Me Like-a Melaque

Melaque cont'd                                       Feb 21 - March 3, 2009

Well, you have heard of Melaque from the perspective of Liz. Now it is time for the boys' eye view!

The first thing we discovered was the surf. The north end of the bay is known as "chicken beach" for the simple reason that the beach has a shallow cline and the waves are gentle. About 100 metres north of the RV park, though, the beach steepens considerably and so increases the height of the surf. The consequence of this was that we had a hard time getting Hollis and Bowen out of the surf. They gained the respect of many other people on the beach for their antics in the surf. They tirelessly let the big waves crash into them, sometimes with with spectacular (and painful) results. At the end of the day, both boys had sand literally pounded into every orifice of heir bodies, which would slowly trickle out as they dried all over the van.

It was known that the north end of the bay offered some snorkeling potential, so Remy outfitted himself with a "Hawaiiana" sling spear. This is a simple underwater hunting implement consisting of an aluminum pole with a trident at one end and a rubber sling at the other used to propel the sling forward at high speed (but at short ranges). Hollis was also eager to do some underwater hunting, so a quick search of the neighbourhood dug up some material to improvise another sling spear. The bamboo handle from a discarded broom in a garbage can was mated with a couple of steel tent pegs and some surgical rubber Remy had brought for precisely this purpose to create the Hawaiiana Mark I. So equipped, Remy, Hollis and Bowen went out with all the newly purchased snorkeling gear. In all, Remy and Hollis made three forays into the water in search of the "big one", but the conditions were always super murky and we were plagued by tiny jelly fish or some other such creature that gave us frequent stings. Not an auspicious start to things, but Hollis persevered remarkably.

Th other thing that tortured Remy was the fact that fisherman were catching 10 lb yellowfin tuna from the beach. With careful observation, Remy was able to rig up and master the use of a hand casting line. It wasn't till the end, after having tried various types of bait and lures, catching only a juvenile pufferfish and a few small crabs, that he learned that the most effective bait is the live sardines that the fishermen were catching with their nets cast from the beach. Oh well, a bad day's fishing is better than a good day at work.

We kept our promise to the boys and rented a quad. Originally we were going to re-trace the bicycle route from Melaque to Barra de Navidad, but recalling the missing bridge across a canal and the amount of heat thrown off the air-cooled engine of the "quadrimoto" confined us to riding on the beach in the healthy breeze. It was more fun anyway, especially after we pointed out to the boys that we were breaking all but one of the safety rules. With only four of us on the quad, we were still two people short of honorary-Mexican status. As Daddy became more confident and started doing donuts and taking small jumps, the noise from the back seat increased- yells of joy from Bowen and screams of fear from Hollis, mostly (the products of blissful ignorance and an overactive imagination, respectively).

One morning we woke up to find that at the restaurant next door a fisherman was butchering a 6 ft moray eel he had speared that morning. We knew what the special of the day was going to be! It's freaky to think that those things are in the water.

Melaque is a great holiday town. A $35 cab fare will bring you here from the airport in Manzanillo. Our situation in the RV park was fantastic, located in downtown and right on the beach. The spirit there is very friendly and everything one might need is there. The quirkiest place was the combination fishing and diving shop and regional sweets shop. You could buy coco con leche while looking at spear guns and hooks. That was competing with the video arcade/bra shop on the plaza! It is funny the way the entrepreneurial spirit manifests itself in Mexico. Another Mexican novelty is the double decker trampoline, an example of which the boys got to try while we were in Barra. Gotta like relaxed safety standards- the boys both injured themselves in minor ways, but they also had way more fun. We also tried the local specialty, molcajete, which is a Mexican stirfry of meat and vegetables that is finished off in a "hot pot" that consists of a mortar carved out of lava rock that is heated in an oven- delicious! We also had some of the best tamales we have had in Mexico, bought from a cart in the plaza (M$7 each, about 70 cents)

The town has a tradition of gathering in the plaza every Sunday night. All the eligible young ladies and men eye each other up while the old folks sit and chat or play a version of bingo and the young kids paint plaster of Paris figurines. The town is allegedly named after the word "malarkey" in honor of an Irish regiment that switched sides during the Spanish American war. When the Americans overran the town, every Irishman that was wearing a Mexican army uniform was executed. St Patrick's day is apparently a huge affair here, too bad we are going to miss it.

-Remy