KIEVIT crew had a great weekend and we didn’t even go sailing. I’ll have to start with the last event which extended the weekend through Monday.
The concert Sunday night in a hacienda courtyard in San Sebastian was extreme. We were so steeped in the energy of hours of great music, it was fabulous. Philo and the Mexican Shuffle Band started playing about 7pm. Guest artist, Oscar Fuentes, an awesome musician, http://www.myspace.com/eloscarfuentes, started out playing saxophone. He brought along his Rock Star Bass playing friend Carlos Avilez. Carlos plays for a famous Mexican rock band called CuCa. If curious: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuca_%28band%29 is an interesting read. There were 7-10 musicians in the band who played sets, while rotating about 10 other musicians who sat in at different times all evening. So, all through dinner until about 10 pm, the mostly rock and roll never stopped. A small bonfire was started in the middle of the courtyard and when the concert ended, the musicians went acoustic with Oscar, a charming personality, playing guitar and singing and crooning, into the night. He was backed up by some of the band and lots of guests sitting in. An extraordinary drumming session went on into the early hours of Monday. We were mesmerized by the drumming sets that went wild though the artists were in total control. Dave said he wished he could have Oscar’s talent, but he could have his hat! You can see what I mean in the photo gallery. Maybe we can find one for Dave. We also wished many of our musician friends could have heard March 4th concert and bonfire session. But, Pieter Heida – it’s not fair that we were there and you not!

We left La Cruz at 10:30 Sunday morning by chartered bus. The musicians drove up and all of their equipment went with us in the bus. After a drive through the beautiful valley and foot hills, the bus climbed up into the mountains with a view of a gorge on one side, then across it on a spectacular bridge. Here the road narrowed as we climbed into the pines and a turn off onto a dirt road lead up a bit further to San Sebastian, a 400 year old silver mining town of 600 people surrounded by pine trees and tequila farms located in the Mountains two hours from Puerto Vallarta. For more info and a cool video of San Sebastian click on this web address: http://vallartainfo.com/sansebasti.html.
Dave and I enjoyed the walk into town, as the bus had to park at the gate – busses not allowed in town because it’s a special historic town. Well, that’s a good thing, as the streets are narrow and cobblestone and locals ride a horse or walk. There is a family run coffee (locally grown) roasting business in an age old hacienda near the entrance. We bought some of the delicious product on Monday morning. We had lunch in a sweet little spot and discovered the owner was catering Philo’s dinner that night. I had to try her pollo tamarindo, as I have become fascinated with this ingredient in many Mexican food products. The tamarind sauce was very tasty, citrus tart and sweetened – but as with most sauces, I would prefer on the side. The chicken breast dish was served with braised bananas. Then we walked all around the town on the one way road which circled through and then up the road in direction of the old mines. Primarily, we were bird watching and richly rewarded with two beauties: Russet-Crowned Motmot and Cinnamon Hummingbird. We checked in at the Hacienda Puente, one block back from the town square. Our room was large and comfortable with original (about 150 years old) windows and doors and particularly, the original hardware. Very charming. The rooms all opened on the courtyard. It was chilly once the sun went down, at 5000 ft. and we slept under comfy blankets for the first time since December. In fact, we were kind of excited when we realized this was the first we’ve slept off the boat in three months, fun can be so simple! We could have spent another day or so in San Sebastian – hiking and enjoying the local culture. However, it was such a great trip – felt like tagging along with the band, the Sunday night party was one we’ll never forget because the musicians were so amazing and we got to sit in on their jam session in this treasure town San Sebastian.

PHOTOS IN THE GALLERY