Our first month

Hard to believe we've been here a month.  Since this is our 9th winter here, it doesn't take us long to get back into routine.

Mornings of exercise class, walking, baseball, shopping for fresh fish or whatever.
Afternoons heading to the beach from 2 pm to 4:30 pm to enjoy the ocean breezes, socialize and enjoy the warm ocean water (currently 81F).  For a while the ocean was rough -- better for surfing -- but the past few days it's been calm so great for floating or doing some distance swimming.

view of the beach to the north

view of the beach to the south

The rosemary in our garden continues to flourish.  After 3 years it is now about 3 ft tall.  The basil is almost as tall but not bushy and woody -- we'll have to replace the basil next year. Our neighbour has thyme in her garden so we have a ready supply of herbs to share.

Prices are up this year for everything: rent, meat, fish, veggies, tacos.  But still affordable.  We don't know how long that will last as the area is becoming very popular.  It has been hard for snowbirds to find short term accommodation for visiting family and friends as most of the bungalows in town are rented for several months at a time.

There are several new restaurants in town with enough variety that there is really no need to go to Rincon de Guayabitos or La Penita for a night out anymore.  Mr Ribs and Tomatillos restaurant both have live music on Wednesday nights. Il Giardino restaurant is operated by Italians so nothing can beat their freshly made pasta. They also sell lasagna and a few other items at the Saturday market in town. We recently tried a new restaurant called Neptuno located on a side road not far from our campground.  One of the items we liked there was fish stuffed with shrimp and banana, then smothered with a cream cheese sauce.  It was served with rice, refried beans and salad -- all for $150 pesos (less than $10 Canadian).

Saturday nights is taco night in town. We enjoy pork or shrimp tacos or gringas (quesadillas with pork and pineapple). Our veggie vendor offers tamales occasionally for $10 pesos or chili rellenos for $15 pesos. (Considering the current exchange rate of $16 pesos to 1 Canadian dollar, cheap meals!)

The wildlife in the pond next door has been entertaining.  One day a flock of 23 roseate spoonbills came for a few hours to feed in the pond.

There are many kiskadees wherever we go. The picture below is of one visiting the pond next door.

Kiskadee watching over the pond

We have Orioles that regularly visit the trees beside our motorhome.

oriole feeding in our palm tree

We have 2 hummingbird feeders and currently have 2 cinnamon and 2 black chin hummingbirds visiting our feeders.

On Christmas day we enjoyed a traditional turkey dinner with 14 of us attending.  Vic and Bev did the turkey, others provided veggies, condiments and key lime pie.

New Year's Eve, the owner of our park supplied a meal of pork pozole (delicious!), condiments and lots of tequila.  We danced to oldies tunes until almost 2 am with a brief interlude for toasts at midnight and to watch the fireworks display plus chinese lanterns floating across the clear starry sky. It was a perfect evening!

Ah, this is life....daytime temperatures of around 27 or 28C and overnight now is low of 15C but way better than shoveling snow at home in Canada!