x3mex skim contest melaque 2007 - YouTube Video

You'll find a bunch of still fotos on the previous post but I just ran across this video which is well done and fun

X3MEX - Melaque Skim 2007

There was enough surf to hold the competition in Melaque but it's always questionable this time of year. I just threw these fotos together to get the feeling of it. As always it takes 20 fotos to get a good one. At times the photographers were getting in each others way - at least in mine! There were guys from up and down the coast - as far as Acapulco - and one guy from California

Contestants before a heat

Judges tent

A good one

Slice'en

About the end of the day

Here's more pictures on the web site

Bienvenido a Melaque

I ran across this Blog from someone that visited Melaque in December. What caught my eye was that it reminded her of Vietnam and I had to check further to see what kind of negative experience would make her draw that similarity. As it turns out she had a good time and only the typical Mexico confusion in the streets and daily shopping reminded her of time spent in Vietnam. Here's her foto and part of the article. There's a link to the full page at the bottom.

Buenas dias from Mexico! I'm lounging on our deck, palm trees rustling overhead in the warm breeze, and waves slamming against the shore a few steps away. It's been a busy day: breakfast, sunning, lunch, sunning, snack, sunning - intersperced with reading and chatting. I'm exhausted just writing about it! Our house is right on the Bahia de Navidad, and I'm thrilled to be back at the beach again.

Melaque is a small town on the Pacific coast of central Mexico (the Costa Alegre), about 200 miles from Puerto Vallerta. Although touted as a tourist destination, it doesn't resemble the Anglo version of one. It reminds me of Vietnam, to be honest. Small shops selling a variety of day-to-day goods and beach toys - street vendors - cars cruising by, playing everything from Eminem to Cyndi Lauper, reminding us that girls just want to have fun.

Beth's Adventures Travel Blog

Trimming the Palms in Melaque

We needed to clean the palm trees so we could use the hammock between/under them and they were ready for harvest anyway. We ended up feeding half the block with fresh coconut milk. This guy does this for a living .... as many private homes and hotels as possible because the palm grove work is pretty miserable. The flowers of the palm below are often used for quinceanera parties.

Going up

At the top

Tying off a clump of cocos

Cocos lowered down by rope

Flor de coco

Cleaning a Pulpo (octopus)

Somebody in the family brought home a pulpo and it was decided to have it for dinner. Mari took it out to the wash table and waited until I got my camera

First you take out the ink sack and the rest of the insides - then you start scrubbing. Lots of scrubbing and rinsing to remove the slime Finally she removed the beak (boca) and a few small parts of the head

She boils it for an hour with garlic and onions and cuts it up in small chucks. This was fried in garlic butter, a little salt and worcestershire sauce. Veracruzana or diabla are other ways to cook it. Crisp tortillas, lime and jalapenos on the side