Manzanillo

Yesterday morning, we went for a bike ride to Melaque. It was only about 4.5 kms each way. Besides seeing the town, we had been invited to visit one of our readers who has a house there. But it wasn't meant to be!

The lady had emailed me their street address but I forgot to bring the piece of paper I had written it down on. I thought it was #57, and I remembered the street, but it turned out we should have been looking for #157. I felt really bad about that because we enjoy meeting our readers.

The beach in Melaque is much nicer than the beach in Barra de Navidad.

There are 4 RV parking areas in Melaque. One is an RV park right in the centre of town, and on the beach. The sites are 300 pesos ($23.40) per day or between 6,200 ($484) and 7,200 ($562) pesos per month. And packed in like sardines.

On the other side of the coin, there is a cheap RV parking area with no hookups. I didn't ask the daily rate, but it costs only 1,100 pesos ($86) per month. It's just a parking spot, but you can make it your own and many people stay all winter and have little shade palapas built.

The "almost free" camping area at Melaque.

There is a problem though, or at least there is in our mind. Remember we said there are no hookups at this campground. So what do people do with their sewer waste? They dig a hole in the ground. One guy says he's been coming here for 12 years and doing that all winter. Says it's just like a septic system. Except it probably drains right through those holes you see in the retaining wall. I guess you can justify anything you want, because the city of Ottawa (the capital city of Canada) still flows millions of gallons of untreated sewage right into the Ottawa River. So it mustn't really be that bad, right?

Yesterday's drive, 49 kms (30 miles) took over an hour.

Must offer a big public "thank you" to Jane and John for dropping off and picking up our laundry! Hope to see you further down the coast in late January and February!

We drove to Manzanillo after lunch. We decided we would head right to the Walmart which is located on a busy road next to the second bay. Found a parking spot on a side street, and went for a walk. We spotted a nice looking street that even has a view of the ocean, and decided that would make a good overnight spot. Then we did a big grocery shop at two different stores because there was a Soriana nearby as well. Both stores very busy with Christmas shoppers.

Finished shopping, and moved Sherman to his overnight spot. It was quite warm, and we walked over and sat on a wall overlooking the bay. A few other people enjoying the warm evening, and this fellow came by with a fire show. Contessa, you would have been proud of me, I gave him 20 pesos!

The fire show guy.

Didn't have a great sleep, but I slept okay. Ruth says she didn't sleep well, so hopefully we'll do better tonight. Here's the view out our window this morning...

The bay at Manzanillo.

Going for a walk, and then heading through town early. Going to try and find a suitable parking spot to walk into the old centro area of town, and then further along the coast towards the turnoff to the city of Colima. No idea where we're spending tonight.