Day 3 - Sunday 2/4/2007 I was so excited about the kayak trip I couldn't sleep! I was awake at 4 a.m. It was such a switch - Jack asking me to wake him up at 6 a.m. - that is usually my line!

At 6 am we walked to the pier in the pre-dawn light. I'm sure this made Jack uneasy but I could not lay around any longer and I was hungry. Zih doesn't go to sleep any to early or wake up early either. The only thing open as we walked through town was The Black Bull nightclub. The doors were open and music poured out. We found a couple tables set up at the pier that offered coffee, pastries, and miscellaneous items for the early morning sports fishermen to purchase for breakfast or lunch on the boats. We sat on the pier with our breakfast and watched the deep sea charter boats load ice, beer, and fishermen.

Back in our room by 7 am and down in the foyer at 7:15 am we watched for Brian of Zoe Kayak Tours. He was right on time! He drives a big late model blue suburban with Zoe Kayak Tours on the door - a real contrast to the small vehicles zipping around the streets! We climbed in and began a thoroughly enjoyable trip!
Brian shared history of the area, pointed out plants and birds all along the drive to Laguna de Potosi! He had many stories of how plants were and are used. If he didn't know something he would say so - but he knows a lot!

The kayaks were sit-on tops and easy to maneuver over the still, shallow waters of the lagoon. Brian pointed out the different kinds of birds as we passed them perched in the mangrove trees or wading in the waters. He identified the many strange calls we heard as we passed through the mangrove tunnels. Moving through the mangrove tunnels was my favorite part. The long roots of the trees are crusted with barnacles and and little shell fish. These mangroves grow in clumps with no central trunk. The "tunnels" are created by the movement of the water as the levels ebb and flow with the tides.

The far end of our tour was at a huge inland lake where the mangrove forest gave way to grasslands. In the distance were remnants of ancient Indian pyramid's. On the way back towards the lagoon we stopped at one place and took a short stroll across an oddly flat expanse of land. Odd wooden platforms were placed here and there on the plain. Near them were strange circular "ponds" and channels running from the area below the short platforms to them.
Brian shared the ancient Indian salt mining practices - which are still being practiced today. What we walked through is a salt mining area that is worked during the summer! It is winter now so nothing is going on. What he was showing us was a small "family" operation worked by maybe 4 or 5 people who will sell their harvested "sea salt" at local street stalls. The big operations haul many truckloads of sea salt to a processing plant where is is shipped all over Mexico.

Brian brought us back to Zih along a road that runs behind Playa Larga - a 7 mile long beach - very steep and with surf so strong only surfers enjoy it. The airport property borders the other side of the road that alternated between being paved and a rutted dirt road lined by huge hacienda's and new condo's all facing the beach.

Brian filled us in on many interesting current events in the area. We finally found out why we were seeing pickups with armed military looking people riding in the back. There are 5 police agencies in the area - 3 of them expressly for protection of tourists. Their constant presence being a deterrent to any illegal actions. The other two agencies are fighting a the drug cartels in Guerimo. The are have a drug war! The government is trying to shut down the hashish, heroin and cocaine trafficking from South American countries via this coastal highway to the United States.

Jack has noted FAL G3's, UZI's, and riot shotguns as well as various flac vests and helmet styles. Afterwards we noticed several troop trucks moving through town. A sad reminder that paradise also has problems.

The tour started at 7:30 am and ended at 2 pm as advertised! A unique thing in this part of the world! After quick showers we went to Antony's Tamales Any for lunch. Jack had carne asada although we thought he ordered an enchilada! I had a chicken tamale. It seems to run about $10 each time we eat there. From there we wandered down to the Paseo to witness the Sunday Plaza activities.

There was music everywhere. We had purchased some beach towels and used them to pad the concrete benches and enjoyed people watching for a while and decided to treat ourselves to dinner at one of the beach front restaurants. Jack had camarones (shrimp) and I had stuffed red fillet of red snapper at Daniel's. Jack started his meal with cievieche but I stuck with shrimp cocktail. It was all very tasteful. It cost the most of all our meals to date, $450 pesos ($45) After our leisurely dinner we went out on the walkway that connects the Playa Municipal,(Municipal Beach) that all the restaurants, shops, and town proper are located off of
, to Playa Madera and half way along the beach head to Playa Ropa. Finding a good place to have a good view of the setting sun we watched locals fishing in the incoming surf with simple hand lines. One young man landed a large Yellow Fin as we watched.

Somewhere during the day Jack's Achilles tendon started hurting. We think the sea kayak was just a little to short for him and his legs were in an uncomfortable position for to long. We made our way slowly back to our hotel and called it a night.