Where to begin? When so much time has elapsed since the last update, everyday it gets harder, and longer, to start at the beginning and include every detail so here’s a good attempt…it’s a long one!
At the beginning of December we were back in Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico. For those who remember, we were here last April, and we thought this time we would just stop into the old RV park and see what friends were around and go to some familiar sights. Once again we found ourselves staying one more day, meeting one more fun friend, and looking around at the real estate market. Then we found it. Casa Chachacha! A beautiful palapa roofed house on the north end of the beach! Well, not on the beach exactly, but high on the hill over it so that we have the most outstanding view of the surf breaks, the southern point of Sayulita and sunsets like no other. With John’s attention to detail we carefully worked our way through the negotiation and buying process for Mexican real estate. We lucked out on having some really great previous owners and friends on our side. Casa Chachacha is “like no other” and while the name still needs to grow on us, at least everyone in town knows the house and our friends can find us up the Nanzal hill under the HUGE palapa!
Just as we were ready to close on the house, and hopefully get a few days to stay there, it was “mañana” and the Christmas-New Year holiday closed in. One of the ways Casa Chachacha works for us is that it is a well-known rental property and when we bought the house we took all the reserved rental dates. So the house was rented out for ten days, and Julie had already standing plans to meet her family in Argentina for the holidays, and John decided to fly up to Pennsylvania to surprise his family. One of the great things about Sayulita is its proximity to Puerto Vallarta so flights are not a problem!
Both of us had great trips and enjoyed spending time with our families. Some highlights for John was waking up his grandmother on Christmas eve to say he was at the front door, surprising a few friends in NY, meeting up with others for runs and dinners, and getting a free lay-over in Atlanta to see Julie-Mom who had just returned from visiting his sister Suzanne in Africa. Julie’s trip was a once-in-a-lifetime family affair with Christmas in beautiful Buenos Aires, a whirwind trip to Isla de Pascua, and then New Years in Santiago. Some highlights; talking and laughing over exquisite meals at La Mansion, Alvear Palace, Explora, and DuoTorre. Walking trips amongst the magnificent Maoi and enjoying the company of the Rapa Nui, as they told us stories, danced for us and cheered me on in the surf! Touring quiet, hospitable cities with great guides and most importantly spending time with family.
On returning to Sayulita we got right to work on making Casa Chachacha our own. We are excited to put time into the house to fix problems on our own, do a nice paint job, and basically give the nine-year old house a face-lift. One of our first tasks was trying to get the BIG palapa roof sprayed for its bi-annual insecticide treatment. Obviously this was one job we thought we had to hire out. So we talked to one “palapero” who showed up with only a tiny hand-pump sprayer and no ladder! We couldn’t believe that he could reach the top of our HUGE palapa, let alone not get some of the insecticide in his eye so we sent him away. The second “palapero” was more equipped, apparently, but he wanted to charge us four times the price of the first. Not in our budget, so it was time for Tonto to hit the road and find just how much all this spraying equipment and chemicals really cost. Half a day later, and many trips back and forth on the highway, we walked out of the “Agrochemicos” with a gasoline powered sprayer, insecticide, tyvex suits and goggles for much less than it would cost us to have someone come to our home. The neighbors were quite impressed that the “guys we hired” were so well protected as it is not the custom in Mexico..then they were doubly impressed that it was us doing the spraying!
Another adventure we had was unfortunately at three in the morning. John and I were suddenly awakened by a scampering noise, a crashing of bushes below the balcony and then the sweet odor of a skunk! It turns out Lobo has found a way to “jump out of the house”. Our palapa house is very open, and there is a place where he can jump from the edge of the main floor balcony to the hillside. This time there was a skunk waiting to spray as he charged. With not much else to go on John grabbed a half-bottle of precious clamato juice and the last two tomatoes from the fridge. Lobo enjoyed the early-morning tomatoe shower about as much as we did, and now he gets leashed up IN the house every night.
Of course, in all this time we have had some time for fun. Surf trips with Al, Tom and Carol to Anclote, running the trails behind the house, playing with the beach dogs and great street tacos! We also had our first housewarming party for all our friends in the RV park and town. It was a great turn-out of people who committed to climbing up the big hill to our house on foot! We had a great response to our sangria, chile rellenos and quesadillas! Thanks to our friend Brian for taking some photos of our good times, friends, sunset and house! WEBSITE http://gallery.mac.com/nursekristen#100024
So what next? Well, more work to be done – painting, some landscaping and building, a septic project (finally!) and of course surfing, biking and Spanish lessons for John! (If we write it here maybe it will happen! ☺ ) The house is rented from February 11 – March 29 so we will be able to continue our traveling but we are also looking forward to friends and family to visit in April and May!! Who’s coming?.....
photos: Colorado boys take us on a surf trip, fruit and vegi truck visits the RV park, Casa Chachacha!