Gross....Yuck...Gag Me...!!!

Well we have 'good news' and 'bad news'...The bad news is that my suspicions were right  - there was an iguana in the well...the good news is that we got it out!!

Yesterday morning our handy hombre, Gustafo, arrived to do paint the 'impermeabilizante' on our roof. I mentioned that I thought an iguana was in the well...he looked down into it and said that he thought I was right. When he returned after lunch he brought along his fishing line with a big lure...and, lo and behold, pulled this big iguana out. 

As you can see from this picture, la iguana is showing signs of wear and tear, having been in the well for more time than we want to think about. If we hadn't pulled it out when we did, it probably would not have stayed intact for the haul out. We figure it fell in while our plumber had the top off the well, doing repairs. Normally there is a screen and a wooden lid. I'm pretty sure this is the iguana that lived in our pumphouse and frightened the plumber while he was repairing the pump.


The more I thought about having a dead rotting animal in our water system, the more grossed out I got. Thank goodness we buy bottled water to drink. The well water is for washing stuff, ourselves and watering the plants. My issue was that I had showered in the iguana juice and both Meg and I got soaked in it while we watered the palms and washed JdV....far too much contact with this stuff....yuck!! To remedy the situation, Gustafo told us to dump some 'cal' and 'cloro' into the well to clean it up ( dry lime and bleach). 


Meg and I figured that it would be best to leave the chemicals to work overnight but we were also feeling incredibly creepy, having splashed around in the contaminated water throughout the day. Our good neighbours, Bobbie and Phillip, came to the rescue - we hightailed it over to their house for a couple of welcome showers. Never have I felt so refreshed!


Wow, living down here is a never-ending adventure. What doesn't kill you will make you stronger.

Iguana Clean Water....!!

Living on the beach, as we do, comes with some issues that we do not usually encounter up in Canada. The salt in the air causes any metal to rust rapidly necessitating constant lubrication of every lock, hinge, latch, light bulb and all of our tools. Currently we use silicone spray, Fluid Film and Vaseline non-stop for the maintenance ritual. 

Last year after we installed a brick patio all around the pool and re-created a sand dune on the beach, we have found that we have less of a problem with blowing sand which was creating sand dunes in the casa. We even found mini sand dunes in the fridge....did I mention that our kitchen is outside?

Due to the open plan of la casa 
and the protective nooks of the arches bats continue to roost each night. 


Our plan last year was to drape garlands of plastic flags from the ceiling to move in the breeze to discourage the bats from hanging around. These fluttering flags work but the clever bats seem to be able to find new nooks and crannies that haven't been draped yet. It would almost be okay if the bats just roosted - they are wonderful insect killers...they can catch 1000 mosquitoes an hour - but they pee and poop a lot overnight. More flags are in order. 


Fortunately we haven't discovered any scorpions this year. I think because the house is established now and there isn't a lot of excavation, the scorpions live happily somewhere else...though we should never get too complacent about these little critters. We still shake out clothes and towels and check out swim fins...you never can be too careful.


Yesterday, when I took a shower, I noticed that the water had a extremely unpleasant odour. From time to time the well water smells of sulfur but that smell will dissipate before too long. This new smell is quite revolting. I'm thinking something may have fallen into the well, perhaps swam around a little and expired....and I have noticed that our pumphouse iguana doesn't seem to be lurking in the shadows anymore. Could it be coincidental that the iguana has disappeared and the well is just 2 feet from where it was last seen? I looked down into the well this morning...the surface of the water is not flat...there is something down there but I cannot make out if it is vegetable, mineral or iguana..!! I'm not too sure about how to scoop debris out of a 6 meter well. Our handy hombre will be by today  - I will hone up on my Spanish. This issue needs to be remedied immediamente...showering in iguana slim does not a paradise make...!!

Bienvenidos a Cuyutlan

 Down here at Latitude19, we are surrounded by coconut plantations, papayas, bananas, limes and mangos.

The cutoff to Cuyutlan, heading west towards Manzanillo from Colima                      and the road into town. 

Welcome...

Cuyutlan has the look of a deserted town in one of those spaghetti westerns...

...the head in the town square...Adolfo Lopez Mateos, I believe...turn left...

Heading south through town...

...after a few topes, the sign to El tortugario...

...there's the ocean and the beach road...

         and about 2 km down the beach road...la Casa Dos Congrejos...hogar dulce hogar.

Some sunset pictures

It's a Jungle out there...!!

