We arrived in La Cruz (no idea how to say Huanacaxtle), just west of Puerto Vallarta in Banderas Bay early January (time blends and we have no idea what day, time, date it is – not a terrible thing) early in the morning after an overnight cruise. The first thing I noticed is that everyone around us speaks English. While it may seem comforting, I actually didn’t like it. I have liked being immersed in Mexican towns and cultures and having to practice my Spanish as well as to impress the need to learn a 2nd language on the kids. We had lunch with Anna/Babcia/mama, where Paul even found his Eagles’ bar, and kissed her goodbye for her flight back to frigid Canada.
That afternoon, I grew to love the city as Paul and I walked around town to try to find parts for the boat (unsuccessfully). Yes, everyone, even locals, speak English (largely due to large cruising community), but one block from the marina are the cobblestone, dirt roads with bright homes and decor, small tiendas and street taco stands with delicious aromas pervading the air. And everyone greets you with a “buenas dias”.
On Saturday, the kids and I headed to Puerto Vallarta Navarit to do an Outdoor Adventure – one of the best excursions I have ever done. We took a fast boat ride to adorable Boca de Tomatlan, a town nestled in the foothills of mountains filled with lush green and colors so bright, you are instantly drawn to it. We then took a rugged, open bus into the mountains before each being assigned a mule to ride further up the mountain. (no face to ass ride, we were allowed to go at our pace, even nudging the mules into canters if they would acquiesce). We dismounted and were quickly outfitted with harnesses for the multiple ziplines, rappels down waterfalls and waterslides. There was even a zipline roller coaster – a bit jerky, but we all appreciated the novelty. The kids did amazing! We finished the tour with delicious quesadillas at the base camp, which had tons of toys to play with.
The day wasn’t finished! We had reached out to the Nordhavn forum about alternator parts and a wonderful woman, Alexa, replied and was a wealth of information. She connected us into the wonderful kids club. We went directly from the adventure to “kids takeover a restaurant” where the kids helped prepare food, serve and wash dishes at local restaurant, Iguanacaxtle. They collected tips to donate to the Sanctuario de Crocodilas.
On Sunday, we unloaded the dinghy and visited Yelapa, a town only accessible by boat. I was expecting a small, quaint town similar to the small towns we visited in Alaska; however, it had become a tourist destination due to the novelty. It was still a rural, colorful town, especially after you breached the beachside tourist chairs and restaurants. We were immediately met by people with large iguanas and since Andrew was sad to have missed the kids’ club iguana feeding, we paid way too much for pictures.
After advice from friends, we rented a burro (yes!!) taking turns riding for the 6 mile round-trip hike to a beautiful waterfall, that we all took turns riding the strong current. After hiking down, we were famished and had a great lunch before tackling sloppy waves returning to the SeaXII.
On Monday, we volunteered in the kids club’ event, in which they invited a local orphanage to swim in the marina pool, serve lunch, have kings’ cake (Three Kings Day) and presented each child a gift from Santa. It was really cool. These kids, who have so little, had the brightest of smiles and the warmest laughter as they enjoyed the fun day.
On Tuesday, the kids and I visited the crocodile sanctuary, and we fell in love and learned so much about all of the animals being rehabilitated. After the sanctuary, we went to Punta de Mita for a surfing lesson! Kathryn was the most successful, but we all had fun and hopefully can remember what we learned for the next time we have the opportunity to try (my main lesson takeaway…relax-a concept I do not easily embrace).
On Wednesday, the kids and I visited a cacao farm with the kids’ club. We learned the process of picking the cacao bean and making chocolate, and the tour finished with each of us making chocolate to take home (if it got that far).
I had jam packed all of the activities into the schedule because we had hoped that we would only be spending a few days here before continuing south, but reality knocked us into place. After visiting 17 stores, Paul still was unsuccessful in trying to locate a belt for the alternator. (On our overnight cruise, the kids had woken us up, saying there was a burning smell. After tightening the belt, the smell grew worse and resulted in smoke, so Paul just cut the belt.) We also needed to find watermaker testing chemicals, and it was way too difficult to find those as well. We eventually found the chemicals, so we headed out of our slip Wednesday evening to test the water maker. And bam, the water maker worked, but the transmission failed and we had to move to the safety engine. It is difficult to steer with the engine as it is located on one side of the boat, making it difficult to turn, so Paul used thrusters to drive. The thrusters over-heated and not only did we have to pull back into our slip on our back up engine, we had to pull in without a bow thruster. Paul is a superhero driver! We found someone to take a look and he indicated a bad bomba; failed transmission oil pump. Shockingly, they are not available anywhere in Mexico…. So we found parts in the U.S. and paid them to overnight the parts. Unfortunately, the pump was $28 over what an individual can import, so we have to send the part back to the U.S. and find alternative ways to get the part. At least we are stuck in a great town and are surrounded by a great group of welcoming fellow boaters.
A cold front came in, bringing a small amount of rain, so we used the time to get school work in. We did a beach clean up with kids club this morning.
And the extra time we now have in La Cruz allowed us to throw a 13th birthday party for Hannah and Kathryn tonight! The kids’ club leader, Kat, has graciously offered her home for the party. We all have rich histories and lives beautifully lived. It is a blessing to get to know warm, kind people like Kat, as well as the other kids and their parents and hear their stories as we travel around the world.
The kids had a blast hitting the pinata strung up in the backyard (a space devoted to their multiple beloved critters), eating pizza, watching Lion King in their open-air living room, and having delicious cake prepared by a local baker and getting sprayed by silly string! An unforgettable birthday!
