Lunes Paseo

This is the meeting place for the Lo de Marcos Walkers...

 The Arch

Notice all the signs taped up along the sides of the arch.  They are notices for everything from the Veterinary Clinic at the library to a lost dog to an event coming to this or another nearby town.  One poster is announcing that a contingent of folks representing the Pope will be in the area.  This arch is also the main (well, okay, the only "real") bus stop in town.  (If you want to ride the bus but live down the street, you can just flag it down on it's way down the main street...  he'll stop and pick you up).  This plaza is where the main events in town take place....  it's where one group of folks play pickleball every morning.  It's where we "Monday Morning Walkers" meet at 8:00 am.

I think I've written that the river's outlet to the sea is blocked with sand.  There is no bridge across the river, so even when the river isn't high, like it is now, a person has to wade across the river.  Today it was higher than usual....  

 Here's part of our group...  heading across.

Some go barefoot...  most wear rubber flip-flops.  Neither Bill nor I ever go barefoot, so we're both truly "tenderfoot" kind of people.  We carry rubber sandals in Bill's backpack and change out of our "regular" shoes into them to cross.  (Leather takes forever to dry and dries hard and rigid).  If we come back here in the future, we'll both re-think the kind of footwear we'll bring.

We walk along the river for several hundred yards, then turn north...  then along a dirt road where there is a fair amount of various kinds of farming going on...

 Today we watched these guys planting a pineapple field (plantation?).  Everyone is friendly here...  they waved and gave us a big "thumbs up"....  

After the agricultural areas, we walked though the jungle for a while...   There are only a few areas where it's muddy...  and one area with deep mudholes....  but you have to keep moving or the mosquitoes will find you real fast!  

But eventually you come out to the beach....

 The sea is different today...

Even the sky and overall "feeling" is different.  It's more overcast....  lots of clouds on the horizon...  and not nearly as warm as usual.  The waves are high and loud.  We heard that person drowned here yesterday.  Actually, we heard the sirens going through town but didn't investigate.  Not too many folks try to swim out into the ocean (at least that we ever see), but the boogy boards, surfers, surf paddlers do seek out those high waves.  Here's part of our group....  I think there were 9 or 10 of us today...  in our hour or so walk we all tend to break up into pairs or threes and have our own conversations.  We get to learn a little more about "how the other person lives" and get to know them a bit better.  This works because a lot of the paths we walk on are so narrow that it's either single file or maybe 2 folks side by side.  

 This is not a fast paced walk...  it's meant to enjoy the scenery and enjoy each other's company.

At the end of the walk we usually stop for coffee somewhere close to the plaza.  Maria, of "Secrets" knows about our walks and makes it a point to have home-made muffins ready by 9:00.

 She also serves coffee...  but I let Bill go ahead to "Secrets" and I head to my favorite cafe and buy a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice.  Then I take it down to Secrets and join the group.

Looks like Maria's dog wanted to come in and say Hello as well.  

Bill said the muffins were very good...  a combination of banana, almonds, raisins and I think some other fruits.  I don't do well with bananas so passed on the muffins today.

And then we all go our own way....

It's not meant to be a strenuous walk, it's really more of a social event for most of us.  But it's so good of Memo to take the time to lead us on these walks and talk about the town and such.  We look forward to it each week.

Now...  about that Vet clinic yesterday.  There were 28 cats and dogs (don't know how many of each) that were spayed/neutered.  The clinic officially opened at 8:30 am and didn't close until 6:30 pm.  You might remember the photo I posted yesterday of the woman and black dog (well, his ears)...  It seems that dog was infested with ticks...  so much so that it had an enlarged spleen which was caused by a tick disease.  The sad part is, that dog had to be put down.  The disease is contagious and at this point, the dog couldn't be healed.  I know this is a sad thing to hear and for me to write about...  but it's good to know that there are folks looking out after all these cats and dogs living here.  And... about the library used as a temporary vet office...  they have the room, the facilities and it's available on Sunday....   guess it works out for all.

That's All For Today!