Barra de Navidad

I got back from my vacation at the beach on Thursday. Eight of us from my program went - 6 females and 2 males. We went to a beach about 9 hours away called Barra de Navidad. It is a small town with fewer tourists than most beaches. Surprising, the bus ride there was actually very nice. We took the "top of the line" bus line (ETN), which had huge reclining seats, footrests, several tv monitors which played bad Tom Hanks movies, bathrooms, and even food and drinks! However, the trip there was prolonged by the fact that we had a two hour layover in Guadalajara.

When we finally got to Barra de Navidad, it was already dark. We walked to the hostel, threw our stuff in the room and went to eat. Then we headed to the beach with John's guitar, and sang camp songs for a while. We spent the remaining three days of our time there at the beach mostly. We sunbathed, swam a little, and ate a LOT. There were even vendors who walked up and down the beach, selling everything from jewlery, to donuts, to fake tattoos, to pineapples filled with pineapple-watermelon puree with chili and lime on top (of course). I caved in and bought one. At night, there was one main bar that we frequented, which was sadly filled with tourists. However, I did meet some interesting, retired, drunk old men there. I also met many people from Guadalajara who were vacationing in Barra. One awkward thing that happened a few times was that complete strangers wanted to take pictures of me and my friends, or with me and my friends. This has also happened in Guanajuato... it seems a bit weird to me.



The last day, we took a bus to another beach that was close by. This beach was better because it was wasn't as windy as Barra. I went swimming but declined to go on the Banana Boat (literally, a gigantic inflated banana pulled by a motor boat). Also, Jeanie saw a mantaray swimming in the water.

The only thing that was bad about trip was the hostel. I beg you, NEVER, NEVER stay in "Hotel Jalisco" in Barra de Navidad. Ughh. It was disgusting and extremely overpriced for the quality of everything. Plus the owners were rude and unhelpful. Too bad we already paid in advance. First of all, males and females were supposed to have seperate rooms, and we were all supposed to have our own beds. But we didn't. There were three queen beds and two singles in two connected rooms. So most of us had to sleep two to a bed. Also, the "covers" on the beds were SUPER thin and so cheap and old that they had holes in them. So we were freezing at night, and the windows to the room would not close. Lastly, we all had to share one bathroom. The bathroom didn't even have a door, it only had a shower curtain, which does not provide very much privacy for anybody who has intestinal issues. Inside, there was a toliet and a shower head which sometimes only had freezing cold water. We called our room "the hell hole".

Ahem, but to end on a positive note... other than that it was a great trip! I really did have a great time, plus I got a nice tan and was able to relax for a few days.