The Cartel Coast

On Friday 20th May we arrived in Comala, a small and very pretty town on the edge of Colima national park. This national park includes two dramatic volcanoes, the Volcan de Fuego and the Volcan Nevado de Colima. The Volcan de Fuego is Mexico's most active volcano and has erupted dozens of times in the last few centuries, the last major one in 2003. We tried to book into a B & B, not having found a campsite, but the B & B was full. However, the proprietor said that he had a room over the road and this turned out to be a lovely house with an open central courtyard and kitchen facilities which we had entirely to ourselves!

Central Courtyard, Casa don Jose

Local character with pit-bull,  Comala

We spent Saturday exploring the villages close by, one had an interesting museum with some prehistoric artefacts from the area, and they all had a pretty plaza with a bandstand in the middle and a church on one side.

Central plaza with church, Comala

We then drove on up into the mountains towards the Volcan de Fuego which we could see looming through the haze of cloud which it was constantly puffing out. We stopped at a couple of lakes, the first was a little disappointing but the second one, closest to the volcano, was quite beautiful and we decided that we would return there the next day.

On Sunday morning we packed up and checked out of Casa Don Jose (a suitably grand name for quite a grand house). It was then that Alan noticed that some b*****d had slashed the tent cover on top of Footloose Lucy. We had left her parked on the street as there was no off-road parking but we had been assured our vehicle would be safe. Wrong! Mara, the proprietor's wife, took photographs of the damage, said she would be reporting it to the mayor and undertook to make arrangements for the cover to be repaired by a local vehicle upholsterer.

Meanwhile, we set off back up the mountains and drove to the closest point we could get to the volcano, about 5 km from it, where we got a really spectacular view and could clearly see puffs of steam billowing out. From there we returned to Laguna la Maria which is, in fact, the caldera of an extinct volcano where we set up camp close to the lakeside.

Volcan de Fuego with steam cloud

View of volcano from campsite

The next incident of the day was a bush fire, quite a fierce bush fire close to the campsite, and there were lots of Mexican people rushing off in all directions. They diverted a water source from goodness knows where, took big buckets of water and started throwing it on the fire. Luckily for us the wind was blowing in the other direction and we were relieved it didn't change. It took several hours to get the fire under control and they were still monitoring it late into the evening. Meanwhile, we took a rowing boat out around the lake and Alan got some good exercise using the very crude man made 'oars'. Sue helped a little, but not a lot.

Sunset at campsite, Laguna la Maria

We returned to Comala on Monday in order to get the tent cover fixed and a very good job the upholsterer made of it too.

On Tuesday, we set off on the road again to head back towards the coast, but not before another 'little incident'. Alan put his right contact lens in and immediately hit the ceiling in agony. Unbeknown to him he had been given the wrong lens fluid which requires a different lens holder to neutralise the cleansing fluid, which he wasn't using. The result was a very painful, bright red and swollen eye.

The drive from Comala was a couple of hundred kilometres down through the Sierra Madre del Sur, also charmingly known as the Cartel Coast as a notorious cartel apparently owns and runs this stretch of road along the Pacific coast, although you wouldn't notice anything different. The road is wonderfully dramatic with frequent glimpses of big beaches full of rolling surf and palm fringed lagoons but Alan never saw much of it, first of all because he was having difficulty keeping his eye open and, secondly, because he was a bit busy driving on the windy mountain road (Note - Alan will not allow Sue to drive Footloose Lucy and she can't reach the foot pedals anyway, even with the seat in it's most forward position).

Lunch stop somewhere off Cartel Coast highway

Cantilever restaurant, Cartel coast

We stopped for the night at a surfer's beachside flop house in a village called Nexpa which had nothing but surf and sand to recommend it.

Surf bums flop house, Nexpa

On Wednesday 25th May we continued on our way south along the coast and arrived at the small fishing village of Barra de Potosi with a seemingly endless palm fringed beach on one side and a lagoon on the other. We stayed at a delightful place called Casa del Encanto which can only be described as something between Scheharezade, Aladdin's cave and Carnaby Street in the 1960's. Alan's eye was still pretty sore so we spent Thursday generally chilling out, exploring the village, eating the delicious freshly caught seafood and even managed to kayak around the lagoon and adjoining mangroves. We also called in at a nearby nature sanctuary where the American owner warmly welcomed us and invited us to camp in her compound once we have finished our stay at Casa del Encanto.

Surreal 'apartment' at Casa del Encanto

Fisherman at sunset with casting net

Fisherman tending to his casting net, Barra del Potosi

Endearing little daughter of local waiter

We got up very early on Friday morning as we had organised a boat trip to a cluster of guano covered rocks which are home to a large number of seabirds. The rocks look like icebergs, they stick up out of the Pacific and are basically pure white because they are completely covered in bird poo! The power of the ocean as it slams around these rocks is pretty impressive and, in spite of the boat pitching all over the place, Alan persevered with his camera and managed to capture a few good shots. The boatman then took us to a place for some snorkelling, although it was pretty mediocre. Mind you, we have been rather spoiled by some spectacular diving and snorkelling sites in other parts of the world.

Brown booby and guana on Morros rocks

Storm petrels off Morros rocks

Pacific combers breaking on Morros rocks

In the evening we met up with Laurel and a couple of her friends at a beachside restaurant and enjoyed delicious tuna and prawns.

On Saturday morning we pottered off to see the local archeological site which is called Soledad de Maciel. This comprises a partially excavated ball court, a pyramid with 4 small temples on the top, a plaza and other bits that they haven't got round to digging up yet. We were assailed by the local 'certified guide' (quickly joined by his mate) who took us around the museum which was admittedly very interesting and then around the site itself. Following the trip round the antiquities they then took us to their village and the predicted sell of fake antiques and figurines which we resisted.

Temple at Soledad de Maciel

After that we had yet another fresh seafood delight at the beach and then set up camp at Laura's wildlife refuge where Alan spent a great deal of time and patience trying to photograph humming birds on the nectar producing plants, with some success!

Humming bird at nature sanctuary, Barra de Potosi

Humming bird visiting flower

Laurel cooked us supper and we had a very convivial evening with her and some friends she invited along.

We set off on Sunday morning and we have since been continuing to make our way along the Pacific coast and managed to get through Acapulco in one hit with the help of Doris, our sat nav. Alan said it reminded him of Calcutta so we were very pleased to see the back of it. We had a minor mechanical problem with Footloose Lucy (the horizontal steering damper came adrift) but luckily found a 'mecanico' who was able to fix it very quickly. Tonight we are once again staying right next to the beach watching the huge combers come crashing in.

Sunset on the Pacific coast

This is the last bit of the 'Cartel Coast' and in the next day or so we will be heading inland again towards Oaxaca (pronuounced wha-ha-ka)