A slow start this morning, leaving about an hour after Tim and Sarah. We had arranged to catch them up in the evening in El Cuyo.
Heading north to the coast at Rio Lagartos, we stopped in the village of San Felipe, as we found a strong wifi signal and could post a couple of blogs. A gentleman came up to the window and asked if we wanted help. I think he thought we were looking for directions online.
He was quite a character. Luc, a Belgian who had bought a plot of land in San Felipe 15 years ago and built himself a house there. More or less self sufficient with a small holding producing fruit and vegetables. His neighbour has a private Cenote which he lets Luc swim in. He has a room to let in his house and asked us if we would like to stay. We explained we were going on to El Cuyo.
Luc has developed his own crypto currency using a coin called the “dakta”. He was very keen to tell us all about it. Luc was going to Rio Lagartos, about 10 kilometres away. We gave him a lift on the back of Poki. He stood on the rear step and held on to the ladder. We stopped after the agreed signal, when he gave a sharp knock on the side of Poki. He was worried there may be police around the next corner and they would give us a ticket for carrying him on the back.
We progressed very carefully, but there was no sign of any police. As we came into Rio Lagartos local people laughed at Luc clinging on to the back. We dropped him off at his Canadian friend’s house on the waterfront.
Rio Lagartos is a very pretty little place. Turquoise sea and several islands just off the shoreline. It appears the main source of income is tours to see flamingos. This coast is famous for them. The road up to Rio Lagartos is called the Flamingo Road. I’m glad we made the journey into the centre of Rio Lagartos to drop Luc off, as it was the nicest coastal town in the area.
We retraced our steps for a couple of kilometres and picked up the road to El Cuyo again. En route we stopped to take some pictures of what had looked like snowy mountains. They were in fact salt mountains. An industrial production of salt. Heavily laden trucks passing us and a conveyor belt going out over the road to the water to load the salt onto ships.
Stopping at the next town, Las Coloradas, we parked under a tree for lunch. We were out of bread and tomatoes so looked for a shop. If we are going to be parked on the beach at El Cuyo for a few days, we need supplies. Finding a mini-supermarket I went to restock. I came back to find a Dennis talking to a couple of Canadians from Newfoundland. They had met Tim, Sarah, Charley and a Jaxon earlier and were telling Dennis his grandchildren were “down the road”.
The road from now on isn’t a road but a sandy track. We had been warned it was a bit rough, but also narrow. There was a concern over whether Tim would get the truck through.
It was very scenic. Lagoons stretching all along the land side. I was hoping we would see lots of flamingos. I always seem to be disappointed as far as flamingos are concerned. When we went to Kenya we didn’t see any. It was the wrong season and they had all moved to lakes in the north. Here it is also not the right time of year. We did see a few though. However, there were many more pelicans than flamingos.
We stopped a couple of times and climbed the dunes on the sea side to get a look along the coast. Never ending white sands and no one in either direction. We took a small track that took us to the beach. Smothered in shells, I could have stayed all afternoon collecting them – but we have no space for any extras.
The track by this time had become very narrow and over hung with tough cactus and prickly, scratchy bushes. Tim’s truck must have taken quite a battering. Apparently they had to stop several times and take a saw to some overhanging branches.
As we approached El Cuyo we received a WhatsApp message from Sarah. A bit of an incident had occurred. They had snagged some power wires and pulled down a pole. Despite the fact that Tim had replaced the pole and repaired the damage (to a better standard than originally, as the pole was rotten) the locals called the police. Tim had to go to the police station and sort things out. That, of course, meant paying money. A fine of 500 Pesos.
We saw the police station as we came into town and Dennis went to look for Tim. No sign of him, though. Not knowing where Tim and Sarah were we drove through the town looking for them, while trying to communicate via WhatsApp. It took us a while to locate each other, but Sarah said they had seen us and we should turn around and go back. They were being taken by police escort to a safe beach spot.
Seeing them and their escort we caught them up, picking up one of the walking policemen on the sidestep of Poki. By this time Sarah and Tim were best friends with the police and there was much laughter as they showed us a nice and safe place by the beach to camp.
Once we had set up camp, I went for a quick walk along the beach. There is a pier leading out into the water in the centre of the town. Beyond the pier the sky was full of kite surfers. I think Tim and Sarah hope to give this a try in the next day or two.
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