Feliz Año, or Happy New Year to you!

Yesterday I arrived back to my home in Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico.  Before you make your jab, yes, I know it’s not a home; it’s a 32 foot RV parked on a hilltop under a palapa.  But home is where the heart is, they say.  And I was once again reminded that my heart is definitely in Mexico. 

I travelled three days from north to south.  Launching from my former home of 10 years, Nogales, Sonora, where the overnight temp fell to below zero.  Typical for January as Nogales sits at some 4300 feet altitude.  Quickly though, I descended into the Sonoran low desert and reasonable temps.  Many think the deserts of Sonora and Arizona are beautiful.  I do not.  After 40 years living in the Sonoran, I’m quite over the extreme temps (-20 to +120), scrub cactus and such a lack of humidity that my skin looks 20 years older than it ought to.  How can I lie about my age on Tinder if I have “crepey” skin!

As I crossed into Sinaloa state, the terrain turned to vibrant agriculture.  Endless miles of black earth planted with tomatoes, potatoes, onions and carrots – all destined to the US markets.  It’s pretty in its own way, but offers nothing to my liking.  After traversing Sinaloa for 10 hours, you enter the beautiful state of Nayarit.  It’s immediately different when you turn inward and upward to the Sierra Madre mountain range.  It’s profoundly green in color and lush with mango, avocado and banana trees.  Yesterday the visibility was low due to a heavy fog setting on the tree tops.  After noon the fog lifted and I proceeded to drive down the back side of the mountain range through the coffee and sugar cane crops.  I don’t know a thing about farming but this was the first time I’ve seen the sugar cane blooming.  The cane stalks usually resemble Wisconsin corn, but yesterday they had rather large, purple feather plumes sprouting upward.  I don’t mean to get all Shakespearian here but these plumes were new to me and covering an entire mountainside they reminded me of overlooking a huge college marching band.

Let’s review what jungle living actually is.  Maybe the first thing that comes to your mind is mosquitoes, spiders and snakes.  I suppose that’s generally true.  I think I’ve mentioned that they filmed the Arnold Swarzeneggar movie Predator here.  Anyway, surprisingly, I don’t have mosquitoes.  I don’t know why, but I’m really glad.  I do have the occasional spider – spray or splat, no biggie.  They say there’s snakes, jaguars and monkeys in my jungle, but I haven’t seen any yet.  There are a few green parrots that are kinda interesting.  But mostly jungle living means tropical weather with mild temps year-round, ample high-canopy shade, and a general peace and tranquility devoid of industrial noises, partying neighbors and street traffic.  I think the best jungles abut oceans.  Unless you’re on an island, jungles meeting beaches are rare. Rio de Janeiro was jungly, but was on the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic compared to the Pacific is rougher, darker, colder, has crappy sand and offers sunrises vs. sunsets.  It’s like Jacksonville compared to Clearwater, if you know how Florida is positioned. I prefer west-facing white powder beaches with smooth warm water and dramatic sunsets at cocktail hour.

So… if one wanted to find the Pacific Ocean jungle closest to the US, both flyable and drivable, one would take out an old-fashioned map.  Trace your finger south from the US border and the closest qualifying place is literally Chacala, on the Riviera Nayarit.  Trust me, I’ve given this a lot of thought and have done a lot of hands-on research.  It’s a geographical fact that there’s nothing like the Riviera Nayarit that’s closer in distance to the US than Chacala.  Even within the country of Mexico, the Riviera Nayarit stands out as uniquely desirable.  I hope that answers some of the questions as to why Chacala.

Final word.  After more than a month away from here, I felt so good arriving home. Call me crazy but here’s the list of what I love about Chacala: the amazing jungle, the white sand beach and the temperate weather.  It was 72 degrees when I arrived.  I love Mexican food and especially seafood – ceviche, oysters and grilled whole fish.  I love this community (aka. Mayberry RFD).  I find it interesting to learn and use the Spanish language, to explore 1500 year old Spanish landmarks and experience the 500 year old Mexican culture.  The relatively low cost of living is a retiree’s dream.  I enjoy the little things like locally grown coffee, locally distilled Tequila and organic fresh fruit.  And finally, there are countless intangibles such as peace and tranquility, the slow pace, lack of pretense and materialism, lack of politics and news, and really cool – my anonymity.

Friends, returning here after the winter break was like returning to paradise.  This, for me, is paradise.  I hope you’ll stay in touch and consider visiting me one day.

As Johnny Cash once sang: 

“I don’t know where, I don’t know when,
but I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day.”

Bruce