Manzanillo, Mexico - Colima and Comala

 

Monday, January 29^th, 2024

 

Here we are in the Pacific Ocean again.  It seems like only yesterday we were in the Atlantic.  Oh yeah, we were.   Just like magic (or a canal) we scooted from one to the other.  After leaving Costa Rica we pointed the ship north and came up the Mexican coastline to Manzanillo.  Saw my first soldiers today complete with some wicked looking weaponry looking sternly at us as we departed what was obviously our spy boat.   I am sure they were there for our protection rather than looking for guilty privateers amongst us.

Manzan, as we in the biz like to call it, is the largest commercial port on the western coast of Mexico.   It is also touted as the most secure, hence the guards.   It seems that the cartels are real things and that ports are ripe for cartels because all the goods come in via ships.    I felt no threat in any place we went today so I will assume all is good. 

Our excursion today was once again, get off a big boat, get on a nice bus and drive for like 2 hours inland.  Here we found the little towns of Colima and Comala. Two small pueblos that live in the state also called Colima.

Our first stop was for lunch, which is good for cruise ship people.  We hadn't eaten in two hours!  This was a traditional meal in a beautiful, open-air restaurant.  LeRoy had his obligatory local beer, the Modelo Negro and then a Modelo Especial!  All of the food was served on corn tortillas, not flour.  Vi was in her element.  She loves Mexican food, and this was as authentic as it comes!

In the town of Colima, we stopped at a museum featuring the works of Alejandro Rangel Hidalgo, who I am sure everyone knows about back home, so I don’t think I even need to bring it up.  His paintings may look familiar to many of you as Unicef has used them on some of their Christmas cards over the years. This museum was fully contained inside his family home, the Hacienda Nogueras.  The grounds were beautiful with flowering cacti and bougainvillea everywhere!

This museum is also home to lots of artifacts from ancient Mexico in the days of yore BC ... before Spain arrived!  They are mostly made of jade and pottery and are just incredible.  The dancing dogs are some of the most recognizable and are the unofficial symbol of the area.  Our tour guide told us that when the Spanish came to the area that the natives called gold "excrement from the sun" because it was so plentiful, and that the jade was much more valuable to them at the time.

Comala is nicknamed the white village of America, but it has nothing to do with race or skin color.   For some reason all the facades in the town have been painted white since the 1960’s.  To be honest, most of the town could use another coat of paint as much of it has kind of turned gray due to dirt and dust.  In the middle of town, where they dropped us off, is a typical small town square.  Made up of small retail shops, businesses, government buildings and the local church it could be mistaken for any small-town USA.  A large gazebo stands in the center of the square and the locals were all sitting around wondering when and where the old white people invasion started.   The bus stopped and let us all out in front of the church.   As we looked around, we noticed a hearse parked out front and a small pickup truck with a bunch of flowers in the back.  Seems we dropped in during a funeral without knowing.  So here we are, 60 or so people armed with walkers, canes and cell phones out and about taking pictures of everything the town offered. 

Vialula and I had just come out of one of the little shops and were aiming back towards the square.  First thing we noticed was the bus was gone.   In its place was the hearse and truck.   As the hearse slowly moved forward, a procession of about 100 or more  people were slowly walking behind it complete with a small brass band playing music very similar to a New Orleans wake.  Tubas, trumpets, drums, etc.   This was a very authentic and personal experience that we were part of by mistake.  Unfortunately, some in our party did not give the respect that maybe the event called for.   No, instead, they thought it made for a nice photo opportunity and snapped away.  Thankfully, several of us just stood by and quietly let the procession drift by. I obviously do not know who had passed but it could have been someone with some importance by the large number of people involved in the procession.  As soon as the whole group passed on out of town toward the cemetery our bus shows up and we continue on.  Although it was not a part of the excursion it was still interesting to witness the event from the sideline.

Our last stop today was at a very small coffee processing café called Cafe Y Pan where we enjoyed a small cup of the local brew.  It was delicious, and we bought some to take home.  It happened to be located right across the street from the local bull ring.   It seems that a lot of the small pueblos still keep a ring alive.  Vialula crossed over and took some pictures.   Inside the ring were a couple of cows and a donkey just lazily grazing inside the ring.   Didn’t look like they were going to be the next contestants of the “¡Ole!” mob.   Looked more like they were part of the lawn maintenance crew.  This cafe was at the base of the two volcanoes Nevada de Colima (extinct) and Volcano de Fuego also called Volcano de Colima, which is dormant, but recently active. It last erupted in 2017! We could see them both from the bullring!!!  Everything from the rock wall fences to the roads themselves are paved with this volcanic rock.  They use it for everything!

The bit of Mexico we saw today helped to affirm our notion that people in Mexico are optimistic and fun-loving.  They are good, hard-working people, who take siesta from 2:00-4:30.  They love each other, go to work, school and church and are on the whole happy.  The press we get in the US is of the desperate Mexicans at the border.  Stereotyping them is as useless as stereotyping us ... "the stupid Americans"!  As we returned to the port well after dark, we will say "¡Buenas noches!"

See you tomorrow in Puerto Vallarta!

LeRoy and Vi