02/05/08
So the people we were surfing with in Guadalajara had a 3 day weekend and were planning a trip to the beach. They had invited Matt and I to tag along, so a total of 14 people left from Guadalajara to Manzanilla Beach between my car and a Nissan pick up. It was an interesting mixture of people: one American, two French, two Australian chicks, two German chicks, and the rest were Mexican including a one year old baby. We drove through desserts, mountains, taquila bushes, and small towns stopping every 30-45 minutes to rotate people out of the baking truck bed into my car. We got to the beach at 6:45, but they told us we couldn't camp there because crocodiles were loose on the beach. We all got out to look at the crocodile and moved down the beach like a mile to another site.
We found a beach front campsite where we could camp for free. We pitched our tents and checked out the area. The men began gathering coconuts from the trees, which is more difficult than it sounds. Some of the guys attempted to climb the trees and pull them down. Orlando and I took huge logs and tried to poke them out, but it was cumbersome and we cut up our wrists. Sadey and I threw other coconuts up to knock out the fresh ones. Then Sadey tied a rope to a coconut to try to throw it over a bunch and pull them down, but he couldn't tie it on the coconut. I found an empty 2 liter and filled it with water, tied the rope, and threw it up over the bunch. It was hard, but it worked. Meanwhile, the girls were at town to buy items for a fish taco dinner. A few of us swam in the ocean, but most of the Mexicans didn't because it was la ispuma roja. Which is what they call it when the water has a red tint. They say it is a cleaning phase in the ocean where bacteria kills everything and washes it ashore.
We started a bonfire and cooked fish tacos and rice. After eating, we stayed up talking. They cut open the coconuts and drank the milk, mixing in rum with a few. Then slept in our tents.
03/05/08
We got up and swam again. This time the water had yellow foam. We had lunch of more fish, fresh fruits, and coconut. We swam more and had another bonfire and loved the beach.
04/05/08
We swam in clean water. Then walked to town and got banana shakes in bags. The crazy guy who was tending our camping site kicked us out a few times, but we weren't ready to drive back as half of the people had to ride under the sun in the back of the pickup. So we packed up and went to a small, dirty beach to kill some hours. A lot of us wanted to go straight home, but went to the other beach to keep the unity of the group. We were tired and angry and the beach was ugly and dirty. The 2 Australians: Emma and Juliet and Matt and I found a cheap restaurant with beachside seating and ordered tacos and drinks. Our mood drastically changed with the food. I got super high on life and kept telling everyone how much the trip meant to me and how I loved them and these were the moments that we'd never forget. Matt and I began a show off competition for Emma's love. I did a bunch of somersaults in the sand, got disoriented, and fell on top of a chubby Mexican and his sandcastle. He said he was ok, I talked with him and helped him build another, better sandcastle. Matt and I swam in a chlorinated pool to clean off a bit, Party Boy danced and we drove back to Guadalajara. On the way home Matt told me stories from his time in France when he organized a student protest to completely block of the school. This resulted in him getting beaten by the police to the point where he needed to get stitches.
So the people we were surfing with in Guadalajara had a 3 day weekend and were planning a trip to the beach. They had invited Matt and I to tag along, so a total of 14 people left from Guadalajara to Manzanilla Beach between my car and a Nissan pick up. It was an interesting mixture of people: one American, two French, two Australian chicks, two German chicks, and the rest were Mexican including a one year old baby. We drove through desserts, mountains, taquila bushes, and small towns stopping every 30-45 minutes to rotate people out of the baking truck bed into my car. We got to the beach at 6:45, but they told us we couldn't camp there because crocodiles were loose on the beach. We all got out to look at the crocodile and moved down the beach like a mile to another site.
We found a beach front campsite where we could camp for free. We pitched our tents and checked out the area. The men began gathering coconuts from the trees, which is more difficult than it sounds. Some of the guys attempted to climb the trees and pull them down. Orlando and I took huge logs and tried to poke them out, but it was cumbersome and we cut up our wrists. Sadey and I threw other coconuts up to knock out the fresh ones. Then Sadey tied a rope to a coconut to try to throw it over a bunch and pull them down, but he couldn't tie it on the coconut. I found an empty 2 liter and filled it with water, tied the rope, and threw it up over the bunch. It was hard, but it worked. Meanwhile, the girls were at town to buy items for a fish taco dinner. A few of us swam in the ocean, but most of the Mexicans didn't because it was la ispuma roja. Which is what they call it when the water has a red tint. They say it is a cleaning phase in the ocean where bacteria kills everything and washes it ashore.
We started a bonfire and cooked fish tacos and rice. After eating, we stayed up talking. They cut open the coconuts and drank the milk, mixing in rum with a few. Then slept in our tents.
03/05/08
We got up and swam again. This time the water had yellow foam. We had lunch of more fish, fresh fruits, and coconut. We swam more and had another bonfire and loved the beach.
04/05/08
We swam in clean water. Then walked to town and got banana shakes in bags. The crazy guy who was tending our camping site kicked us out a few times, but we weren't ready to drive back as half of the people had to ride under the sun in the back of the pickup. So we packed up and went to a small, dirty beach to kill some hours. A lot of us wanted to go straight home, but went to the other beach to keep the unity of the group. We were tired and angry and the beach was ugly and dirty. The 2 Australians: Emma and Juliet and Matt and I found a cheap restaurant with beachside seating and ordered tacos and drinks. Our mood drastically changed with the food. I got super high on life and kept telling everyone how much the trip meant to me and how I loved them and these were the moments that we'd never forget. Matt and I began a show off competition for Emma's love. I did a bunch of somersaults in the sand, got disoriented, and fell on top of a chubby Mexican and his sandcastle. He said he was ok, I talked with him and helped him build another, better sandcastle. Matt and I swam in a chlorinated pool to clean off a bit, Party Boy danced and we drove back to Guadalajara. On the way home Matt told me stories from his time in France when he organized a student protest to completely block of the school. This resulted in him getting beaten by the police to the point where he needed to get stitches.
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