Click on a photo to enlarge it.
We set off for the beach, which is about 500 miles further south, for a bit of relaxation and rest. We stopped in Mazatlán for the night and Kirsten went to a
dermatologist to get her moles checked out. Kirsten had to get fully undressed and lie on a doctor's bench that had no disposable cover on it for each patient,
so who had been lying on it before??? Not a nice thought.
It cost about $30 and the doctor pointed out one of Kirsten's moles that ought to be looked into. We could have made an appointment to have it removed but were
both somewhat concerned about the hygiene! So we will wait until we are in the States.
We spent the night at the free football stadium and then drove down to the beach campground at Las Lupitas near Teacapan. It was quite full and our normal spot was taken. Other
choices had no shade or were too dusty or had too many leaf cutter ants around.
So we went to the other end of the campground and found a spot right at the end under a large tree. There was a hose across the ground and we didn't want to drive
over it as people were filling up their water tanks from the water supply. We chatted to the people who would be our new neighbours whilst we were waiting and then
filled up our tank as well. After about an hour we parked up and then our neighbour said we had parked where he puts his generator every evening. We asked him if
there was anywhere else he could put it but he refused saying that he would then have to put up with the noise and the fumes!!! There was plenty of other places he
could have put it but he was just being awkward.
As it was getting dark we just decided to go over to the next campground where there was a full hook-up and therefore cost more, but we could wait for a spot to
become available at Las Lupitas.
Edi and Jochen were at the other campground and invited us for a meal seeing as we had to park up in the dark and then were told that we had parked the wrong way
and using the concrete pad on the wrong side. This meant that we were blocking two spots! Thank goodness Edi is a very good cook which saved us from being in a
seriously bad mood!
The next day Jochen came around and took a look under our bonnet. We have a small oil leak but nothing serious at the moment. But he also fixed our heating controls
in the front cabin which we haven't been able to move for months. Well placed WD40 and a bit of wiggling sorted it out! Amazing. In her next life Kirsten is going
to learn to be a car mechanic!
Life is hard here - Kirsten went swimming in the mornings with Edi even though the water was a bit cold and then we would all go walking on the beach in the afternoon.
Edi brought the two dogs, Max and Moritz, and we would walk to the other campground where Edith would join us for the rest of the walk.
Helen complained that their mouths were going faster than their legs and would go ahead and walk somewhere around 10 to 12 miles a day. Little Max could only manage a
few miles so Jochen came to pick him up on the ATV. King Max, with his little ears flying in the wind, looked like he was sneering at the rest of us who were left to
walk on the beach!!
We put our hook-up to good use by baking banana bread and various cakes. Each time we would give Edi and Jochen a piece but there was never any mention as to whether
they enjoyed it or not until Kirsten went fishing for compliments. So their pieces got smaller and smaller until they finally cottoned on and we laughed when we saw
Edi running over to us to compliment us on the cake!!
There are plenty of animals and wildlife here. Edi refused to go swimming for a while when Kirsten told her there are sharks here! We were also visited by a snake!
(See video)
Snake in Teacapan.
There is also the Haas avocado plantation nearby with its large house, ostriches and ugly dogs. The Haas avocados were developed by Antonio Haas who had
German/Mexican parents and died in 2007 at the age of 84 leaving everything to his nephew. The avocados are famous in Mexico.
Brian and Lily arrived at Las Lupitas and we suddenly realized that we hadn't told them that we had moved to the other campground but we were only next door and they
came over and joined us a few days later.
For Kirsten's birthday we made banana bread, carrot cake, a cheesecake that Helen decorated with "43" in peaches and a zucchini cake. We sat at Edi and Jochen's on
their veranda and Edi provided the coffee. Edi also gave Kirsten a lovely "bouquet" of flowers and shells on a palm leaf and Brian and Lily gave her a really nice
set of Yucatan lotions and shampoo. Edith gave Kirsten a card with a hand drawn cake and 43 candles. Inside it was a photo of the matching lounger. We had been given
the other one that needed repairing last year and we'd been trying to get the second one to go with it! Great birthday!
The next day was the annual sandcastle event and we went to take a look. The best were a woman lying on the sand, a huge pair of feet, and two large snails.
Brian and Lily came over to our campground and we swapped DVDs so that we could watch some films. It's been a very long time since we've seen anything and we don't
even know what the current best films are.
Helen made a Shepherd's pie for Edi and Jochen the night before they left to head south to Puerta Vallarta which went down well. No doubt we will see them on the way
north later on in the year.
Kirsten took Brian and Lily to see the Haas plantation the day before they left to head back home to Canada. If we get a chance we will go to see them in the summer.
Our beach walking partners were fast disappearing but we still went to fetch Edith to go walking in the afternoons. On our way to the beach we came across two Mexican
men who had managed to get their pick-up truck stuck in the sand and were trying to get out backwards. So Helen and Kirsten used all their experience and got them out
in no time. The Mexicans were probably more embarrassed than grateful because it was two women who got them out!!!
The next thing was power cuts at the campground. Our neighbour's inverter blew up because we had so many power cuts and the power output was too low. So every time
there was a power cut everyone ran out shouting to tell the others and we all unplugged to prevent fridges and computers from shorting.
This at least got the whole campground talking to each other and we swapped tips and tricks. One thing we learned (after only five and a half years of travelling!) was
a very good way of washing clothes by hand. Watch the video and have a laugh!
Helen and the Mothersucker.
Bob the snake man came around with a Neotropical Whip snake which was a smaller version of the one Kirsten had already video'd. The snake bit Bob several times but he
didn't think it was poisonous. Hope he's right!!! Anyway, Kirsten got her camera out and even touched it. We've seen so many snakes on our travels that we don't really
need to get so "up close and personal!!"
We decided to extend for a week longer and were even allowed to watch German football live at Klaus and Joyce's camper. (Bochum 0-3 Bayern Muenchen). HSV, our
favourite team from Hamburg, weren't playing until the next day, but at least we got to watch something! Great!
Unfortunately, someone stole our shower shoes which we leave out on the bonnet to dry. Why on earth anyone would want to steal them, we don't know. Especially seeing
as they were falling apart! But we do have a second pair which still looks new and so now we have to put them away every day!
We also managed to melt the plastic knobs on our gas rings. Kirsten was using our metal frying pan which gets a lot hotter than the other one, and accidentally moved
it over the knobs which melted straight away! Oh well, these things happen. We'll get some replacements when we get back into the US.
