A day in the jungle

Down in the lobby to be picked up by the bus, after the usual Mexican runaround - "Be there at 9.50 Senor." "It's running a little late Senor, a few more minutes, finally at the assembly points, "Quince minutos, Senor". So twenty five minutes after the appointed time we get on the bus.

Freddie the tour guide, tells us, after a meandering, slow trip through the downtown, "We stop to look at silver - you will get a good discount here!"  getting off near our downtown haunts we traipsed off to one of our favourite coffee spots to wait out the half hour the tour wanted us to spend in the silver store. Unfortunately for them we knew where to get good coffee, so we did. We saved the silver money and spent it on coffee - 18pesos ($1.50).
 

Back on the bus, we settled into the twenty mile trip to the jungle. But first of all we had another stop to look at the Bay from a very important restaurant, one where Hollywood eats when they are in town. Back on the bus we then set off again for the jungle, all the time regaled by Freddie's tales of the area and the upcoming jungle. He really was the best guide we have had in all of our travels. One of the strangest things we noticed was the number of Mexicans on the bus, over threequarters of the passengers all told. Speaking to Freddie about this, at one of the stops, he told me that now that tourism is down, it forms 30% of the Mexican economy, the hotels are appealing  to the growing middle class with package deals that they put on their credit cards.
 

Down the road again, we pull into a local tequila distillery, for a tasting and sales pitch. A quick look around the wayy tequila is made and then "gather round folks we are going to taste tequila." Straight tequila reposado. Reposado means rested, in other words not the usual crap that is right out of the bathtub. A little smoother and less bite reposado is quite good. But as most people can't hack it the next two were mixes designed to appeal to non-drinkers. First the almond mix - very nice, and then a syrupy dark mix of chocolate, vanilla and coffee in the tequila. All good stuff bbut pretty pricy. Fifty dollars a bottle was about average but of course this is the original and you do know where it comes from. Back on the bus we set off once again for the jungle.
 

Finally we pull into the complex that is the base for the jungle tour. It is a "Canopy" complex. A "Canopy experience" is a series of ziplines set up in the trees about fifteen or twenty feet high. One is strapped into a harness, clip the pulley onto the wire and fall to the next tree platform. Fifteen lines and one and a half hours later you fall into the last platform at the restaurant. 

At this complex we order food because we are now on a timetable, Freddie wants to lead us on ahike. But first the food. We settle on "Chimichanga" beef or chicken. This dish is a deep fried wrap with the contents being beef or chicken strips mixed in a salad filling. Very tasty but laden with saturated fats. It should be noted that another option on the menu is 'deep fried ice cream' what's the bet that that dish is fried in the same deep fry? A bucket of beer and four entrees as well as the humongeous mange mix that Doreen managed to drink came to $25 dollars a piece.
"You want to come on a hike?" this chubby five footsix man who appeared to be middle aged asked. Why not if he could do it we should be able to, right? And we did. Up a trail that wound up steps, around a hillside and back down more steps, across rocks in the streambed and back to the restaurant. Past the miniature monkeys in the cages and back on the bus to come back to the hotel.
 

Seven and a half hours after leaving the hotel we were back. Full of food, having trekked a little way into the green space, not exactly machete hacking stuff but at least trees and insects. A really good day that only cost us the meal (after all we had earned the trip by enduring a sales presentation at the beginning of the week) - good value!