Walking with Bull

Sherry
Mar 23, 2025
4 min read

We love Chacala! Yes, I know that I say that about every place we visit, but it is truth. I suppose that is why we keep coming back to the same places. And, we have some really great memories in Chacala with our cruising friends. Sailboats used to be stacked in the most protected part of this anchorage like cordwood. Last year we arrived here late (in the season and time of day after sailing all day), and there was not a single boat in sight. At the time it was oddly unnerving, but made sense because the bay didn’t provide protection from the south. We suffered through anchoring and managed to get some semblance of a night’s sleep in the huge swell back then before moving on in the morning. This time of year, however, the anchorage is well protected from the prevailing seas and winds from the north but was still relatively empty. Just one other boat was there the whole time we were there, and the few other boats that came in only stayed a day or two before moving on. Hmmm…? There is a small protected cove without the surf of the beach for dinghy landings. And the beauty of Chacala is undeniable. So I’m not sure why it seems to have fallen out of favor. No complaints here though, it just makes anchoring that much easier for us. We enjoyed many beautiful sunsets off the point while we were there.

It is a typical Mexican tourist beach lined with palapa restaurants where Mexican Banda groups solicit to play for Pesos and vendors roaming around hawking everything from oysters to beaded bracelets to sunglasses. There seems to be a fair population of ex-pats there as well, which may explain the high prices of groceries in many of the tiendas. But it is a cute little town in an attractive area that seems to be growing like wildfire. Here is their modest little church.

They are undergoing some improvements, and what is most amazing to us is their efforts to preserve this grand old tree and the natural feel with their improvements. (Makes sense to keep all the shade you can in an area that gets so hot in the summers.)

You can see that they are using pea-gravel and rocks around the tree roots to terrace the area up to the church.

While the roads just behind the beach palapa restaurants are washed out and pot-holed sand and gravel with what smells like a steady stream of leaking sewage pipes running down them, if you get off the tourist drag and up into the town, there are many places that are quite nice.

Here are a few of our favorite tropical plants from our walkabouts.

We spent one afternoon in our favorite of the Mexican palapa restaurants drinking cervesas and eating a whole fish prepared over a fire (complete with rice, beans, and tortillas of course). We took a table nearest the beach on the sand for a wonderful view of our boat!

One morning we left for an epic hike to the caleta, or small cove, over the hill and through the jungle to the north of town where there is supposed to be some decent surfing. It was only about 8 miles, but was not an easy trail to find or to hike. But after going down several false paths, we managed to find it.

Here are a few pictures along the trail.

A great termite nest.

When Lily was a young dog she had more energy than any of us knew what to do with. There was a time when Jim and I were both training for a marathon (well I was training for the half-marathon,), and Lily was training with us both. Jim worked days, so Lily ran 10 miles with him in the evenings. I was worked evenings, so she ran 10 miles with me in the mornings. She has been a great adventure dog for us for nearly 14 years. So we promised her that she could continue to have adventures with us even after she was no longer physically capable. But don’t tell her she has limitations! If we let her she would continue to push herself until she collapsed. So, we always take her basket or backpack to make her rest some throughout the day’s adventures.

Along the path we met up with an unexpected traveler. He was a bit slower than we were, stopping here and there for a nibble on the greenery. I tried to ask him nicely (is there any other safe way to do it?), to pull over anytime there was space along the narrow trail, however he was quite stubborn. So, we slowed our pace and followed this strapping young fellow for about 45 minutes until he finally yielded to let us pass.

Here the jungle is showing us some love <3

Along the way there was some splashes of color

There were also some thorns along the way—really large, wicked thorns.

We finally broke through to the road that lead down to the caleta.

It was a cute little cove.

And there was indeed surfing.

After enjoying watching the surfers (and sitting on a rock to rest), for a while, it was time to head home. Being much later in the afternoon, it was quite warm for our return on the challenging trail. I’m sure I was quite red in the face from heat and exertion, and I sure didn’t like the way these vultures were side-eying me! 🤣

An activity we enjoy in the evenings—in addition to drinking sunset cocktails, is observing the pelicans getting their dinner. It is amazing to watch them flying in circles overhead until they spot their prey then dive-bomb in for the catch!