The next day, the rain continued on and off, heavy at times. We decided to go cruisin'. We cruised north along the coast toward the old colonial town of San Blas. San Blas was on the Spice Trade Route for the Spanish galleons and is rich in history. These days, the town's major claim to fame is mosquitoes. Actually, mosquitoes are not normally the problem, but rather, the problem is jejenes (know to Americans as no-see-ums). I'd been to San Blas twice before and I can vouch for the viciousness of jejenes, but this time, with cool temperatures and rain, they were not around, at least not while we were there. When you see the area around San Blas from the air, the presence of skeeters and no-see-ums is no wonder. The city sits at the southern end of a vast maritime preserve, a fancy name for a National Swamp. The Mexicans, true to form, have screwed up this area beyond belief. They encouraged shrimp farming and other aquiculture activities, but failed to enforce their own regulations. The result was polluted water and a degraded environment. That, accompanied by overfishing, has left the San Blas area a shell of its former self. Don't get me wrong though, San Blas is still a nice area, well worth exploring. Don't expect Wal-Mart or Hooters. A small website is here. The La Tovara Spring is located just east of town.

Crystal clear, drinkable water emerges from the side of a mountain and flows toward the sea. This flow creates a large estuary, Estera La Tovara. Back in 1982, Eddie, his sister Diane, and I took the jungle cruise up to the La Tovara source. This time, we took a short side trip to the local Cocodrilorio, Mexican for Crocodile Ranch. After paying our $5 pesos, we wandered amongst numerous breeding pens for the endangered North American Crocodile, the same species that occurs in estuarine areas of the Everglades. They were doing a good job of raising them. All the cocodrilos in the area were not captive though. Apparently the adage "birds of a feather" applies similarly to crocs. This dude sunned its big self on the bank of the river. Al wanted to sneak up behind, grab the croc by the tail, and wrestle it, but we persuaded him not to do it.

A green iguana sunned on the fence of one of the croc pens.

Turtles sunned themselves nearby. Being a mostly cloudy day, the cold-blooded critters were taking advantage of the sun.

These two warm-blooded critters followed suit.

After enjoying a pleasant break in the weather at La Tovara, a storm cell blew in and rain again fell. We cruised through town and I'm pleased to report that the Trailer park where I stayed in `78 and `82 is still there. The proprietors had spiffed-up the Coco Loco bar on the premises, adding awnings and outdoor seating. Heck, the only reason I used to go there was because it was one of the only places in town that had air conditioning and offered an escape from the jejenes. Who wants to sit outside? For some nominal fee, one could obtain a cocoloco, better known as a coconut with the top lopped off and filled with something high-proof. Only one was necessary to produce the desired effect. We proceeded down to the beach area, which still seems rather dumpy. The local authorities were in the process of "improving" it though. I suspect Hurricane Kenna improved it in 2002.

On the way home, being darkness would soon be upon us, we decided to forgo the closer (but somewhat more perilous) coast route. Our route home would be by highways 15 and 200, through the state capitol of Tepic. Tepic is really real Mexico. I can't recall seeing another gringo. The hustle and bustle of Mexican urban life went on all around us, oblivious to our presence. Lying at 3,011' above sea level, Tepic's weather was significantly cooler than down by the coast. Figure 3° F. for each 1,000' and about 10° cooler seemed about right. I'd say it was in the low 60°s.

We ended up in the middle of town. The square was lit up beautifully at dusk.

Our route took us near the Catedral de la Purísima Concepción (The Cathedral of the Most Pure Conception). Construction on the cathedral started in 1750 and was completed in 1885. Hey, mañana, it's Mexico. The building is in the neo-Gothic style with its façade made of cantera stone. The entrance has two floors; there are three-leveled narrow towers on the sides which have a small dome with small lanterns on top; and the interior is decorated in golden relief with plants with neo-classic style altars. You know I got this from somewhere else, right? I really couldn't tell you the difference between neo-Gothic and neo-classical, but the cathedral was a pretty cool building. Inside was beautiful too, but I took no photos as it's still an active church.

We stopped to eat at an upstairs, outdoor restaurant overlooking the central square. After ordering a dinner that included marinated carne and a made-from-scratch Caesar Salad, we were treated to some free entertainment. Our young waiter (who had to be related to the owner), unceremoniously dumped our dinner all over the table next to us. Some time later, we actually got to eat.