On Thursday, January 13, 2011 Pacifico returned to the Barra Lagoon, this time without incident. We anchored out in the lagoon along with So Inclined and Blue Rodeo along with about 15 other boats. Sirocco got a slip in the marina because of her deep keel and the shallow depths of the lagoon entrance. It is no wonder Barra is a cruiser's haven along this part of the coast. It has about everything that is needed to keep us going except for a large repair facility and has a great small town, friendly atmosphere. We were back at the Sands using wifi, and visiting with cruising friends, old and new. Mike and Julie on (Slacker), were here and it was great to get together with them in Mexico. They are repeat cruisers and know the lay of the land down here and were very helpful; much thanks Mike and Julie! We tried a great place to eat, "Gorditios" taqueria or comida Mexicana owned by Isaias and his wife, Rosita. The food was great and very reasonable. Like our favorite in la Cruz, "Tacos on the Street" this place offers a simple and limited menu and they do it well. We had a great dinner of tacos al pastor and "gorditas" small maiz tortillas with a little flour added to the mix, grilled and stuffed with various fillings. Yummy! We took some fun photos at this place including with Isaias and Rosita and their daughter, she's the one making tortillas on the grill! We had so much fun Isaias and Rosita invited the girls back the next morning for a tortilla making lesson, we purchased a tortilla press and we can now have fresh, home-made tortillas on Pacifico! Mike and Julie shared some of their local knowledge and took us to the Port Captains to check into Barra and to their favorite carniceria or meat market where we purchased some great looking rib eye steaks at about $4 US a pound and chicken. Of course no visit to Barra is complete without a visit or two to 'Piper Lover, Barra Cruiser's Lounge' bar for some night life. Mike from So Inclined brought C Monkey along since they were bacheloring it together and old C Monkey had quite a time of it, see Mike's blog for So Inclined, which is linked to ours under friends at the bottom of this page. Shamefull!

We had dinner with Mike, Lee & Cathy aboard Sirocco in the marina and were glad we were anchored in the lagoon. The mosquitoes in there were awful, but it was fun to get together and thanks for the great dinner Cathy!

On Sunday 1/16 we took a long hike by dinghy from the little community of Colimilla below the hotel through the golf course to the Pacific coastal community whose name escapes me. Great beach front homes, mostly American and Canadian upscale beach bungalows. On the way back we encountered a Mexican family out for a day at the beach with their pet raccoon! Too cute, the man digs holes to find sand crabs for the little guy who politely ate one for us and he was very photogenic. That was about it for this trip to Barra. We will depart Monday, 1/17 for Ensenada Carrizal near Manzanillo.