A Day In Barra De Potosi, Mexico - Paradise On The Pacific - a photo essay

 This is a story I wrote a couple of years ago and posted it on my web site. I'm getting ready to return to La Barra De Potosí in less than 3 weeks and thought I'd share this photo essay with you.

 Enjoy!

My last full day in paradise. And I was determined to make the most of it. But, I had no idea what the day had in store!

It started out like most days with a trip to the mercado. All I needed this morning was a few oranges for juice. I had a couple of left over pastries to go along with my jugo.

With breakfast out of the way I grabbed my daypack full of survival gear. Sunscreen, a good book, insect repellant, a towel, my camera, a couple of bottles of water, a few pesos, and so on. Then it was on the bus for one last visit to La Barra.

 I've made this trip enough times that things along the way are becoming familiar. There's the town of Coacoyúl. The Pemex at the airport road. The chicken processing place. The church in the middle of the bog. I'd like to know the story behind it.

The bus rolled to a stop in Los Achotes and I hopped off and headed over to the pasajera. A pasajera is a small, flatbed truck with benches in the back and a tarp over the top. I climbed up in the back and waited for our departure. I shared the truck with a couple of beach vendors. It was butterfly season, so there were butterflies all over. They would blow in from the front of the truck, flutter around in the back of the pasajera for a bit, then get too close to the back and get sucked out and go about their business.

I got to La Barra around 9 a.m. and walked up the beach to the lagoon where I rented a kayak from a 10-year-old kid at one of the enramadas for 50 pesos an hour. "¿Reloj?," he asked. "Sí," I replied. He wanted to make sure I had a watch so I would know how long I'd been out.

It had been about... oh, never mind how many years it's been since I paddled a kayak. Don't want to make myself sound too old! But, once I started paddling it was just like old times.

I don't know why I haven't ever gotten around to taking a kayak trip into the lagoon. It was a ton of fun! There are all kinds of little nooks and crannies that you can paddle into. And lots of fish, birds, and other wildlife to enjoy. 

My destination on the kayak trip was Playa Sanctuario de Las Tortugas, an isolated beach on the other side of the lagoon. I paddled about a half mile up the lagoon and found a spot in the mangroves that I could land. I grabbed my pack and started walking down a road through an old coconut grove toward the beach. There were some freshly cut palm trees that had been cut up into 2x4's. When I got to the trail that cuts off the road and heads to the beach I saw a camp with a burro and a couple of dogs. This wasn't here last time I went out to Turtle Beach.  

Once I got to the beach it was just as peaceful as I had remembered it. Not a person in sight. Just crashing waves, lots of seabirds, and crabs skittering about. I spent a couple of hours there soaking up the tranquility. Then it was time to head back to town.

When I got back to the camp there were a couple of young men there. I visited with them for awhile then started down the road toward my kayak. One of them asked if I wanted a ride. It was getting pretty warm and I had almost a mile to walk to get back to the kayak. So, I took him up on his offer.

When I got back to the kayak I thanked Pedro for the ride and asked if I could get a photo of him. He was very happy that I wanted a picture of him. He told me to come back soon.

Back in the boat, I headed back toward town. This time I was going with the current. I hadn't noticed on the way up into the lagoon, but on the way back I was flying along with no effort at all.

Once I was back in La Barra it was time for lunch.

I went straight to La Condesa and ordered my favorite lunch in the whole world. Shrimp tacos and an Indio beer. While I waited for my lunch I took a quick dip in the ocean to cool off. I'd worked up quite an apetite on my adventure and made short work of the tacos. Then it was into a hammock for a siesta. Life is good!

 Normally this would be more than enough for a day in paradise. But, things were just picking up! I went over to Laura's place for a quick visit before going back to Zihuatanejo. When I got there she told me that there was a special event going to take place in the village that evening.

The kindergarten kids were putting on a "Dia de la Revolución" program as a fundraiser. How could I pass up an opportunity like this?

Laura and I visited about the Children's Library, life in La Barra, and many other things until it was time for the program. The mothers of the kindergarten kids had cooked lots of food to sell for the fundraiser. Everything was 5 or 10 pesos. Pozole. Enchiladas. Tamales. Tacos. I ate way too much and it was all absolutely delicious!

Laura and I sat down at one of the tables that were set up in the street outside of the kindergarten. In case you don't know Laura, let me tell you, she is a "kid magnet." Wherever she goes in the village there is a group of kids. I took a couple of pictures of the kids. They wanted to see their pictures on the digital camera. It didn't take long before we were surrounded by kids all getting their pictures taken. Then they would shout, ¡A ver! ¡A ver! ¡A ver!" That translates to "Let me see! Let me see! Let me see!"

 This is the kid that started the stampede.

Followed by this boy and girl...

And then another...

Followed by this little revolutionary

But, wait. There's more!

And then there were these little amigos!

Finally, me and some of the kids in La Barra

After eating, it was time for the program to begin. A couple of the men had strung up lights and set up a PA system. It was all plugged into the kindergarten building. As soon as the music started and the teacher began to speak, "poof!" The power blew. It didn't seem to bother anyone. They just unplugged the cord and drug it over to the neighbor's house and plugged it in.

"Poof!" Same thing. So the entire production moved about two houses down the street and they plugged the cord into the next house.

You guessed it! Kabloowee! So the crowd and all the participants moved a little further down the street until we were standing under a street light. And the program began.

The program was a lot like any preschool production. Kids forgetting their lines. Parents and teachers prompted the kids when it was time for their lines. And lots of little ones being distracted by everything going on around them. They did a great job and the crowd was full of happiness.

Finally, it was the time I wasn't looking forward to. It was time to go back to Zihuatanejo. It was about 8:30 and the pasajeras were no longer running. The taxi stand was deserted. So, I had Laura call the guy who drives the taxi. In a couple of minutes he was out in front of Laura's place and I was on my way to Los Achotes.

As we pulled up to the highway in Los Achotes, I had no sooner handed the driver 50 pesos, then a bus pulled off at the stop across the highway. I gave the "conductor" my 7 pesos and sunk down in a seat. With the music blasting out of the speakers I drifted off to sleep.

The next thing I knew, someone was saying "Señor... Señor..." I woke up at the end of the line, just 3 blocks from my room.