The 39 Steps

This is (only the final part of) the stairway up to our little casita in Sayulita. The first time we climbed up from the parking area to the front door we took a different route; 45 stairs. Gasp! But we found a "short cut" so now it's only 39 stairs. Believe me, every one you can knock off your climb is a blessing. But once up at the top, what a marvelous place.


The terrace looks out over the jungle to the west. Beautiful shades of green from the palms, the banana trees, other vines and shrubs that have taken over everything. This is the view from the living room looking out to the terrace. You can't actually see the ocean but you can hear it. What a nice scene to wake up to!

In the bathroom the shower is an inside/outside affair! There's a little garden in the shower with ferns and the ubiquitous Mother-in-Law Tongues. They grow wild in Mexico. We have a whole side yard of them that we can't get rid of, and neither Mr. C nor I have a mother-in-law any longer.

The casita also seems to come with a gato de la casa although the handyman who was here today said he doesn't know who she is or why she hangs around. She sleeps on either on top of the round table or one of the chairs. Very friendly, very beautiful, but not allowed.



It was a beautiful drive here yesterday. We left Cuyutlan at 8:30, drove the usual route as though we were heading home ~ Cuidad Guzman, Guadalajara, Tequilla, Magdelena, almost to Tepic, then turned off the toll road and headed for Compostela. We stopped there for gas, then headed west to the Puerto Vallarta-Tepic highway, made a left and head due south to Sayulita. It is really a gorgeous drive, with the jungle coming right up to the road, big trees making a canopy over the road with dappled sunlight coming through like a spinning mirrored ball. If you have brain lesions, don't take this route; it could be trouble. Tall palms with glossy fronds, banana groves with trees laden with ripening fruit, mango trees covered with blossoms that will, in about 6 weeks, bear those luscious fruits. We arrived at the casita at 2:30 local time, which is Mountain Time, not Central which is the time zone we had left, so we gained an hour, although we are farther north and it gets dark earlier here. The last 80 miles took 2 hours on a 2-lane road. However, we arrived safe and sound and that counts for a lot! The owners had given us very good instructions and with only a couple of fits and starts we found the place. We made ourselves right at home.

This little town is divided in half by a river. We are on the east side, I think. We went to the "other" side this morning to see what's there. Unfortunately there is only one way to get across the river since there is construction going on to either repair or build a new bridge. The west side reminds me of Balboa Island in the summer in the '50's and '60's; sidewalks are jammed with tourists poking in all the little shops, traffic is horrendous, restaurants are bursting, beaches are covered with almost-naked bodies working on their skin cancer. But we did have a couple of things we needed to get done, got them done and got out. The other side is so much more civilized and quite! I don't think there's anyone here much older than 40 ~ in Cuyutland there's not anyone much under 60! We've decided it's not really "our kind of place." But I'm glad we came to see what it's all about. There is a beach down at the end of our street and I think we'll check it out tomorrow. It's way away from the hustle and bustle of the west beaches.

Tomorrow we are going to drive down the coast to Buserias, another beach town that is not quite as trendy or crowded as Sayulita, to check it out for next year's visit. I'll let you know what it's like.