Well, after a year hiatus from blogging and also a year off from travelling to Mexico, here we are again. We are back in Melaque after flying into Puerto Vallarta on Sunday. We are on a 5 week road trip down the coast (maybe) and up through central Mexico.

Up to here has been the easy part. We have travelled extensively in this area and we visited all of our favourite haunts on the way down. It’s funny how things change but yet stay the same. The road into Tenacatita is open again and the beach and swimming are as good as they have ever been. But, the restaurants are gone, the campground gone and no one was about. It feels like it did 17 years ago when we first went there. A heavy police presence was there, in fact there were more police than people.

We left PV thinking getting to Melaque would save us some money as it is so expensive in the city. And since we have always stayed in Melaque at the same place we found out that prices here are similar. A bit of a shock, but we did find a lovely bungalow with a pool for 800p for 2 nights. It has a small kitchen and 2 beds. Thankfully I bought coffee for the morning because the damn rooster next door starts crowing at 5am.

Tomorrow we leave and are heading towards Guadalajara. My one rule is that we have to be in a town by 4 so we can get a hotel and be settled before dark. We have heard of some unrest along the Michoacan coast so we are going to go inland and down. Once we get to Puerto Escondido we can evaluate whether or not to drive the coast.

The kids are loving being back and spent hours in the ocean today bodysurfing. They are surviving on chorizo tacos, yogurt and granola. Since you don’t get fruit or veg with your meals down here we will be stopping at little stands along the highway for fresh mango, watermelon and pineapple. I am so far surviving on bacon and watermelon, hmmm, my favourite things.

We were out for tacos tonight and a little boy at the next table started choking, the mom jumped up and was panicking, so just then Nick stood up, grabbed the boy from his mother and wedged his fist under his ribs and squeezed. A taco shot out and the boy started to wail, a very scary moment and Nick was very calm about the whole thing. Thankfully, it all ended well as I hate to think what would have happened otherwise.

Weather wise, it has been overcast and muggy. I find it pretty chilly in the morning and comfortable to sleep. I can hear the waves breaking, smell the sea air and can’t think of anyplace I’d rather be. It’s good to be back.