A Day in Yelapa

It is a dangerous thing to try and relive the past.  For obvious reasons you always try to relive the best moments, the shining times of the past that meant so much.  The chances of being able to recreate such moments is so very slim.  You are not the same person as you were, the place is not quite the same, even the memory of the event impinges on the moment.  It can never be the first time again.  An attempt to recreate the same moment is a recipe for disappointment.

However, when trying to live a rich and happy life it is vitally important to remember such times and think of the elements that came together for that moment.  Taking those elements and putting them together in a new place, a new time, is a recipe for another happy moment.  A new happy moment has nothing to compete against.

In the winter of 2009 Christina and I were preparing for our move to Houston.  It was a stressful time for both of us.  I was involved in the massive undertaking of preparing the house to be sold.  Christina was immersed in a hard-working, socially unpleasant working situation.  At the time we were both convinced that Houston was going to be a peaceful, relaxing place for us.

So, we both agreed that we wanted a vacation, a mellow, easy time in the sun.  Away from work, away from the gloom.  The place we associate this with is Cahuita in Costa Rica.

 Cahuita's Main Street

However, Cahuita is on the Caribbean coast, over halfway across the country from the airport.  Many of the roads are frighteningly potholed, and it is necessary to drive through the capitol city of San Jose.  At the time it was an overnight flight to get there, and an early morning flight to leave.  So, that's three days of back and forth, and those back and forth days can be stressful (especially for the driver).  Christina didn't have more than a week for vacation, and so I suggested what I thought would be an easier place, Puerta Vallarta in Mexico.

Puerto Vallarta is a tourist town on the Pacific coast of Mexico.  Expanded from an old port on a vast bay it still has an old town, with promenade, old buildings and markets.  To the north there is an ever-expanding cultural wasteland of mega hotels, and to the south are cliffs and rocky islands.  Whales travel on their migrations to give birth in this bay.  It is a glorious setting.  I booked us a room in an old, proper Mexican hotel in the heart of the old town, a vast tree growing in the open courtyard, rooms arrayed around it up to seven floors providing a cool and shaded area.  The room was decorated with catholic icons, small, older, without modern conveniences - just like we like it.

However, this was the time that the "Great Recession" was just getting started.  The economy of the town was primarily based on American tourists, and Americans were tightening their belts and not traveling.  As a result the local people were intensifying their efforts to extract money from those who had traveled.  The beaches were mostly hotel beaches, servers coming down to ask you if you wanted something every five minutes.  Tourists packed around you.  Hawkers passed up and down the beach with sunglasses, jewelry, and other knick-knacks.  Christina still shudders at the words, "Braids senora?  Braids?  Braids senora?"  The town was very nice, we enjoyed wandering around, eating wonderful food, drinking in local bars, but it was a city, it was busy and dirty.  We were there to relax.

 My darling wife in a restaurant overlooking the promenade in Puerto Vallarta

We were not getting the relaxation we wanted and so I looked among the information sheets so readily available.  Among the pirate ship cruises, swimming with the dolphins (dolphins trapped in pools to entertain tourists), exhibits, zip-lines, I saw boat taxis to the village of Yelapa.  Nothing more said about it than that.  On the map I saw no road, no listed hotel, only a waterfall as a site of interest.  We went down to the small pier and looked around for the taxis.  We found some possibly disreputable looking people who took our money and gave us a slip of paper for the following day.  They were standing near some boats so we hoped they would be there the next morning, and indeed they were.  The boat ride was fabulous, past rocky outcrops on a beautiful blue ocean, wind and spray whipping through our hair. 

We stopped to see a whale breach with its baby.  The taxi silent, drifting on the waves, as the majestic creature passed by us.  it is illegal in the bay to get within a certain distance of a whale, and all engines must be turned off.  Whales are Christina's favorite.

A water taxi in Banderas Bay

After about 45 minutes we got to the beach at Yelapa, the taxi tying up at a stone dock to the south of a small bay, surrounded by steep, jungled hills, a shallow river running through the beach and four buildings in sight.  A sailboat bobbed gently in the bay.  In ten minutes we traversed the entire beach from dock to the steep stairway that led up the cliffs to a village out of sight, Jalapa.  We contemplated climbing those stairs but remembered what we needed, peace, relaxation.  We returned to the center of the beach (although climbed the stairs the following day) where there were some shacks with covered seating areas, the chairs cheap plastic or ancient wooden deckchairs.  There we sat, in a place of magical beauty, books to read, music in our ears, a steady supply of coolish beer, sand between our toes.  Not bothered by people, warmed by the sun or cooled by the shade.  Able to dip in the ocean, the sand between our toes.  We had no need to talk, just companionable silence, occasionally smiling at each other.  What a day.  Pure magic.  Nothing to do, nothing to achieve, nowhere to go.  Just being in beauty, quietly, restfully.

The bay at Yelapa

So, here in Texas, with the stress of my wife's work, and the unwelcoming world outside our doors, each weekend I try to create a little oasis.  Warmth, water, music, cold beer.  Books in the sunshine.  Nothing to do, nowhere to be.  A watchful man to provide simple food and a fresh beer when wanted, but not to pester or bother.  Not that magical day, but the elements from that day, so that there can be some new moments of peace, relaxation, and happiness.