A Day in Yelapa

This past Monday was my friend Charlene's last full day in Mexico so we decided to go to Yelapa for the day. First thing in the morning, she got up to do her back exercises as usual and something went "ping" and before we knew it, her back was in spasm and she was back in bed for the day. But she insisted that I go on the trip as planned with my upstairs neighbours, Constance and Jeff. Char has suffered from back problems for years so when she told me she would be OK on her own, I believed her. All she needed was a day of rest.

The three of us met my friend Alfredo ("Burrito") at the pier in time to catch the 11AM water taxi. The price was 180MXP return. I am not a boat person and was not looking forward to the trip but the view was wonderful and the breeze was gorgeous! We travelled along at quite a fast clip and a number of times, we had to grab on to our seats while the boat skimmed across the swells in the ocean. I think we were airborne once or twice. We could really feel how hot it was when the boat stopped as we reached Yelapa.

Burrito was born and raised in Yelapa and never had much formal schooling. However, he speaks, reads and writes both English and Spanish. He learned to speak English from taking tourists to the waterfall in Yelapa starting when he was 7 years old. He loves his home village and is very proud of his family's contribution to the founding of Yelapa. His 90 year old grandfather was one of the first people to settle in Yelapa and as a result, most of the town are members of Burrito's family!

Our first stop was his house. Up and up and UP we went until finally we arrived at a small, white, three bedroom house perched at one of the highest points in Yelapa. We were welcomed by Burrito's mother, Aurora, who was waiting for us with a prepared lunch. Burrito and his two brothers paid for the house three years ago for his mother. Before that, the family lived in a palapa hut which is now occupied by chickens. Aurora's house was immaculate and our lunch of pulpo, rice and beans was yummy. After lunch and a few photos, we left Aurora and headed towards the waterfall.

Burrito is as sure-footed as his nickname suggests and rarely wears shoes. He led us up the path to the waterfall as he has no doubt done so many times in the past and when we arrived, his uncle naturally owned the little cantina there. We were very overheated by this time and couldn't wait to jump into the fresh spring water and stand under the waterfall. The area is quite small but the water was extremely cold and refreshing. Of course, the Canadian girl could withstand the temperature a lot longer than her Mexican guide ... LOL.

After cooling down and drying off, it was time to hike down to the beach. Burrito led us all the way through town and he knew everyone ... this one was a cousin, that one was a friend, and then we stopped at his aunt's house to meet his grandfather who, unfortunately, has recently developed Alzheimer's and did not recognize his grandson. Jeff insisted on shaking his hand and saying "hola". He didn't look 90 years old and I caught his eyes on me more than once, looking at me rather shrewdly I thought and I could imagine what he must have been like in "his day" ... strong, virile and quite handsome.

We left there and continued our trek to the beach. Upon reaching the water, we seemed to cross a tributary of a small river on the way to the beach and when I looked upstream, I saw a dozen or so huge, black buzzards hanging around ... I removed my sandals so as to walk more quickly away from their prying eyes. *SHUDDER* Finally we reached the beach and the shade. Drinks were ordered and we relaxed, enjoying the veiw, meeting more locals and a tourist from South Africa who was arranging for a sunset cruise with Burrito out of Yelapa that evening. The famous pie lady of Yelapa stopped by and we bought some pie from her. One slice of cheese pie and two slices of chocolate pie -- divine!

The three hours we spent in Yelapa passed slowly and we savoured every minute of this new experience with our guide. The boat ride back was uneventful save for the little boy sitting in the seat in front of me who couldn't keep his eyes open. More than once I reached out to grab him as his head dropped and his body slumped back towards me, totally limp and relaxed. We were all quiet on the trip back, ruminating on the things we had seen and the places we'd been on our day in Yelapa.