Today we met with a local guide/surfer named April. She has a van and does adventure tours to some unique places around Banderas Bay. Our tour today was to start in a small town called Boca de Tomatlan which is at the end of the road. We were to hike through the jungle and along secluded beaches to a cove called Las Animas for lunch at a beach side restaurant. From there we would hop in a panga that would take us to the next cove called Quimixto. In Quimixto we would hike inland again to a local waterfall, and then return back to the beach to catch another panga all the way back to Boca de Tomatlan where we started.
Our starting point in the village of Boca de Tomatlan
There were a few rope bridges with rotted and missing planks!
The hike through the jungle was spectacular. This is all original forest that has been untouched. There are some small hike in houses along the waterfront cliffs and beaches, but since there are no roads, there has been little development over the centuries. This is the area where they filmed the 1964 classic Night of the Iguana, with Richard Burton and Eva Gardner. All the press about the movie and the antics of the stars is what made Puerto Vallarta a popular tourist spot.
There were trees that are full of water. You can hug them and cool off.
The scenery along the trail was spectacular.
Our lunch stop in Las Animas. Everything here is brought by boat.
Cathy made the mistake of telling someone how beautiful their 5 foot orange and yellow iguana was. This guy was old enough to be around when the movie was made here!
Our guide April (right) and the crews of Vamanos and Grace that made the hike with us.
On our way to the waterfall on the last leg of the trip, we had to cross the river a couple of times.
The swim in the cool waterfall felt great after the sweaty hike.
Once we got back to the beach it was time to jump (literally) into another panga. The surf had come up a bit so getting into the panga would have been a challenge for non boaters. The landing back at our starting point in Boca de Tomatlan was interesting. The panga surfed in on a 4 foot wave onto the beach, got sideways, almost flipped, then finally got straight enough into the waves for us to jump into the water. We waded to shore, then across the river, and back to the car. An exciting finish to a great day.
No comments:
Post a Comment