Dec. 2004 Punta Mita and La Cruz

They are big on tubas in Mexican bands...not so much call for them in Vancouver!

A beautiful sunset in Punta Mita. We made it across the Sea of Cortez and are now in our first anchorage in Banderas Bay. It is lovely and warm. It is much more tropical here, than on the Baja side of the sea.

Tis the season! This is a typical Christmas display in a yard outside a local house in Punta Mita. Most of the houses had at least one of these displays outside, and behind a locked gate. All displays had a manger scene, or at least a picture of the virgin, as well as the Christmas tree and many gaudy ornaments and lights.

Fishing boats in Punta Mita. Just a lovely scene.

These boys were so pleased to have their pictures taken. They children are warm and friendly. The ones who want to "guard" our dinghy are not always the most honest, but we have to remember the poverty here and not leave temptation available to them. For the most part, we have found the Mexican people, especially those in the small towns, both friendly and honest.

As you can see, the vegetation here is much more lush.

Here they are re-thatching the roof of a beach palapa.
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From Punta Mita we headed a bit farther around the bay to the south, to a town called La Cruz. The water was quite polluted here, so there was no swimming. However, the town was quite quaint. This is La Cruz from Fortuitous.

Here there was a lady making and selling piñatas in her house. They were very large so we asked for a small Santa. We were to come back the next day to pick it up. This is the lady and that is our small piñata!

This is a street in Colonia. As you can see from the photo, they are all decorated in preparation for Christmas. During our time in La Cruz, it was the Festival of Guadalupe. We knew nothing about this and no festival was taking place in La Cruz. We took a taxi to another even tinier village called Colonia. There, there was a religious pageant, music, and fireworks.

The music was lively and enjoyable. The kids and adults in the band were all in uniform and really enjoyed entertaining.

This lady wasn't too pleased about having her picture taken, obviously. We did buy tacos from her, and we did ask to take the photo.

These are fellow Bluewater Cruisers, Brian and Marilyn off Icarian. We are having a drink and dinner at a bar called Philos.

This is Leon, one of the local entertainers. He plays washboard and is soooo entertaining. He just loves what he does and enjoys it so much, you just get pulled along with him.