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4.
End of the trip
  Tuesday,
January 22 we spent the day on La Ropa. I watched 2
sandpipers actually catch little crabs. What was interesting
to me was that they were not aggressive - one got a crab, ran up on the
beach to pull it apart and eat it and nobody chased him trying to steal
it. My observations of other birds and poultry have been
quite different! I also caught this brown fellow (right)
hanging out with the sandpipers. My best guess to date is
that he is a whimbrel. A couple of different beach views. The gatas (cats) hanging out at the beach bar, beach volleyball. On the right you can see the perpendicular waves - the new one coming in from the bay and the smaller one created when the "scallops" run into each other. I could sit for hours and watch this stuff! 
   We had
light lunch at Elviras on the beach (watch the checks from them
- sometimes service is added, sometimes not; and they are prone to
charge wrong amounts as well). More towel art (left) and
rocks and waves on the right.
Tuesday night we went to Il Mare, a Mediterranean restaurant, for dinner. One of the best meals we had. Admittedly, Il Mare is an upscale place and this was the splurge of our trip but oh, so yummy. It's on the La Ropa Road between Casa Que Canta and Hotel Irma. Doesn't look like much from the road but you walk down the stairs and it is built out over the rocks so it was also a great place to watch the sunset. John had lobster bisque and then polla alla limone (a bit like chicken picatta but with lime instead of lemon) and I had shrimp ravioli. Very attentive staff, delicious food, great ambience. 
   Wednesday we earned our breakfast by
walking to Casa Cafe - consistently good food and reasonable, but it is
about a 20 minute walk that involves steep hills. There are
nice plants on the way, though, as seen left and right. John
had pancakes with bananas and coconut syrup plus a bowl of yogurt; I
had a breakfast sandwich on a tortilla and it was so big I saved half
for lunch! They also have a "free" paperback shelf - I was on
my last book so I traded 3 I had read for 2 new ones. (The
rest of the ones I didn't want to keep, I left at the hotel desk since
they have now started a book exchange shelf also.) We bought
a couple of local CD's for $20 - it was a fundraiser for children's
programs so seemed a good souvenir as well as a good cause. Back on
the beach, John walked down to the rocky south shore to "play" and
collect more souvenirs. I read and walked the beach - see the
shaggy dog at left cooling off in the lagoon. Wonderful
relaxing way to spend a day.  We
walked downtown for supper and passed soccer practice on the Playa
Madera beach (right). We were heading for Margheritas but
they were closed (for unknown reasons - that happens relatively
frequently in Mexico) so we just walked up the street to Any's.
They always have good food, good service. We both
had chicken quesadillas, 3 drinks and a 20% tip for a total of $20.
We stopped at the bakery to load up on breakfast goodies for
the rest of the week ($4) and then John had gelato - I was so full I
just took a little nibble of his.   Thursday John
woke up not feeling well at all. He didn't have a fever but
felt like he did. So he took various drugs and rested all
day. He allowed as how if one was going to be sick and have
to lie around, this was certainly a nice place to do it! I
was happy to do beach walks, play in the surf and the pool and read
books! Some of my sights included mister croc again with
dozens of little fish just on the other
side of his fence! I can't imagine he would really be
interested in such tiny fish, but they apparently weren't taking any
chances. I followed a little blue heron (right) around for a while, watched several sandpipers check out an inured dragonfly but determine that it wasn't "food" by their definition. Then a fishing boat came in with its catch including a big dorado and some swordfish (left). 
I think the sunset tonight was my very favorite of
all. When it was nearly over, I snapped this center picture
of the
hotel beach area - in the front is the edge of the pool, then
the palapas and the palm trees with the light ropes lit up and
just the tail end of the sunset.
 
    Friday.
Almost over (sigh). John woke up feeling so much
better he
wanted to walk downtown for breakfast. We tried out the relatively new
Zihua Pancake House. The food was great but service was so inconsistent
that I had totally finished my yogurt and fruit parfait
(right)
before he even got his pancakes - and I am a very slow eater.
Fortunately we weren't in a hurry and it was nice to just sit
and
watch the people. We walked through the market and bought
some
more fruit for today and tomorrow, also got a bottle of honey to bring
home. On the way back, John stopped to take pictures of some
of
the plants just before the last few steps leading down to La Ropa
beach. Below are some of the plant pictures he took around
town
(though not necessarily from this particular spot).     In
the afternoon, John spent some time sorting rocks on the
balcony
and spotted a couple of kiskadees (right) in the trees - we didn't know
what they were but I took their picture and Debby identified them for
me after we got home. I also saw a big exotic blue bird on
the
roof - it had a very long tail and a big crest but it flew away before
I could focus on it. A couple last pictures of the beach and shore. Notice the musicians in their red jackets heading for the beach restaurants where they serenade diners for tips.     We went back
to De Donde Eres for our last supper and had Thai Beef Satay and Eggplant Parmesan, sharing chocolate orange truffle cake for dessert. It's interesting how small things - like a free carafe of water - make such a difference. Definitely the best food for the most reasonable cost. So sad they are moving away! On our way down the beach we passed this guy working on his headstands and adorable child wrapped in a blanket watching him. Saturday morning we finished packing up and took turns doing beach and pool. We left our luggage at the desk after we checked out and headed down the beach to El Manglar for lunch. It was such a nice place we were sorry we hadn't tried it out sooner. It is on the beach but across a small bridge that goes over the lagoon where the crocodiles live. Because it is set back a little bit, it has a jungle feel to it. I had already started my avocado salad before I thought to take its picture!    We then hung out on the lounges until we had to put on shoes and go to the airport. One last view of the beach. |
