Why reinvent the wheel in Mexico?

Those who follow this blog will know we're reacquainting ourselves with our winter-birding buddies, Sharon and Bill. I can't call them snowbirders, as they hail from warmer parts of the USA and rarely come across snow. We're in Lo de Marcos, Mexico, which is about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta ... but a world away in real time. Tourism really hasn't reached Lo de Marcos, which is one of the attractive features for us.

Entrance to the town's central park with gazebo in the background

Having only arrived a day or so ago, we're just finding our feet in a town of 1,000 permanent residents. That number swells to around 3,000 during winter, when others come here to seek the sun, surf, and warmer temperatures. Of those 2,000 people, I was surprised to hear the vast majority are from Canada, with most travelling from Quebec. It seems strange to see Quebec licence plates here, as that's a long drive. Google maps shows it as a 45-hour drive from Montreal to Puerto Vallarta.

Colourful flowers are in bloom everywhere

As the title shows, I'm a firm believer in not reinventing the wheel. Although we enjoy exploring a location and finding things for ourselves, we do also have the advantage of our friends having arrived before us. Not only will they steer us with their tips and tricks and favourites locals, but also Sharon has done some excellent blogging I'll tap into, as I couldn't have "said" it better myself ;)

Notice the leaves get a little dusty as many of the roads are unpaved

Most people want to know about where you're staying, so here's Sharon's tour of the "bungalows". We're actually their next-door-neighbours, which makes it easy to meet for our regular wine socials.

Not our residence, but one of the many bungalow rentals

Many of the rental accommodations here are called bungalows, and yet none of the ones I've seen are single storey; a cultural difference, I guess. Before I arrived I didn't have high expectations; I'd seen Sharon's posts and knew the accommodations would be basic. I told myself it would be like camping, but indoors. However, my first reaction was that I loved the place; it's quaint and clean, and the locals aim to please. Greg really likes it here too. We're looking forward to a few weeks of enjoying life's simple pleasures.

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Location: Lo de Marcos, Nayarit, Mexico
Weather: 80ºF (27ºC) at 3 pm
Forecast: High of 80ºF (27ºC), low of 66ºF (19ºC)

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