For the past couple of days I have been attending to some of my gardening chores, tackling the overgrowth of vines in the backyard and pruning the bouganvillea. I planted segments of one of the vines around the base of each palm tree that we planted over the last 2 years, thinking that the vines would hold some moisture for the palm tree and provide a small base of greenery to enhance each tree. Silly me...!! Given the extra loving care from our caretakers, Juan and Mac and their crew, plus lots of agua y fertilizante, my vines plus a local beach vine have taken over about 80% of the lot. The greenery and the occasional flower are pretty but I haves some suspicions that there are critters lurking under the leaves. I don't mind the geckos but I spied a furry rodent-like creature hop away to a larger plant. [On another note, Meg has discovered that we have a moderate-sized iquana living in our pump house...a discovery that did not come without a little scream and another gray hair.]

Beside the lizards and rodents, we also think that the extra foliage and the nightly rain showers that we are currently experiencing are creating a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Last night,while we were making dinner, we both got attacked by skeeters. Some of them you can feel and swat but, from the red welts covering our bodies this morning, the majority are lightweight 'bite & flight' bloodsuckers. We jumped into the pool to cool down and avoid the bugs only to end up with bites all over our heads.

Back at the jardin...all morning I have been having numerous tug-of-wars with these 50-foot lengths of vine. I eventually win - I have the machete (0:< - but is a very rigourous task.

A little cloud cover this morning and a slight breeze is making the temperature relatively bearable (30C ~85F) but any exertion generates lots of sweat for these unacclimatized Canucks. [On another note, yesterday afternoon I stuck our thermometer out on the front patio and was astonished to see the needle go from 30C in the shade to 45C ~113F]..no wonder we are sweating!!] I can see that ripping out the vines will take a few more days and will be an never-ending battle.

Pruning the bouganvillea is a slightly more rewarding chore. According to Mac, all the plants were blooming their little hearts out up, until about 2 weeks before we arrived, when a fierce storm blew them to smithereens. There are remnants of blooms on a couple of them. I noticed that most of the plants had unattractive, leafless shoots which I believe means pruning. Not having grown up with an abundance of bouganvillea in Fort Langely, but having lived with roses, I am assuming that clipping to a healthy looking outside bud may be the trick with bouganvillea, as it is with roses. Armed with my trusty clippers, I snipped away into each bush. I had forgotten that bouganvillea defend themselves with long thorns, not unlike cacti. Coming away from my morning of pruning I looked as if I had been on the losing side of a particularly brutal knife fight. If anyone can give me pruning tips, please feel free to do so.

It Rains... in Mexico?

Probably due to the effects of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Rick out there is the Pacific, we have been getting sporadic rains overnight since we arrived last Saturday. As I said in previous blogs, I welcome the light show that accompanies a storm and a little rain is okay to enhance the aural appreciation... but these are not little showers - cue torrential downpours. We had to move the bed to the middle of our bedroom because the rain was splashing onto us. We do not have glass in our windows, only open tile called 'selecilla' and screening to keep the bugs out. Definitely not enough to keep the torrents of rain at bay.

Up until yesterday, the rain stopped by morning and the sun would beat down to dry things up....but not today. It has now been raining for 18 hours straight...heavily. Our swimming pool has overflown...

we now seem to have an infinity pool. I took a brief dip in it to see how warm it was - pretty warm - until Meg pointed out that she saw a few flashes of lightening. The ground is squishy. The potholes, that make up 80% of the beach road where we live, have formed into a long series of small lakes making vehicular traffic navigation quite arduous.

I had planned on pulling a few weeds from around the palm trees and cacti today but have spent most of the day rewiring my communication equipment to eliminate all that cable spaghetti, running it through a power surge protector (a must-have in this area) and somehow losing my internet connection. I was apprehensive to call TelMex but I managed to say the magic phrase "Habla ingles?" and after a few moments talked to a techie, en ingles, who helped me solve my problema.

Hark...the thunder of raindrops is letting up...maybe I can hang up the load of wet laundry. Meg and I are not accustomed to this usual weather phenomenon. I won't complain anymore about too much heat. Bring it on, por favor!

Muy Caliente!!!

Since we arrived on Saturday afternoon, we have had a variation in the typical weather that Meg and I are used to in Cuyutlan. The rain showers & downpours are refreshing - cooling the ambient temperature a little bit - but it's hotter than to what we Canucks are generally acclimatized. A tiny bit of exertion creates a layer of sweat from head to toe. Surprisingly little breeze has been stirring in spite of having a 'tropical storm Rick' racing by off shore.

