beauty and the beach

I love crowds of people.

And there is nothing much better than the joy of Christmas crowds on Mexican beaches.  Even though most local revenue in our village comes from agriculture, tourism is important -- with Mexican tourism provide the muscle and bones of that sector.

We get quite a few Mexican tourists on each weekend.  But the true assault is at semana santa (the two weeks around Easter), the six-week summer school vacation, and, of course, the multi-week family extravaganza around Christmas.

On Saturday, we decided to drive over to La Manzanilla -- one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  And, usually, one of the most serene.

Not on Saturday.  That was evident on the way into town.  There were enough buses parked along the highway to transport everyone in his twenties who had ever pirated a movie.

And there were no parking places in town.  I usually park in front of Lora Loka, with an easy access to the beach.  We ended up parking in the south forty.

There was no doubt why all of those vehicles were in town when our boots hit the beach.  You have probably seen photographs of Chinese beaches during busy holidays.  La Manzanilla was in the nascent stages of spawning a beach flash mob.

What was most surprising is the crowds were there even though the sun was not.  The day was warm, but the sky was a bit drab with cloud cover.  A study of slate and silver.

I told Dan and Patty that I was a bit apologetic for slowing down our departure for southern Mexico.  I thought we were spending far too much time in the local area.  They graciously reminded me that they had never seen this part of Mexico -- all of it was new to them.

After a lazy day on the beach and a great plate of Ada's pollo jamaica at La Rana, I agreed they were correct.  They are here to see Mexico and have fun.  And we certainly did both.

By the time you read this, we should be touring Colima and Comala.  From there, who knows where we will head.  But you are certainly welcome to come along.