Magic in the Bay of Cuastecomate

It seemed while I was gone to the beach that not much happened, however, after reflection of all that happened in a month, a lot DID occur.

First off, I did NOT get lost in Guadalajara on my trip over.  I was calm, I was determined and I made the correct turn on the first try.  You see, if you do not make the turn at the right time, you're "dead in the water"
as there is no way to go around the block on the freeway around the city.  It is a wasteland of signage that
is placed in advance of the turn or is so far ahead of the turn that you might drive ten miles before the turn
happens, but, with no signage.  Anyway, I made it correctly heading to the beach - not so lucky on my way
back through the city heading home.  I immediately flagged down a taxi who led me for what seemed forever until we got to what is called the Periferico Sur.  The cost $2.50USD.  A bargain!

The drive either way, even allowing for being lost is eight hours, door to door.  It is 411 miles for those of you who like precise information.  In my humble opinion, driving to the US border is nine hours but much less exhausting as there are no cities to drive through!

Whales and Yachts Happened.........

The beach was restorative as always.  I spent two weeks on the Bay of Tenacatita in the area called Costa Alegre then two weeks on the Bay of Cuastecomate.  The Bay of Cuastecomate is much more compact and secluded then the first bay.

It is where I always see whales - every year.  Sometimes they are right in the bay and this year they were a bit farther out in the shipping lanes of the ocean, following the currents.

Quite a sight to see a whale jump out of the water.  No one could ever tire of seeing a sleek, giant creature
hurl itself that high out of the water.  A visual treat.  Never do I have a camera handy as I'm too busy looking through the binoculars to make sure what I am seeing is real.  Up and down the coast, friends went out on boats to see whales, but I've always just sat either on a balcony or a pool deck and watched them from shore.

My expectations are to see whales.  Amazingly, on this trip I saw something sleek, but white come into the Bay of Cuastecomate.  It was a yacht.  A mega yacht that I estimated to be about 350 ft long!  But, I was wrong, it was bigger then that - it is 453 ft long and the sixth largest in the world!  At a cost of $300 million dollars, can you imagine how magnificent the sight was to see?  Named Rising Sun, it is owned by David Geffen who was the music producer for the Eagles, Aerosmith and a host of others.  Geffen's net worth is $6 billion dollars, hence a yacht such as this.  In fact, he owns another one of equal cost but it is in the 300+ range!  Geffen sold Geffen Productions and has donated much money to UCLA and other institutions in the LA area.  I found this information out on Wikipedia and the website of Rising Sun, the name of the yacht.

 This photo was taken as the yacht was coming into the Bay of Cuastecomate.  I was leaving the house that I stay at and just jumped out of the car and took this photo as I doubted it would still be there when I returned later that day.

 This magnificent floating  ship anchored right in front of the house that I was staying at and was still there when I returned that afternoon.  It was a magnetic sight.  If anyone wanted to go ashore, they used a tender
to take them to the tiny village of Cuastecomate.

  As you can see, they stayed overnight.  Lit up like a gem, we were astounded at its beauty.  There was a party in the tiny village of Cuastecomate that night.  I would have loved to have crossed the bay and actually seen all the people.  We do know that it travels with a crew of forty-five in thirty cabins and the guest count can be sixteen staying in eight cabins.

Of course we knew none of this information while we were sitting and wondering whose yacht it was, and all the details.  I went online in Melaque the next day with just the name on the back, which was in very small print, and voila, here was all the information.  In fact, one can track the location of the boat by going to its website and checking the radar!

When I awakened at 7:15 the next morning it was gone.  Just as though it had been a dream - but, what a lovely dream.........

Much more to share in the next several posts..........