The South Riding RV Travels
514
15th May 2009 - Rancho Buganvilias, La Penita, Michoacán, México Michoacan
The campsite is actually on a low cliff top but a three minute walk down the track brings you to the beach which must be at least 10 miles long. This is the view north.
Not quite as far looking south but just as empty. They are all good surfing beaches along this coast.
Out in the bay local fishermen are fishing We haven't seen many signs of a serious commercial fishing industry.
This area is more native Indian than we have been travelling through. Here a local fisherman is standing in the surf waiting to cast a hand net. Men have fished like this since time began but I didn't expect to see it still happening.
We acquired a guide at the campsite who followed us everywhere and even seemed to sleep under the RV. Apparently Coco does this with many of the campers much to the puzzlement of the site owners (a young American couple from California).
It was too hot to be on the beach during the day (I burnt the soles of my feet on the sand in 25yards!) We went down first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Hence the unusual lighting effect in this shot. The surf was the same whenever.
You can just see the campsite building in the centre of this picture taken against the sun at dawn. The insects on the beach were a real nuisance. They were too small to see but we knew about them later.
Between the campsite and the beach is a stand of coconut palms and papayas. But they had recently had a 'plague' (insects or disease was unclear) which had swept through the papaya crops all along the coast causing the trees to lose their leaves and thus destroying almost all the crop. They are waiting to see if the trees have been killed as well.
Fortunately the coconuts are doing well.
We kept seeing this flash of yellow and black as we drove along, and finally we caught sight of this one individual some way away in a tree. We think it is a Scott's oriole.
Down on the beach much of the sand was marked with odd tracks and we suddenly realised that they were crab tracks. If we stood very still then all these little hermit crabs came out of their holes in the sand and seemed to be heading inland.
The campsite is called Rancho Buganvilias and the reason is plain to see. There are dozens and dozens of bushes and the owners have installed an irrigation system to help them along. The colours are gorgeous and cover quite a range.
It all makes for a very colourful display. They have had the site open for two seasons now and it is proving very popular particularly with Canadians who make up about 90% of the custom, but we were the second English couple this month. However we were the only visitors at the time as this is now out of season.
The site is very well set up with individually metered electric points which is very unusual. But it does make sense for long stay visitors with large RVs running air conditioning most of the time.
The owners live on site in a caravan with a permanent kitchen. A house is planned but the business comes first. This is the view from their sitting area as the sun sets. I can't imagine why they want to live here.....