November 25, 2004
Punta de Mita, Banderas Bay, Mexico (20o 45' N 105o 32' W)
We've spent the last couple days at Punta de Mita getting in the 'swing' of things again. Reading on the boat, walking around town and taking a hike out to the far west point.
The walk around town didn't reveal anything special. Although we did walk past some new condos being built which, according to the billboard, start at $325,000 USD. That's pretty fancy for someplace 10 miles from the nearest gas station!
I've had an ear ache (from getting water in my ear while swimming) and have run out of ear drops. The drops I use are mostly rubbing alcohol, so I've been searching the local shops to find a small bottle which I can use to refill my ear drop bottle. Of course I don't know what the phrase for 'rubbing alcohol' is in Spanish, nor do I know the word for 'rubbing' (thank goodness the Spanish word for 'alcohol' is 'alcohol'!) so I've been describing what I need as 'alcohol por su piel' (alcohol for your skin). This had not been too successful. However last night we went into a different mini-super (really a convenience store) and after describing what I needed the shop keeper reached behind the counter and produced a small bottle labeled 'Alcohol (SIN DESNATURALIZAR)'. That's funny, I thought, SIN in Spanish means 'without'. The label seemed to suggest this is pure alcohol without the denaturing contents that make rubbing alcohol un-drinkable. I unscrewed the cap and took a whiff. Sure enough, moonshine! No wonder they had it behind the counter. I've yet to try it in my ear, but I'm sure the effect will be far more dramatic then that north of the border stuff. And no, I don't have any ideas of drinking it.
You may recall my writing about the 'fish fountain' we'd get in some anchorages (small fish jumping sound like a babbling fountain). It turns out Mexico has its own version. The difference is you have to wait for it. When we first arrived at Pt. de Mita we noticed a huge school of fish which would churn the surface of the water white on occasion, but the school always seemed to be near one boat in the anchorage. After a day or so we also noticed a few fish swimming around under NAKIA. They seemed to like the protection of the boat over them. They provided a small 'fish fountain' from time to time, but nothing very spectacular. The next day there were a few more fish, and the next day even more. Our fish fountain was getting pretty big. About the third day we caught up with the people from the boat which had the large school. They'd been anchored in the same spot for several weeks, no doubt collecting a large school of fish during their stay.
That's about all for this report. We're going to Thanksgiving dinner at a local cruiser's hang out this evening. Should be fun but we miss our friends who will be celebrating on Angel Island.
John and Linda
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