Birthday trip of amazingness

Yelapa is like no place I have been. From what I understand, the Spaniards put aside land for the indigenous people, similar to American Indian reservations, and they aren't under Mexico law. There were four main families that own claim on the land in Yelapa, and if any outsiders wish to build there, they must make a deal with the families. But the person cannot actually own the property, and can have it taken by anyone in the family and if they leave, the house becomes the families again. The town is separated by the families land. So when you walk through the town you will see signs for the Garcia's businesses and then you may walk into the "Carlos" business section, for instance.









So we went to Puerto Vallarta to catch and early boat over. We saw another one of the amazing canoes that are carved out of a single piece of wood.





On the way over we happened to meet one of the only gringos that lives there. Brad, has lived there for 20 years, marrying and then divorcing from the Garcia family. He still has property with the family and gave us a grand tour on the way in and a free small apartment to stay in. Score!








So we decided to check out a restaurant that a guy told us about a week prior. We couldn't remember the name of the place, so luckily we ran into a guy we met in Sayulita in front of the hospital (as he found out he had chicken pox) and he just so happened to own the place! We had to take a boat across the mouth of the river to get to it, which an old man walks back and forth. The restaurant is called Angelina's Garden and it is so good!











She has a garden in the back that she makes her food with and the son catches all the fish.
We ate, drank, swam in an awesome pool at the hotel next door and then ate, drank some more. They came in with their catch from fishing that day, 12 enormous fish.



























The family, along with Nolan and Stella, found some hostess treats, a shot of the local booze, a candle and the uncle with a guitar and they serenaded me with a birthday song. It was hilarious! We all stayed up drinking for a bit and managed to miss the last boat across the river back to our casita.








They offered us the hammocks at Angelina's so Stella and I shared a hammock and Nolan took the other one. We had a long night of crazy jungle noises making us uneasy. Dogs were barking all over the place. The old drunk man was near us somewhere snoring and talking in his sleep and I am not sure if anyone has tried to sleep 2 in a net hammock, but it is a really uncomfortable and awkward situation. The sunrise made up for it though.









In the morning we slowly meandered to the waterfall for breakfast and the caught the water taxi back to Boca, and took a bus to PV.

























Vallarta.











The pace of life in Yelapa is so slow, and I could have used a week there.

If you want to know more about the history of Yelapa, Brad (the gringo we met on the taxi) has a great blog called pelapainyelapa.com

Now we are back in the AC resting and catching up on some sleep. We are waiting for a swell that should be here on Monday. Then right after the swell Lee, Mark, the girls and my Mom fly in.... Bad timing for them....

Location:Yelapa