Picnic at El Quelele Lagoon
World’s Birds Day had just gone by, it was Mothers’ Day in the States (celebrated this year one day after our celebration in Mexico). It is mid-May and the weather at the Bahía de Banderas is still wonderful, Paradise!
Due to one of those coincidences we are awarded by fate, this Sunday looked somewhat complicated in my working agenda (though having a job in a lace like this is something to grateful about). It turned out that my agenda was completed long before I had anticipated and I got a call from my friend Tikka, telling me my presence is required at a picnic. My agenda was already transforming into something much more pleasant.
My son Juan Sebastián works and studies and we cannot see each other as often as we would like; I’m going to call him, being today a Sunday we may be lucky enough to spend some time together…
More magic! My call came at the right time, we are to meet in 15 minutes and from there on we will be sharing what life may bring.
After the short journey to Mezcales (about 8 miles north of Vallarta) we took a dirt road towards the water and in five minutes we were under the shade of a huge Parota tree (in some places they call these wonderful trees huanacaxtle or huanacaste) right outside our friend Butch’s house. Butch is part of our marine community.
The greeting is always spontaneously warm and enthusiastic. I remember when I lived aboard my sailboat I left them for about a month and when I came back unannounced, a happy welcoming committee had already formed at the dock; it was all bright eyes and smiles full of sky and sea, and bronzed arms eager to grab my lines and help me tie my boat to the dock.
Last month I arrived by land to participate in the Natura Nayarit Festival and the reaction was the same, I was in a hurry and could only stay for 15 or 20 minutes, but as I left I felt so good that I can assure you, there is no better medicine than 15 minutes of hugs, kisses and good vibes.
After that warm welcome I Invited Juanse to explore a bit around the Banks of the Quelele Lagoon, there are days when you can see extraordinary varieties of birds there; this time we saw some snowy egrets, white herons, tigers (they call them tiger egrets), yellow-crowned night herons, blue herons, wood storks, whistling ducks, white and white-faced ibises, many yellow-winged caciques and some great kiskadees, but the tide was low and we could see no roseate spoonbills that are quite spectacular (I believe they named the golf club next door Flamingos because of them, as they are shy you can hardly come near them to see the difference, they are a different species and their bill is shaped just like a spoon).
 This is a great place for bird watching (Steve N.G.Howell, a well known ornithologist once saw over one hundred different species of birds in one morning!), you just have to bring plenty of repellent during the summer; mosquitoes will bite through your clothes. Today there weren’t any. We did not see any crocodiles either but we heard some owls and others I could not identify by their song.
When we arrived back at Butch’s some more friends had arrived and we started to play some combination of golf, tennis and marbles. You form a 9 feet diameter circle of with a light rope and with a single stroke of a golf club (we all shared the single club) you try to get each of your three tennis balls into the circle from a distance of about 45 feet, from a young English girl about 20 years old to an older lady, also British who had some mobility limitations; we enjoyed our time immensely, the game, the charcoal broiled burgers, the beer, Butch’s singing and guitar playing, later joined by Miguel, a rocker who plays like he had been born with a guitar.
But mainly the friendship, a moment and a place where you feel an absolute freedom to be yourself, uncomplicated.
I now remember there were about twelve of us, but from at least seven different countries, Mexico, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain and Australia.
After having shared that morning with two Argentinean girls and a Turkish friend who gave the recipe for a lamb “kebab”, I hold a higher admiration for all those local and migratory species who visit the Quelele Lagoon. They gather here in perfect harmony, they come and go without caring about it being a different time zone and ignoring all those artificial boundaries and frontiers between states and countries that only divide us and make us think we are different, when life can be much less complicated and so enjoyable. Email to a friend
Hiking and kayak bird and nature watching tours available by appointment at: toureps@prodigy.net.mx or toureps@mail.com
Eduardo Rincón-Gallardo
E-mail: toureps@prodigy.net.mx
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