A Bucolic Drive to Guayabitos

Teacapan, Sinaloa to Rincon de Guayabitos, Nayarit

When I first saw references to Mexico  as the "United States of Mexico", I was surprised to think of the country in that way. My impressions of Mexico had been formed in much the same way that they are for many nortenos- short holidays in tourist resort towns and through Hollywood cliches. Having now travelled through three states, I am aware that they were formed as states for the same reasons that our provinces and the American states were- each has its own character defined by its geography, which in turn shapes its people.

As posted by Hollis, the trip out of Sinaloa state had its moments of excitement. I am glad that with our entry into Nayarit, we are once again in a land of frequent and useful highway signage. The freeway to Tepic was wonderful, if expensive (we would end up shelling out over $30 in cuotas before the day was through) and allowed "school" to happen early in the day.

Tepic, while a regional centre and, I am sure, quite useful for that reason, is not particularly inspiring. We dithered about for almost 2 hours, backtracking and getting lost trying to follow the directions in our camping book to the grocery nirvana that it promised, only to end up in a suburban grocery store that adequately suited our needs. More getting lost and backtracking to get back onto the freeway made for a hot and less than comfortable afternoon of urban Mexican driving after the freedom of the freeway.

But what a change as we left Tepic! The little town of Xalisco is a picturesque way to leave Tepic, shortly after which we left the freeway (which continues on to the huge urban sprawl of Guadalajara). We then encountered the essence of the state of Nayarit. Winding, two-laned roads serpentined through the hills, with the jungle doing its best to overgrow the roadway and in some spots, succeeding. The canopy of trees often meets over the road and in places branches brush the sides of the semi-trailers that crawl through these hills. "Crawl" is the operative word. When the road ahead is clear, the drive is an exhilarating time speeding though corners. But inevitably, one catches up to one of the many heavily-laden trucks distributing Coca Cola Corp.'s many products, or fresh vegetables, or bricks, or what-have-you, and the exhilaration is replaced by the boredom of following something you cannot see past along a road which, by its nature, does not allow passing. We ended up between two large trucks, of which the one in front had locked up the brakes of its second trailer and consequently we travelled a good distance enveloped in the cloud of asbestos-laden smoke which it was trailing behind it. Like all good things, this finally came to and end when I was once again able to pass.

Not all of the road was like this, though. In some places the jungle opened up to reveal views like those shown in the photos. Most of Mexico is one of two things- a garbage dump, where people are, or a Garden of Eden, where people are not (yet). But in many spots in Nayarit are beautiful vistas (one of the better words that English has borrowed from the Spanish) of rolling hills with bucolic little farms tucked away into the folds of the earth. I have learned to anticipate some elements of these pastoral scenes running suddenly up onto the roadway.

The beautiful drive, like all good things, came to an end in Rincon de Guayabitos, where we washed up at the El Flamingo trailer park. Located right on the beach, it promises to offer a lot of what we have been looking for on this trip- we'll see!

-Remy