We arrived in Yelapa by water taxi on Thursday the 14th and settled into our cool little bungalow by the seaside. The place is called Lagunita and has 32 bungalows spread along a seawall, the mountainside behind it and the beachside, all with patios looking out to sea. There’s a great freshwater rock pool, a little beach bar and a good restaurant, all located on a large area of beach for the use of guests only. A very cosy place.
The main village is located on the western shore of the bay and is built up along the lush jungle mountainside, with small cobblestone streets and dirt paths linking the upper and lower portions of the town. It’s a little bit of a hike from the eastern shore of the bay, but if you’re too lazy to walk the beach and then climb some serious concrete stairs (the shortcut) to access the village, you can take a water taxi from the eastern pier to the western pier. Then you only need to climb a few stairs to the roads into town.
Behind the main beach, there is a river valley where the Rio de Tuito flows down from the Sierra Madre and forms a small lagoon behind the beach during the dry season. There’s some great hiking along both sides of the river, with the first kilometre or so lined with quaint homes, chickens, mules and a taste of true and authentic Mexican existence. It was refreshing to see life relatively unchanged. There are ATVs—the local Uber—that transport goods from the piers and people wanting to go from A to B. Mules are still widely used for day-to-day village transport, but the ATVs are winning out.
There are a few waterfalls (cascadas) in the surrounding mountains, so after a couple of days of cloudy weather and zero exercise, we headed off on a 4 1/2-hour round-trip journey to the nearest falls. We followed a stone-paved path for about 1 km, then a meandering sand-, clay- and rock-strewn path leading deep into the jungle. Jungle is a relative term. It was definitely jungly, but there weren’t any snakes or giant spiders, and we didn’t get covered in leeches while thrashing through knee-deep mud and quicksand. We did have to take our shoes off not once, but twice, for river crossings, and I did save a giant frog from what I was sure was a deep, no-exit pit. But it was still jungly nonetheless.
Several parrots screeched their dismay at our arrival at the falls, but two large woodpeckers greeted us. They reminded me of work. Bang your head against the wall long enough and maybe you’ll get a bite.
The falls were nice. We’re spoiled living in British Columbia.
There were no bugs to speak of during our hike—in fact, anywhere—but Joyce is a magnet for biting little bastards, and she of course came home with several distinct bite profiles. We first had to eliminate the possibility that the bites were from bed bugs. They weren’t, and with that being said, in all of our travels and my business travels over 35 years, we have never experienced bed bugs. How about that. But what are the bites? Her main bites have a small red puncture in the middle, surrounded by a red outer circle with a white halo. Not sure what kind of deadly bug this was, but if she starts to go crazy in the next few days, maybe it’s the feared Loco de la Joko. Or maybe they’re just unique mosquito bites.
We finally had sunshine on our last day, and we took full advantage. My eyelids are a little burnt. I promise to start wearing my sunglasses while tanning, and yes, I know I will not look like a raccoon. That only happens when spring skiing.
Tomorrow we head back to Puerto Vallarta, and we’re leaving a really nice little village place, but we made a contact who has a nice home for rent along the riverbank for a very good price. Maybe we’ll rent it for a couple of months in early 2020?
