out of the box and then carry it over to the table, and the little girl would arrange the items neatly in rows. When I went by about 15 minutes later they were still hard at work.

Saw more whales this morning, including some babies practicing their tail flapping. Very cute and close in to shore.

The Sea is Green Today in Chacala

The ocean is just beautiful today. The water looks very green, and when you walk out into the water, you can see the sandy bottom even when the water is 10 or 12 feet deep. The waves have been small this weekend, nice for kids, boring for adventurous adults. The weather is perfect, low 80's and sunny.

I am computing from Majahua again, and it's just beautiful looking out at the ocean from here. People have been eating lunch as I type, and the food looks delicious. This probably sounds like an ad of some kind for Majahua, and I guess it kind of is. It's soo lovely here. Of course, all of Chacala is great, but this is really nice.

Things are starting to quiet down around here, and most of the motor home types are just stopping for the night on their way to the North country. Poor them. Quite a few people I know and enjoy visiting with are arriving these week, so that will be fun. I have starting spending more time drawing and it's so satisfying and relaxing, if not very sucessful.
That's it for today.

Chacala and Families

I think one of the nicest things about camping on the beach, besides living outside, and swimming in the ocean, and smelling the salt water, and seeing whales and dolphins, and staring at the ocean, and watching the sunlight hit the waves first thing in the morning, is having a nice family living right behind me.

Actually it's three families, a mom and dad with their eight kids (one gone during the week to college). The two oldest sons and their wives and babies live right next door. Henia comes over alot, so I get to hold her eight week old baby, and her little boy, Markito, who likes to paint, so we have lots of fun. And the adult son, who will probably always live at home, comes over to draw, and lately to do beads with me and eat pretzels. Lots of Mexicans don't care for pretzels, but he really likes them. He fishes every day with his dad, and he's really good at teasing and making jokes and laughing. And Esparanza, the mom, comes over several times a day, sometimes just to visit, and sometimes for a reason. A few days ago, Marcos, Henia's husband came over and hung around for the first time. Markito seemd really proud to sit on his dad's lap and draw.

Yesterday Esparanza told me they were going to build another ramada for me to use during Semana Santa, because a family member expects to be able to use my spot during those ten days or so. I think it will work out okay. They will help me move about fifty feet, and I will be out of the line of fire, so to speak. And I will still have electricity for a light bulb and fridge.

It's funny. After more than two years here, I didn't know the difference between a ramada and a palapa until a couple of days ago. Now I think ramadas are flat palapas, and inversely, palapas have peaked or pointed roofs, and they are both made of wooden posts and rafters, with palms frond roofs. Of course, I may be completey off track.

A friend mine, who has been camping on the beach here since mid-December I think, and I drove down to Los Ayalos and Guayabitos yesterday. The plan was to have lunch with some other friends who are going back to Oregon after two or three months down here. We had a wonderful lunch, with fruit sala, and whole wheat bread, and delicious soup. The fruit salad had a yoghurt based dressing and it was delicious, but I forgot to ask what was in it. They were staying in a third floor with small patio overlooking the beach and sea. Very nice and breezy.
I think this couple, S and K, some of my favorite people I have met down here. We have lots of things in common and some similar interests and I will miss them alot.

Guayabitos is really different than Chacala, and not to my taste, but very nice and clean. Ugly jets skis came and went constantly, and big party boats, but other than that it was nice.

On the way down we when to Los Ayalos, which I had never seen before. It was nice and quiet, with mostly dirt roads and two story small hotels. Nice enough beach. Jared and Lucille were staying there but we were so late we didn't get to visit them. Rat!!!! On the way back we stopped at the nursery in La Penita and i got a sack of dirt and two nice plants. An aloe with three plants in the pot and a blooming Desert Rose that had tons of shoots. So I divided the aloes and started eight new Desert Rose shoots. i hope they take. Both these plants seem to do okay right next to the ocean. I will cross my fingers for them.

The ocean has been kind of quiet the last five days or so. Smallish waves, which are boring for some of us, but the water is clear and green and looks really nice. The low tide is mid afternoon and after midnight. I'm glad the high tides are at the start and end of the day, at least right now. Then the water is right up close to me camp. The weater is perfect, morning, noon, evening and night.

Today some people came to Esparanza's looking for a camping spot. I was just starting to cook some carne, beef, for fajitas. At Esparanza's request I went out to talk to them. Apparently they had been camping all down the Mexican coast without paying for camping spots, and were very upset that they would have to pay in Chacala. After listening to them for a bit I suggested they drive over to Las Cuevas via El Divisidero and camp there. I hope they do allright if they really go. While i was over talking to them, the mother dog here, a very sweet black lab, ate my carne. not cooked. Darn dog! Oh well.

Some long-time Chacala visitors have been leading weekly bird-watcher hikes most of the winter, and as a kind of culmination, a noted bird person from San Blas is coming Friday and Saturday to offer talks about birding and the environments and the idea of birdwatching as a tourist attraction. Pretty neat project I think.

I have been having some trouble with the type size and adding additional photos on the Chacala Budget Rentals website, but you can still see the new photos by
clicking here .

