Boobies and Jejenes

12-1-12 - San Blas, Nayarit, MX

E peeling camarones underway

Sunset on our way to Isla Isabela

Our last stop of Isla Isabel was a pleasant stop.  We finally found a remote piece of Mexico to explore.  Upon walking around the island and talking with some people doing research, they informed us that until this week they haven’t seen many, if any boats in the anchorage for some time.  This may be partly due to the guide books that try to scare you away with tales of lost anchors and bad holding.  That coupled with the fact you’re a little way from the mainland and any other anchorage seems to keep people away.  We chose to take the leap knowing we had other boats with us that could help if something went bad. We even dug out the spare anchor so if we lost it, we wouldn’t lose our new, beloved Manson Supreme.  Isla Isabel was a great stop and we are happy we didn’t chicken out.  An overnight passage form Mazatlan found us just miles off the coast of this beautiful island and it was a great sight when waking up from my evening sleep.  While the tenuous anchorage gave us a few moments of stress the amazing wildlife and incredible snorkeling more than made up for it.  Mix that with a couple of friendly boats and a great potluck dinner, what more could you ask for? 



That's us! Taken by our friends on s/v Shindig

Isla Isabel has been called the Galapagos of Mexico and is well known for the boobies that reside there.  There are blue footed boobies, which are mostly white except for their feet. 

There are green footed boobies, better known as brown boobies. And then there are red footed boobies, which no one has ever seen on the island except in the air. 

We were able to witness at least some of these boobies on Isla Isabel.

The group who hiked to Lago Crater on Isla Isabel

From Isla Isabel we have traveled to San Blas.  The dinghy theft capitol of Mexico if you listen to people.  What San Blas does have is the notorious Jejenes otherwise know as no-see-ums or sand fleas, whatever you want to call them.  They are the smallest and most vicious insect predators in the world.  Without proper preparation they can bring you to your knees with painful bites resulting in swollen legs and possible amputation.  So that’s an exaggeration.  But the jejenes are everywhere and they do bite you leaving little welts, not so itchy like mosquito's, but there are billions of these things on the beach.  And apparently they are not afraid of DEET.  So for the last five days the routine has been to wake up, apply sunscreen as usual and then layer yourself with DEET making for a nice chemical perfume on your skin.  In reality they are simply part of life here and you just need to deal with them, or leave.  San Blas is such a great little town it’s hard to pull yourself away, so we have endured a million little bites in the name of experiencing an authentic Mexican town.  It’s been worth it.  In fact Elizabeth is now known by Jorge our taxi driver one day who now yells out the window “Hola Elizabeth” every time he drives by and sees us.  It’s a small central area, so we’ve seen him a few times now.

Isla Isabel - AW is over the hill behind us.

From beautiful boobies to painful jejenes, there’s always something new to experience in Mexico.   For example, for the last three hours we have been sitting in the San Blas Social Club trying to complete this post while every ex-pat in the state has talked our ears off about how amazing San Blas is.  I’m not complaining.  It’s a welcoming feeling that is infrequent in my past life and continues to be appreciated.