La Manzanilla
 

a little town on the pacific west coast of Mexico

halfway between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo

 

we went through there 11 years ago on our search for a beach town

it was a dusty unkempt little town

 the town was a mile off the main road

between a bay and the steep hills just off the bay

 

it felt kind of cramped to me and we went looking further south

 

 

oh yeah and the beach was rocky.....

 

this time 

another great lunch on that beach with friends

friends who met me there, wanting to visit old friends of theirs

who I also had met years ago, who were house sitting in town

small world indeed

 

 

our hotel had a lovely upper balcony that our rooms opened on to

 

I have been back several times since that first visit and am always amazed at how

the hills have filled up with huge houses of the ex-pats

 

this town in now settled by gringos

 

our mutual friends were house sitting a huge house on the hill

 

 

their house was the one on the top right

 

 

big crazy stone house

steep, very steep
mcmansion if you will

 

the view was awesome though

that is the bay out there on the horizon
nice place to watch the sun set

 

I thought this was so cool

I had never seen double fans like this

 

they made quite a statement in the room

 

we stayed late visiting and left in the dark the first night

with the aid of flashlights

 

the next night I walked down by  myself just at sunset so I could see without a light

the most amazing thing happened

the road was thick on both sides with fireflies!

I had not seen so many since Punta Mita, over 20 years ago

I lingered till dark on the path just watching

what seemed to be magic

the closer I got to town, the less there were

and finally when I reached the road, there were no more
 

I am so glad to know that the place exists

where fireflies still line the road

 

 

as we left La Manzanilla and headed north to Vallarta

 we passed Tenacatita

Tenacatia is one of my all time favorite spots

currently not accessible as a man who says he is the owner

hired guys with guns to keep everyone else out......

it's more complicated than that

but all you need to know is that another public beach in Mexico

has been privatized
and it is a shame

 

next stop

 

 

for another wonderful lunch of course

 

with great food (that is my favorite salsa)

 

and great company

 

I had been wanting to get off the main highway (2 lane)

in El Tuito many times but never did

I was so glad we finally stopped and drove into town

 

turned out to be a really nice little town

this is across the street from the main square
just down from our resturant

 

the square with a magnificent old tree

I really liked the town and I will be back

 

after El Tuito it was about an hour to Vallarta
  

of course we made the obligatory gringo stop in Vallarta at a big box store

where else could I get organic rice milk??

 

next time -  Las Palmas
another hour northeast of Vallarta toward the mountains
lots of adventures there



ps  for more information on La Manzanilla
 

http://www.visitlamanzanilla.com/blog/

 

written by a friend of a friend, small world after all