Blog 2.6

Mexico has an abundance of wildlife and I was determined to leave with a few photos of some critters we don’t have back in Canada. Our first stop was a small community called La Ventanilla. The community has taken it upon themselves to help restore the mangrove forest which houses crocodiles, iguanas, birds and all sorts of other critters. Apparently in the dry season the water is about a foot deep and is “safe” enough to go out and plant more of the mangrove. We thankfully lucked out and had a guide who spoke enough English for us to learn a few facts about the area and the animals, while he paddled us through the lagoon. A ton of the money they earn goes right back in to the conservation of the forest, so if you do visit don’t forget to tip well, its well worth it.

A crocodile on the shore and our guide(📸 Chantelle)

On our first day arriving in Zipolite we could see all sorts of sea life right from our balcony. There were manta rays jumping out of the water, pelicans diving in to catch the fish, and most excitingly, whales. My dad could see how excited we were about this and tracked down a whale watching trip out of a nearby fishing town called, Puerto Angel. Unfortunately our captain didn’t show up the first time we tried (after getting up at 6 am), but that didn’t stop us from contacting another company where we found Adan at the Puerto Angel Dive Center. Adan was not only very good at getting you right by the whales, at just the right time, but he was also pretty damn funny.

We spent two separate days out whale watching, and in both those trips we saw humpback whales, turtles, manta rays, spotted dolphin, and one very friendly family of bottlenose dolphins that came to play around the boat. Taking photos on the water was definitely a learning experince, so I was on a bit of a mission to get as much time out on the ocean as I could.

After coming back from whale watching we went and explored Puerto Angel. Being a fishing town we watched as fisherman came in with their morning haul and large groups of people helped unloaded them and carry them back to the shore. Dogs hid under the piers waiting out the afternoon sun and the pelicans lurked waiting to steal some fish from an unobservant fisherman.

Blog 2.7

Blog 2.5