Circo De Los Ninos, Hike to Monkey Mountain, etc...

I have been tardy with my blog entries. Partly because my Apple laptop has decided that it won't take a charge and the blog app I was using kept crashing and losing whatever I had entered.  Thanks to Dan's prod I have finally downloaded a new app and I am writing a new entry.  

We have been keeping busy as usual.  We volunteered some time, last week, at Entre Amigos in San Pancho to help prepare for their annual fund raiser and Circo de los Ninos spectacular.  As I mentioned in the last entry, one of the  originators of Cirque de Soleil has a home in San Pancho and has taken an interest in Entre Amigos. Two Cirque performers spent the last several months in San Pancho coaching some of the children. The performance was staged last Friday evening to a sold out audience of over 1000 people.  It was phenomenal!  Unfortunately I didn't take any photos and I can't seem to find any on line either.   We also attended their annual fundraising event on Saturday evening. Hopefully I will be able to update this post with some photos. 

I can't begin to tell you how impressed we are with Entre Amigos and what a beneficial organization it is. I have found that most gringo funded organizations here in Mexico have god intentions. Most however fail to capture or encourage the participation of the local population.  This is where Entre Amigos excels far above the others.  It is well integrated in the community. It operates in both Spanish and English. There is support from both the expat and local community. 

There is a mountain located close to Sayulita with a nice hiking trail to a spectacular viewpoint. It is an extinct volcanoes that rise to just over 300 meter above the coast, half way between Sayulita and Punta de Mita.  The mountain is called Sierra Mono.  A mono in English is a monkey or a small doll. The common English name of the mountain is Monkey Mountain but I have been told that the name comes from an old Aztec doll that was found on the mountain.  The trails to the top of the mountain are accessible from either the Sayulita side or from the Punta de Mita side via Higuera Blanca.  

Last Wednesday, Alex (another regular hotel guest from Guadalajara) and I bicycle to the trailhead and hiked up the mountain. In total the round trip took 4 1/2 hours at an easy pace, including a stop for a snack at the top. We bicycle for 45 minutes to a small ranch (ranchito). Alex had been before and had met the rancher. We spoke to him (Manuel) and left our bikes at his place for safe keeping.  The hike to the top took 1 hour.  If not for some uncertainty with the trail we could have made it easily to the top in about 45 minutes. 

The trail follow a dry river bed and then up a jungle trail onto a ridge line. At Alex's suggestion I wore long pants and a long sleeve T-shirt. Thorn bushes and small biting insects are everywhere. Luckily we went early and most of the hike was in the shade. Parts were quite steep but there is no exposure to steep cliffs, unless you want to climb on the rock perched on the very top. 

The day we went there was some haze but the view is very nice. This photo was taken from the very top looking south toward Punta de Mita. Below are a few more from the hike back down. This time on a different route that intercepted and followed the dry river further up river.

These next two photos are of orchids that have seeded themselves in host trees.

The photo below is of the trail along the dry river bed near to the beginning of the trail.  It is interesting to note that although the river is mostly dry at this time of year, I was told that water still flows below the river channel. There are locations where the water can be seen flowing above ground.  These are the watering holes for cattle that roam this areas as well as the wildlife. 

Many varied and interesting butterflies can be seen in the jungle. 

We spent part of the afternoon on the beach. Here is a photo on Manny and Linda.  Manny sells frozen fruit Popsicles.  He is a fixture on the beach.  Anyone who has been here fir more than week knows Manny.  We have an account with him. 

Hopefully I will find some photos of Circo de los Ninos and date this post