Beach Time at Boca de Iguanas

In late January, we had another set of visitors–Jared’s parents!

With them came Christmas…quite literally 🙂

We were spoiled with gifts from family state-side…

We gave them one of those flutes made by that artist we met at the Pyramid of the Sun near Mexico City.

We also had a new camera delivery they brought with them…because our old one was failing at times. We purchased an Olympus PEN E-PL1

It is a less expensive option to a DSLR, and also much smaller.  In fact, it has the same image sensor in it that comes in Olympus DSLR’s!  So, that means when we set off on a trek to the coast with Jared’s parents, I was fully armed with 3-4 hours to play with the camera…

Here are some shots of Grandma spoiling the kids with junk in the back…

And a typical sight of Jared and me passing time…

I caught some photos of the road-side produce stands. They will never get old to me…they just look so cool!

I also loooove the Coconut Plantations. Miles and miles of palm trees in a row…

We arrived at our favorite Western beach destination–Melaque! We have been there several times before, and wanted to share it with Jared’s parents as they escaped the winter snow in Washington.

First stop? Arguably one of the best ice cream places in Mexico – Bing. What makes it so good? Its American style ice cream!  None of that icy, tasteless stuff they usually serve here in Mexico. I mean, seriously, if you’re going to splurge and get ice cream, DO IT RIGHT!

The next morning we got up bright and early and lathered on the sunscreen (we weren’t going to relive our last Melaque experience with Ella getting a severe sunburn)!

Our favorite beach is Boca de Iguanas, a short drive north of Melaque and Barra de Navidad. It is worth the drive–as the beach is rather quiet, is long and flat, and has gentle waves that kids can play safely in!  Ethan immediately set out to explore. He’s not really into pushing the limits and trying to get deep in the water–he simply stays on the outskirts.

We bought some little boogie boards for the trip, and I discovered a new love.

Why did no one ever tell me that playing in the ocean could be super fun…if you’re riding the waves on a boogie board?!

Meanwhile, Ethan continued to explore…

As did Maiya…

We brought our typical sun-tent setup. The only way to protect our fair skin!

We brought our own munchies, and did not sit under the beach “restaurant” canopies. Certainly a good option if you’re not packing a sun tent, however!

There is an expensive campground/RV park right on the beach at Boca de Iguanas. We saw other gringo retiree-looking folks who probably park themselves on that beach for several months each winter! They must get a better rate for staying long-term, rather than paying the super high price-per-camper fee posted at the entrance.

I can’t blame them for wanting to hang out on this beach for a few months!

(Disclosure: I’ve included an affiliate link to the camera I bought on Amazon. That means that if you click on the photo and buy it too, I get a kickback from them. See for yourself…from here on out, have my photos improved? I’m curious to know what you think…)