The noseeums (jejenes), mosquitoes and ants are alive and well and feasted on our tender white bodies within hours of our arrival in town. From Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, Meg acquired a few bites while I obtained well over 100. I had hoped to be immune or less reactive to bug bites but I seem to have the same violent immune response to bug spit that I always have....red welts, blisters and extreme itchiness.( Note to wedding attendees: bring lots of bug repellent, After-bite medications and anti-histamines.) Bugs are seasonal and may be lurking due to the recent rain. Let's hope they head out of town for the nuptials.

Meg and I are in our ropa tipo...boxer shorts and cut-off tank tops...they are as brief as we can get away with in public to do the unpacking,organizing, sorting, setting up types of chores that are required when opening up a tropical beach house.

Our casita on our 'guest' lot was built over the summer by Jaime and his crew and painted by Juan and Mac. It is so cute. It will be Erin and Mark's honeymoon casita. It is so gratifying to see a structure that was a simple pencil drawing a few months ago evolve into a full blown colourful brick cottage.

It's time now, after a day full of chores, to settle down for a wee libation as we watch the sun drop into the ocean.

What's with this Hurricane Rick?

It was typically hot and sunny as we pulled into Cuyutlan yesterday afternoon but we could see clouds rolling in and mist over the dunes. Very large waves were crashing on shore. Fortunately for Meg and I, a party was happening over at Luly and Ed's, so - after our dip in the pool, the arduous process of unlocking all the locks and padlocks on the doors and removing the heavy wooden security shutters from some of the windows, a little unpacking, making up the bed, organizing a few things and a quick Hello to Bobbie and Phillip - we had our first social event of the season to attend....a surprise birthday potluck for Marie. Shortly after we arrived, rain started to pelt down...and continued off and on all night. It wasn't the vigorous storm that I wished for but it was adequate. I slept through most of it anyway.

Today I woke up to overcast skies and the sight of Ken walking down the beach, picking up trash which has been left and or washed onto shore...his daily ritual. He invited us over for breakfast and we took him up on his offer....great omelettes, bagels and coffee. It was still cloudy after brekky...with only a few brief glimpses of full sun...a pleasant enough day to do chores. While Meg swept, washed down and Alphadexed(bug killer) the down- and upstairs floors, organized the furniture, moved the washing machine and fridge (by herself)... I removed the remaining shutters, attached the blades to the overhead fans and hacked away all the extraneous vines surrounding the five palm trees around the pool. It is a blessing to have our pristine pool to jump into when needed...and it was needed after the chores.

Over to Bobbie and Phillip's for a few libations and yummy soup in the late afternoon...we checked the web for news of this Hurricane Rick that people had been talking about. Sure enough, it was directly off the coast from us but far enough away not to cause us any wind problems...ocean wave variations, maybe. According to the National Hurricane Center , Rick will hit land at the tip of the Baja and it looks like that area will be in for a doozy of a storm! The coloured concentric rings on the hurricane map do not overlap into our area. Tonight the heavy rains came again and there have been sporadic flashed and rumblings but nothing too serious. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Home At Last

The road (Mex 200) is, pretty much, a 2-lane 'highway'(race course?), with no shoulder, winding up and down hills and valleys through the jungle, over countless and, sometimes unexpected, 'topes' (speed bumps), veering, at times, along the coast. The scenery is very beautiful - lots of colourful flowers, vines and plants, interesting villages, glimpses of the ocean, magnificent beach homes clinging to the hills around PV....but after 5 or 6 hours of this and wanting to be at our casa, the novelty of taking this scenic route wears thin. Meg was at the wheel, as usual, valiantly coping with the overly aggressive/insane/seemingly invincible drivers who have no understanding of the spatial requirements for their excessive manoeuvring. They only seem to pass on a curve, double solid line, with on-coming traffic barreling just as fast towards us.

Once down the final mountain and a brief stop in Barra de Navidad for half a grilled chicken at a roadside stand, we got onto our familiar stretch of the highway between the Manzanillo airport exit and home.

It seemed to take forever but, eventually, we pulled into Cuyutlan at what we thought was 2pm, really 4pm - we didn't know where the time changes occurred...another brief stop to let Mac and Juan know that we had arrived, then another at Carol and Ken's and then to our casa on the beach. Home at last...

Over the summer, Jaime, our builder, and his crew constructed a palapa for our vehicle. It was perfect. The palm trees, cacti and bougainvillea had grow way more than we expected, due to Juan and Mac's loving care and mucho aqua y fertilizante. In addition, indigenous vines flourished in a thick green mat, covering both the backyard and the bricks surrounding the pool and palm trees on the beach side of the casa. Good in the backyard...maybe not what we want around the trees in the front.

We didn't bother to unpack JdV...stripped down and jumped into the pool for a refreshing splash. Life is very good!