On February 22 we took an over-night bus from Guanajuato to Puerto Vallarta and then a local bus to the Los Muertos pier where we met up with Karen and Stewart.  From there we took the water taxi to Yelapa.Karen and Stewart left Yelapa on March 1 and we enjoyed our time together hiking, beaching, and eating.  One day we hired a boat to take us to Las Islas Marietas.  We swam through a cave into a hidden beach but the water was cold so we didn’t snorkle.  The highlight was seeing grey whales swimming up close and breaching at a distance.  We also saw porpoises, a manta ray, and tons of sea birds. Now that Karen and Stewart have left we need to figure out how to enjoy the next four weeks here.  Yelapa is beautiful but small.  We are “glamping‘, an interesting and economical option here.  The campground is 5 minutes up river, nestled in the jungle.  The sounds of native birds, chickens, roosters, toads, horses, mules, and ATVs is overwhelming at times. Yelapa is a special place: beautiful with beach, ocean, mountains, and river through the jungle.  There is a small local population of friendly people who live primarily off the tourists.  There is a daily parade of day-trippers from Puerto Vallarta that arrive on boats in the morning and leave in the afternoon.  They usually either walk to the nearby falls or ride a horse/mule to the further ones, and then spend some hours on the beach being serviced with food and drink.

A smaller number of visitors spend the night in a variety of rustic accommodations that span the luxury scale.  There is also an ex-pat population who regularly spend the winter here.  The small village has about three tiny grocery stores and ten restaurants.  We have Internet access but it does not support streaming video, which is a problem for us.  Our daily routine is slow and boring but we are trying to adjust and appreciate the beauty, ocean, and excellent weather.

The negative aspect of Yelapa for us is its marijuana culture for which it must be famous.  It is hilarious seeing the hippie generation here smoking up everywhere there is a social gathering.  Where we are staying people wake up to a joint and smoke all day as far as I can tell by the smell.  Sad but normal to see the local youth also using.