Cuyutlan

Went for a walk along the beach yesterday morning before leaving Manzanillo. Beautiful sunrise with the ships in the harbor, and as we were walking a cruise ship was coming into port as well. But we wanted to get out of this part of town before things got busy, so we left right after our walk, just before 8:00am.

It was a bit of a maze getting through the city in the direction we wanted to go because they’re building an overpass at one part and they had traffic re-routed. I had to pull over and check our directions a couple of times to make sure we didn’t make a wrong turn. Fortunately, Sunday morning traffic was light.

Manzanillo harbor at dawn.

We had planned on walking into the old part of town, but we couldn’t find somewhere that looked suitable to park and leave Sherman alone. So we carried on towards Cuyutlan. When we got to the turn off, we realized that this is a toll road to Cuyutlan. It’s also the same toll road that leads out of Manzanillo to Colima. It wasn’t a long drive, maybe only 30 kms (18 miles) and the toll was 214 pesos ($16.70). But, it was a beautiful highway and taking the free road would have probably used up another $10 worth of gas, so maybe it was worth it, who knows.

Yesterday's drive, 41 kms (25 miles)

Whenever there is a toll road in Mexico, there is an alternative free road. But the free road is always slower, and sometimes in poor condition. Usually the free road also goes through many towns and with the topes there is a lot of stopping and starting. So when you make the choice to take the toll road, you might save money or you might not. We usually choose the toll road simply because it’s easier on Sherman and his driver!

The malecon at Cuyutlan

Pulling into Cuyutlan, we ended up at the central square. This is just a small Mexican beach town, population around 800. The main roads are easy to navigate, and there was hardly anybody around. We thought this was kind of strange for a Sunday before Christmas, but it turns out that for whatever reason, Cuyutlan isn’t very popular any more. Apparently it’s heyday was in the 1940’s and it’s been going downhill ever since. The 1951 movie “Robinson Crusoe” was filmed here. There are a lot of empty buildings and a lot of “for sale” signs. There are also a lot of easy spots to boondock in a motorhome. Very strange that there are no other RV'ers here.

The beach here is black because of the volcanic particles in the sand.

We wandered around town and checked out the salt museum. Not worth the 20 pesos each admission, so we’re glad there was nobody there to collect the money. We were in and out in less than ten minutes anyhow.

Then we drove to the far end of the road where there is a turtle sanctuary. Spent the afternoon there, because they have a swimming pool that is included in your 25 peso ($1.95) admission price. We asked if we could stay in their parking lot overnight, but they said they lock the gates at night. However we were welcome to park just outside the gates and they said we would be safe there. And we were, in fact the only vehicles that came to the end of the road after dark were both police patrols.

Hundreds of baby turtles. They were just in the process of cleaning the tank.

They put all the babies in a bucket to clean the tank. They were squirming like crazy. We think all these babies are going to be released soon.

They also have iguanas there. This guy was about three feet long!

Sherman, at sunset.

Heading for the city of Colima today, and should be back at Hacienda Contreras tomorrow!