Gator Don't Play....

We've had a pretty good run of surf the last week after Hurricane Erick moved out of the swell window.  La Saldita produced some really fun overhead waves last week and this week.  The larger swell this week saw some fun rides and also made for a lot of work paddling with the current ripping down the point.  The dying swell had more south in it than we've seen in previous swells which also made the point a little soft at times, but when the right set waves came it still produced a nice wall that worked all the way into the inside.

Due to some early morning chop the last couple of days we've opted for other activities with the boys choosing the usual play time on the beach coupled with trips to the skate park.  This morning after our surf check produced nothing but blown out conditions our friend Pedro suggested a different activity for the morning.  "Let's go feed Campeon" was the suggestion.  Campeon (champion in Spanish) is the name of the local crocodile in Tronconces who makes his home in the mangroves on the south end of town.

As we left Saladita, we stopped at a chicken butcher who obliged us with a bag full of frozen chicken scraps to entice Campeon.  We then drove the short distance back to Troncones to grab Jordan and Slater heading to the mangrove.  We walked back into the densely forested area where the exposed roots of the mangrove waterway produced a small opening.  Then like the urban legend of Bloody Mary, Pedro let out three loud shouts "CAMPEON! CAMPEON! CAMPEON!" trying to summon him.  Another round of loud shouts for Campeon still didn't produce him.  I asked if I could try and gave two of the loudest shouts for Campeon I could muster.  Wondering if the champion was more urban legend at this point also, Pedro let out three more summonsing shouts.  Right after this, the water started to stir and like a National Geographic video Campeon's beady eyes broke the surface of the water and started moving towards us.

He slowly pulled his 7+ foot body from the black water to survey what we wanted.  Pedro immediately threw him several chunks of chicken at him which he quickly snapped up a mere 10-12 feet away from us.  When we had given him the bulk of what we had another smaller crock swam up beside him to see what was going on and to cash in on the chicken lunch that was being thrown to the champion.  In hind sight, bringing the kids on this alternate surf activity is certainly not going to win either of us a Nobel Prize for parenting, but they got a pretty big kick out of standing 12 feet away from Campeon and his buddy as they dined on the chicken.  Going to the zoo after an experience like this would be less than satisfying to say the least.

The Champion:

 

With the Contender:

 

You Know You Live In Mexico When....

• You have to dance around a scorpion as you complete your shower to avoid being stung.
• The local ice cream shop has a tequlia flavor that is not named that just becasue they added some agave syrup into the mix.
• You see a 10 year old driving a 1999 VW Jetta GLS with a manual 5 speed transmission only to find out later while talking to his father that he is actually 13.

Castles Made of Sand

It's crazy to think that we're pretty deep into week 4 in Troncones.  We've fallen into a great routine which goes something like this:

7A - Wake up and have breakfast with the boys.

9A - Head out to surf

12N - Return for lunch

2P - Slater nap or afternoon adventure

4P - Pool or Skate Park

5P - Crack a beer

530P - Cook dinner

630P - Beach or skate park - depending on  what the afternoon adventure or 4P was

730P - Shut it down for the night and watch a DVD since we don't have a TV feed

This has been pretty standard issue until last week when tropical  storm Cosme decided to whip up some messy surf and weather for us.  it didn't really do anything more than throw us off our routine.  Down here though that can really put you in a different frame of mind.  After 5 consecutive days of no surf both Melissa and I were a little agitated.  It's pretty difficult to manage Jordan and Slater for an entire 12 hour day with limited resources even with both of us on deck.  There isn't a park or local friends we can just drop by to see or play with.  There aren't any mommy play groups or Scooter's Jungles to visit on a rainy day.  There just what we have here at the place for the boys and anything we might be able to come up with creatively.  Thankfully, things seem to be back to normal the last few days with some fun surf sessions in La Saladita.

Cosme Messing Up The Routine:

 

One of the cooler things we've been experiencing is the exposure to different wild life.  You kind of forget that this far south in Mexico is a rain forest and during rainy season there's a lot of wild life kicking around.  Large Iguanas are almost a daily sighting, bat watching in the evening as day turns to dusk, snakes, crabs, moths that are as large as your fist and bugs of all sorts buzz around.  There are also tarantulas and scorpions which I have yet to see, but pretty confident that will happen before the end of our stay here.  Jordan and I rescued a large moth and set him off flying from our deck only to witness him a second later being snatched out of the air by a large bird for breakfast.  Jordan was pretty blow away as was I.

Parrots at Dinner:

Wild life is not only in the brush down here.  I was driving back with Melissa from our morning surf session about a week and a half ago and we got stuck behind a van towing a cage that was moving rather slow.   As I got up closer, I said to her "Is that a Bengal Tiger in that cage?".  Sure enough, it was.  The van towing it had a loud speaker on it and was decorated in circus advertisement print.  They were driving the Bengal Tiger through the towns basically as an outdoor ad for the circus.  Many of you reading this might be from the ad industry and let me tell you no advertising I have ever seen on TV, Radio or online can top this.  Kids were running down the street to get a look, people were coming out of their houses and it was just generally causing quite a stir.  Safety issues aside, it was pretty crazy to stand a couple of feet from an animal that could eat me for lunch with my 5 year old and snap photos.  This is stuff you just can't make up and for sure will never see this in Santa Monica.

Circus Advertising at Your Doorstep:

 

We're looking forward to the 4th tomorrow although we'll miss our family and friends back at home.  We're grilling up with Russell and new friends in Troncones to celebrate our Independence Day after we get a surf in.  Cheers to you all and have a safe and sane 4th of July.