Monday, January 25, 2010

Road Trip! Part Three


 
Friday morning we were on our way by 7AM. There was really nothing more to see or do in San Juan de Alima. We decided to drive northeast, back into Colima to visit the city of Colima. It is very well known for it's volcano and colonial city. The volano erupted in 2005 and is the most active in central America. The city reminded us completely of Merida, the beautiful capital city of Yucatan state. In fact, the town centre looked exactly like it, even the placement of the tourist office was right where we thought it would be! I've included a photo of the front of the Best Western Hotel, which was beautiful-but the back of the building looked like an earthquake had hit it (and it probably did). We spent the morning there and shopped a little. I bought a little pre Columbian reproduction statue that I just fell in love with-will probably take it back to Victoria.

After Colima, we drove back to Manzanillo and had lunch at a perfect little spot on the Malacon. Great food and the view was to die for. We were on a small enbankment overlooking the beach to the north and south. Manzanillo seems to be much less commercialized than PV. There were little shops and vendors but no one bothered us or hollered for us to "come in amiga"!

Finally we headed back to Melaque for our final night. On the way, we took a detour into Isla de Navidad, where the Grand Bay resort is located. It was a lot like Nuevo Vallarta. The place is huge and manicured and doesn't look at all Mexican-but much like Florida or California or Hawaii. We stopped and took a couple of great shots of Barra de Navidad way down below us. It's on the same bay as Melaque, just a couple of kilometers away. It's a very pretty little Mexican town too.

Once in Melaque we stayed in a different hotel this time, much nicer and the rooms were more efficient. We met a guy from Calgary who stays at this hotel for three months every winter. He suggested a few places for dinner and his advice was excellent. We went to a little place not far from the hotel and had an awesome meal. I had ribs which were fabulous and way too much to finish. Gail had chicken with mushrooms and cream sauce that she loved as well.

Saturday morning we had to reluctantly leave. The hotel was booked solid for the rest of the weekend. On the way home we stopped at a little beach town called La Manzanilla (not to be confused with Manzanillo). Maureen's sister Bonnie had told us to stop there. We had missed it on the way down but had plenty of time to stop on the way back.

I think it was our favourite spot on the whole trip! The beach was gorgeous. The waves were small and gentle and the water was bathtub warm. The prettiest thing was the sand because when the waves washed over it with the sun sparkling it looked like there were little flecks of gold in it. I wanted to scoop a pail of it to take home with me, but had nothing to carry it in! (I have a new little side table that has a wood bottom and a few inches higher, a glass top. I want to put sand and seashells in it.)

So, that was our first real exploring trip down here. We had a wonderful few days and will go back to Melaque and La Manzanilla for sure next year!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

We visited all those places on our way down here in '08 and stayed in Melaque for a week as friends of ours were there. We were unimpressed with Melaque or Barra (too big and crowded) but LOVED La Manzanilla too. Did you go to the Tequila place?