Sunday, 26 January 2014 – Our last day in San Blas was spent relaxing and doing some shopping. Our first task was to find a Bicycle pump to inflate the dingy wheels and fenders as our West Marine American made “Taylor Made” pump had fallen apart. This $14.99 piece of junk from West Marine was to be replaced with an “industrial strength” Mexican made, all-metal pump for $10.90. Being Sunday, we found only one store open and they sold either a large or small pump and the small one suited us fine and it works well.

A short visit to town and a stop at the Social Club had us swapping stories with the owner while we sipped our drinks at the long bar.  Across from the club and in the square, the Huichol Indians were making some of their intricate bead work. We watched them slowly assemble both a bracelet and decorative wooden clamp. Each bead is individually selected and either threaded or placed into its appropriate position. It is very time consuming and the patterns are all done from memory.  A small bottle on the table showed they use Dental Glue for attaching the beadwork to the wooden forms.

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The rest of the day was spent at El Borrego Beach under a Palapa, sipping Pina Coladas and munching Nachos with Guacamole while watching the sun sink to the Horizon across the ocean. We had been sent to Los Jacales or #16 Beach Palapa by the owner of the Social Club. The wonderfully friendly but almost toothless owner,Lupe, was a warm hearted lady who treated us like family. She took wonderful care of us hovering like a “Mother Hen” to be sure we were enjoying ourselves.  A $2.00 taxi ride had us back on the boat just before sunset after a nice relaxing day.

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While everyone seems fearful of the Jejenes and their bites, it is a pity. San Blas is such an interesting place to visit. Cruisers on another sailboat did complain but we had no issues and in fact barely noticed any. Most cruises prefer to anchor in Matanchen Bay where the sea breeze and distance from shoreline help keep these pesky flies at bay.

We found San Blas to be very welcoming and easy to get around, especially with the inexpensive Taxis. It is an interesting place to visit especially if you are a nature or bird lover.  It retains its real Mexican heritage and atmosphere which is in contract to many other towns close by. While maybe not to everyone’s taste, we enjoyed our stay and would certainly visit again, staying longer so we could do more exploring further afield and maybe including a trip to Mexcaltitan, ancestral home of the Aztec.