Friday, January 30, 2015

A Day at Los Chivos

This morning when I walked the beach  I noticed how very warm the water was, perfect for swimming. I decide I will go swimming today. I sort of learned how to swim last year. I want to spend lots of time in the water this year.

I hurry with my laundry, I wash as much as I have line to hang, I think of maybe buying an old spinner washing machine. Hand washing clothes is so hard on them, they wear out sooner, plus it takes forever to dry, usually 2 days.

I grab a few pesos and head over to Los Chivos. It's a little cove at the point of the Island where there usually aren't any waves, and usually no people, prefect for beginner swimmers like me, that have issues with swim suits, and crowds of people. 

The place is deserted, so it seems. The pizza places looks a little shabby, could use a good clean up, hurricane debris still laying around. Shouldn't you be cleaning up instead of sleeping in a hammock I think, and then I remember what my house looks like. Shut up I say to myself. Dude wipes down a table and a lounge chair, brings me a towel and a boogie board, we chit chat a bit, I order a individual pizza and a coco and tell him I am not in a hurry.....neither is he I see. I am the only one there. I like it like that.

I get in the water, it is warm, like a bath tub. I have a great time. The water is so clear you can see the bottom, occasionally I see little fish, which is always a little startling at first. I swim, sit and dry off and get some sun, the locals have all commented on how white I am. I am in and out of the water all afternoon. I  am amazed at how silky the water feels on my skin, like when you put bath salts in your tub.

A tourist wagon comes by with a small parade of really white tourists and a guide, they are snorkeling, they are going to be disappointed I think. You don't see bright tropical fish this close to the shore, and once a whole parade of people jump and splash in the water even the little fish I've been seeing are going to get scared away. I work on my tan until they get bored and move....didn't take long and I was alone again. I Should have brought a book. The pizza was good. nice crust, nice size, perfect for me. Occasionally a  WiFI signal drifts in  and out, I'm a little internet starved, no internet at my house yet, although a little internet break would do me well, I waste way too much time on it, but man, it's hard. How spoiled are we now? I would give up hot water to have good internet service if I had too.

I love hanging out here so much I almost wonder if I should volunteer working here, just long enough to clean this place up, it is an amazing spot and set up beautifully, it just needs a good cleaning.....I should probably just mind my own business. Takes awhile to stop thinking like a North American. Messy and dirty keeps the tourists away, making it quiet and peaceful for me.

I wonder if I buy a paddle board would this be a safe place to store it, or would it disappear? It would probably get lost among all this junk and debris. I discovered paddle boarding last spring and bought one in Canada, only had time to put it in the water 3 times, which was enough to know that I love it, a great alternative to surfing, which I am too old to learn now, plus my body is way too uptight for surfing.  Once my house is clean and organized I plan on going shopping for one here. I watch another small gringo parade come and go.


I pay my bill and leave, 55 pesos for a small pizza and 20 for a coco. 4 hours well spend. As I walk home I see a cruise ship is it port, that explains the 2 gringo parades. I hope the locals are making some money off of them, they've been hurting for tourist income for a few years now. I did read in the paper that ships will be coming more regularly this winter, I saw a schedule posted somewhere, I should get a copy of that. It's a good day not to go into the mainland for shopping when the ships are in, some areas can get a little too crowded for me when there is more than one ship in at a time. 

The first picture below is a perfect hot of Los Chivos, not taken by me, I found it on the internet and don't know who the photographer is. You can see how the little bay is sheltered from the surf making it an ideal place for beginner swimmers and for little kids to play in the water. Every time I am here I think of my grand sons and of how much fun it would be it bring them here......one day.


You can see the bottom the water is so clear