Chacala Baptism

This morning was the baptism mass for the new little baby girl, Wendy, who is seven weeks old, and lives in the area where I camp. This morning we cleaned up tables and chairs and blew up pink balloons for the fiesta this afternoon. Then I got to hold Wendy (seems like such an un-Mexican name) while her mom, Henia, and her sister-in-law, who lives right here too, hung the balloons. Wendy's little brother, Markito, aged two, and her cousin, Jasmine, also aged two, and I drew and messed around with dominoes while I held the baby and the moms worked.

When we got up to the church for the mass, the priest arrived about an hour late, so there was plenty of time to hang around and visit. I was amazed to see how young Henia's mother was. I don't know who comes to baptisms, but it was a smaller crowd than I expected, considering the size of Esparanza's family in Chacala. But I don't how it works. Henia asked me to come several times, and she also invited my friends Susan and Kirk, who were visiting yesterday. Esperanza, a young woman, and Maria Pelilia were the only women wearing dresses. Everyone else was wearing long pants. Except me in shorts. Markito had on brand new Levi's, size two or so, and a nice new cowboy style shirt. The grandad and dad both had new haircuts.

There are still quite a few tourists arriving and leaving, but the motor homes continue to leave with no replacements. The beach and grassy camping area are starting to look empty. There is more talk around town about the wisdom of allowing motorhome people to dump their sewage directly into holes they have dug in the sandy beneath their motor homes. Same with the jet ski issue.

I am so pleased with how the photos look on the http://chacalabudgetrentals.blogspot.com website. There are some problems with the size of the type I can't resolve, and at the moment I can't seem to save any changes on the "List of Chacala Rentals" post. But Jared, my MAC savior is going to fix it. The photos are there, and the type is readable, but some of it is small. I have photos to add as soon as the glitch is straightened out.

If you have some photos of rentals you want to send me , that would be great. alalatawah (at) gmail.com. Use the symbol @ to email, rather than (at). Trying to avoid spammers. To look at the photos I already have posted, go to Chacala rentals

Chacala and the whales

This morning about 9am, I was sitting at my table looking out at the water, and two baby whales popped up, with their cute little tails waving in the air. Then their mom showed her back for a bit. They bobbed up and down for about twenty minutes until some kayakers moved up on them and they disappeared. They were the closest I have ever seen to the beach, way inside the buoy. Amazing.

Alvaro, a local man who speaks English, has been taking visitors out to visit a Huitchol (local Indian group who are very artistic and strong spiritual practices) "village". It's actually kind a a rancho, with a very large extended family living in a number of houses near each other. The two groups I talked to about their trip with Alvaro had exceptional times, and came back very excited about their experience. I think you bus with Alvaro into the mountains, about an hour , and then walk to the settlement. And eat with the family, etc. Alvaro is very knowlegable and fun to be around and I can recommend that trip, and also the trips he makes to the petroglyph area near Chacala.

The weather continues to be wonderful, warm and clear and not too hot. The town is pretty quiet, and most of the rentals are full for now. The motorhomes are pulling out, and soon they will mostly be gone.

Some governmental agency did some work on the road that goes by Esparanza's , on the way to Mar de Jade. I can't tell if it's an improvement of not.

For a look at Chacala budget rentals click here.

Everyday Life in Chacala

Yesterday I rode into Las Varas with a friend and found out two things I didn't know before. One is that the IMSS store, reached by turning left at the second signal, and going west two blocks, has both peanut butter and fruit juice in small jars (apple and grape are my favorites), both of which are unusual around here. They also have ground coffee, another hard-to-find item.

Also, I didn't realize the ice factory on the way back to Chacala from LV sell block ice, another hard to find item. I am still trying to find small canisters of propane, which are also difficult to find, even in Puerto Vallarta.

The motor home area over on the grass seems to be emptying out after a high of 18 motor homes, campers, etc. That doesn't include the weekend campers from Guadalajara, Compostella, etc. Those that remember Jose Manuel, the former campground security guy, will probably be glad to know he got a new job, doing security, etc at Las Brisas.

Whales are still right close. Yesterday there were whales were almost inside the buoy area. Mom's and babies. Dancing around. Only one moto on the beach this Sunday, and it left quickly. Don't know why but I am glad.

Fleur, the Eastern dancer, from Mexico City, who danced at Majahua last winter. is back. This time accompanied by her very talented musician friend, Gonsalvo. He plays the sitar and also the soprano sax. One of favorite memories in Chacala will alway be listening to Gonsalvo play the tenor sax at Majahua, while I sit on the terrace there, watching the ocean and the stars.

Fleur is offering Eastern dancing shows several night a week. You can go up to Majahua to check on times and days.

Yesterday I has some neighbors for the night. They didn't know how to put up their little tent, and we had fun putting it up. They, a middle-aged couple from Compostella, had never camped before. When I returned to camp after dark I saw they had no lights so I gave them some of the candles in jelly jars that people use outside around here. In the morning they paid me back (not necessary) by buying me an fresh orange juice from Tina. Nice way to start the day.

Mar de Jade has a lovely new patio area out near the pool, where the artifical streambed used to run. It looks lovely and the perfect place to read or talk or have a drink. And speaking of Mar De Jade and Majahua, there are numerous stone "statutes" all around the area there. Many stones balanced on top of each other. One of the tourists told me he thought the stone were glued together, because it seems impossible that they are only balanced. It looks kind of strange and kind of beautiful, in my opinion.