Our 3 nights came and went quickly at Coconuts by the Sea, and now we pack the bikes up to move across the Bay of Tenacatta and into town. We pull up at Casa Mariposa to find the rental agent waiting to welcome us. Kevin opens the garage and we pull the bikes in. We unload our freshly loaded bikes, loaded only 12 minutes ago from the other side of the cove. Phew it has been a hard ride! NOT! I'm feeling happily very domestic as I lay my entire wardrobe of 2 shirts, 3 undies, 2 socks, bra, skirt, pants, togs and simple dress in the bedroom chest of drawers. Now to set up the kitchen. I carry the "tahoe bag" stored in a paneer on Kev's bike that is full of my kitchen paraphernalia up to the third floor where the kitchen is located. I feel like a kid in a play house, setting up house and I'm enjoy every minute of it! After everything is unpacked Kev and I sit down on the built-in concrete mexican couch and absorb the moment! "This is very cool! How did we luck out?" I comment….we duly agree and decide to head to Jolanda's for a drink before shopping for groceries. Now Jolanda's is 2 minutes away instead of 45 minutes! Jolanda and Leon, originally from Holland, past motorcyclers and adventurers ended up in La Manzanilla a decade ago. Jolanda an excellent cook, and Leon decided to open up a restaurant…and the rest is history! We have indulged and enjoyed the dutch and international specialties from their travels served in their restaurant on a regular basis. Jolanda's is an excellent place to catch up with friends, absorb the magical sunsets, hook up to wifi, sip on pina coladas and rent kayaks. It has been an easy rhythm to acclimate to! Kev and I spent many hours visiting, laughing and absorbing all the travel info we could from fellow adventure motorcycler friends Ken and Carol Duvall, who we first met in Australia 2 years ago! Kev and I really enjoyed your company while you were here. Travel safe guys!

*Kitchen, dining room, living room and balcony….Cocina, comedor, sala de estar y un balcón*

*Calle view from living area looking at the Vet.*

*View from down the stairs into the garage*

*Even cool sculptured art work to enjoy as you walk up the 3 flights of stairs!*

*Ken, Carol, Kev and Jolanda to the right*

Living a couple of blocks back from the main drag presents relaxed and interesting street activity. There seems to be a pack of dogs that patrols Calle Perula. They make sure that they block the way of cars traveling through on the rocky dirt streets just enough to be an inconvenience. The good thing is that it does keep the dust down! If you are walking, the pack will approach you vocally letting you know that they run this street….it can be intimidating! I have seen dogs, cats, and chickens all feeding side by side on the leftover scraps tossed into the street. Daily I watched a chicken family… the hen, rooster and 3 chicks go about their simple routine of visiting neighboring homes for insects and scraps, iguanas crossing in the street pausing in the warm sweet spot, only moving when threatened by wheels. I have listened to the different advertisements blurted out over the loud speakers attached to the roof of cars and trucks selling, gas, water, ice-cream, corn, pastries and picking up garbage and recycling.

*Dogs, cats and chickens living happily together*

*Interesting animal at the Vets…he wore a little harness and was kinda cheeky when the girls caring for him were near.*

Kev and I enrolled in a Spanish immersion class and quickly found ourselves totally engulfed in vocal repetition, reading and writing. We hosted the lessons at our casa. Every day at 11am Gardinia our Maestra arrived closely followed by Anne and Phil, 2 Canadians also taking lessons. For the next 3 hours we all vocalized with throaty vowel combinations, rolled our r's and formatted sentences that somehow contorted Gardinia's beautiful face into a wtf expression, with "Como?", as the response, as we attempted to read what we had conjugated! I was pleasantly surprised when Gardinia smiled excitedly and rolled off a "Muy bien!", agreeing with a sentence! We focused on 2 hours of homework daily and found out that getting right on it before the day was done was the best way to handle it. Our days at Casa Mariposa were engulfed with new words, common phrases and pronunciations. I guess you could say that it was a Spanish submersion/immersion class! I learnt a lot and enjoyed the classes immensely.

*Kev reading the Spanish menu, practicing after class*

*My usual...pescado frito con mantequilla de ajo…fried fish with garlic butter.*

*Learning about Tarantulas…really fun classes*

Celebrating with Canadians Phil and Anne after completing the class.  Dinner at Figaro's, an italian beachfront restaurant  that serves a mean pizza! — *Celebrating with Canadians Phil and Anne after completing the class. Dinner at Figaro's, an italian beachfront restaurant that serves a mean pizza!*