Riviera Nayarit Community Fun

Its the middle of January already and the Riviera Nayarit in beautiful Mexico is in full swing for the winter season. There have been many community functions and business attractions, and we want to share some of them with you! There is always a lot happening on the Riviera Nayarit, and you can check out the happenings on AllSayulita.com, AllSanPancho.com, AllLodeMarcos.com, AllGuayabitos.com, AllLaPentia.com and AllChacala.com.

The Third Annual Jaltemba Bay Rotary Fundraiser

The third annual Jaltemba Bay Rotary fundraiser was held this last Saturday on the 21st of January, 2012 at Tonita III in La Penita. The festivities included the beautiful Mexican Tepozcalli dancers from Las Varas and live music for some dancing with Manuel and Son. A lovely chicken dinner was served that included any beverage of your choice.
There was also three different auction fundraisers, the Chinese Auction, the Silent Auction and a Live Auction, which made for a really fun time! Every year the Rotary Club members give out awards to the outstanding citizens in Jaltemba Bay.
This year there were four volunteer groups that were recognized and honored for their services to the community.
If you are interested in becoming a Rotary Member, the Rotary meetings are held every Wednesday at Pina Coladas at 8:00am in Guayabitos. I am very proud to be a Rotary member here in Mexico and help bring in changes that help the peoples and the community without changing their wonderful culture.

Whats up on the Guayabitos Strip Mall

The Guayabitos Strip Mall is located behind the Oxxo in Rincon de Guayabitos, and has a lot to offer!
Starting out with Beauty by Aurora. She has a full staff and offers hair shampoo, cut and style, hair coloring, highlights and hair attachments. Manicure the hands and pedicure the feet, change your polish or add gel nails. Waxing for legs, bikini lines, lips, eyebrows, underarms and back. Aurora offers a complete line of hair and skin care services. Come and visit Aurora….you deserve it!

Next in line is the Espresso Internet Cafe, where you can enjoy a delicious cup of coffee or a tasty latte’ while you check your e-mail.

And, what is a day without a great workout? Come and work off ail of those extra holiday pounds at the Fitness Pad.  The Fitness Pad has 20 fitness machines including treadmill, stationary bikes, a full kickboxing bag, adjustable 6-setting ab/crunch bench and a pull-up tower! There is also a entire free weight system with a professional trainer on staff.  Dell also has some fun workout clothes as well as other fun things to wear out and about. She has some great specials as well.

Then its time to eat! One of the best places in Guayabitos to eat at is TeriYaki Time Restaurant. Yakisoba, chicken, beef or shrimp teriyaki, fried rice and a variety of pasta dishes are served daily made fresh to order. Try a large fresh salads for lunch or check out their daily breakfast specials. They also make a great Thai Iced Tea, and have a good selection of wine and beer.

Annual Amigos de Lo de Marcos Fundraiser

It s that time of year again, and the Amigos de Lo de Marcos is having their amazing annual fundraising event on the beautiful Riviera Nayarit in Lo de Marcos Mexico. It all starts on Friday, February 3rd, at 8:30am, with a town “Walkabout” with a guided tour of Lo de Marcos. The tour will visit sites where the Amigos of Lo de Marcos works with the town, and will also cover the water issues of Lo de Marcos. There is also the new town compost project which is a great success!

When the tour of Lo de Marcos is finished there will be breakfast served at the Lo de Marcos town square.
The following day on Saturday, Feb 4th the Silent Auction begins at 4:00pm, along with the huge  rummage sale that you will not want to miss as well as freshly baked goodies for purchase. And what would a celebration and fundraiser be without ice cold beer and tasty margaritas? They will be served later in the evening form 7:00 to 10:00 pm. along with dancing to the Latin reggae sounds of two local bands, Mal Bichos, as well as some fun Salsa music with Rhythm Eleison.    Come and support the town and peoples of Lo de Marcos!

The 2012 Pro Surfing Tournament

On January 12,13 and 14 the 2012 Pro Surfing Tournament in Arroyo Seco was amazing.  Felipe Hernandez (left), age 21 from Sayulita, Nayarit took the first place for the Men’s Pro Category, as well Adan Hernandez, age 24 from Sayulita, taking 5th.
Edgar Rodrigues, age 14 from San Pancho took 4th place in the Sub 18 Category and Adan Hernandez (right) from Sayulita was presented a trophy by Artemio Rosas for “Arroyo Seco Pro 2012 Surfer of the Year”, recognizing his involvement in a large number of important international tournaments and his support for the surfing industry. It was really an amazing time and I loved covering the event, as all of the people I met were really cool and well as the fact tht surfing is a big thing in Mexico and all over the planet! The entertainment with DJ PIN, Christian Reggae by Majhave, and Christian Rap by 12 Clan was awesome and they all rocked the house.
I posted about 450 pics on the RivieraNayaritFun Picture Gallery as well! Enjoy!
You can read more about it on our town sites AllSayulita.com and AllSanPancho.com.
Here is a list of all of the winners below:

Sub 18 Catagory:                                                                                                             

1st  Place     Mario Farias, age 17 from Play Azul, Michoacan
2nd Place    Marcos Hootman, age 16 from Tecoman, Colima
3rd Place     Victor Alarcon, age 11 from Manzanillo, Colima
4th Place     Edgar Rodrizues, age 14 from San Pancho, Nayarit
5th Place     Edgar Juan Camarena, age 15 from Manzanillo, Colima                              

Mens Pro Catagory:

1st  Place    Felipe Hernandez, age 21 from Sayulita, Nayarit
2nd Place   Martin Olea, age 23 from Barra de Navidad
3rd Place    Adrian Rodriquez, age 25 from Sayulita, Nayarit
4th Place    Raul Medina, age 30 from Playa Azul, Michoacan
5th Place    Adan Hernandez, age 24 from Sayulia, Nayarit

It was a terrific time, and I can’t wait for the next tournament. Congratulations to all of the contestants and winners.
There are so many different things to do here on the Riviera Nayarit. I really love living here all year long! Come enjoy the amazing flavors of the Riviera Nayarit in beautiful Mexico!

Come to the Riviera Nayarit for your Mexico Vacation and enjoy all of the diversity this region has to offer! 

 

Its TeriYaki Time in Rincon de Guayabitos

Rincon de Guayabitos is a small town on the Riviera Nayarit about fifteen minutes north of Lo de Marcos, or a half hour north of Sayulita on Hwy 200 in Mexico. Its a fun town with shopping, restaurants, and has an abundance of rentals for long term or for your Mexico vacation.

Behind the Oxxo and right next to the Fitness Pad, just down the walk from the main street is a fun restaurant called TeriYaki Time.  One of the nice things that I liked about this restaurant is that it has indoor and outdoor seating.
When I arrived the sun had just gone down, and the TeriYaki Time Restaurant offered  a lovely sunset view. TeriYaki Time offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, and has just reopened their doors as of last Sunday for the Winter season.

What’s for Dinner?

I was meeting friends for dinner, and was a few minutes early. This is a family owned and operated restaurant, like most businesses in Mexico, and it was fun to meet them. Mike and Wendy Kurtz, whom I had met earlier in the week, and Alex Cuevas with his son Jorge are the owners of TeriYaki Time, and Alex was the chef for this evening, with Jorge doing prep chef work and waiting tables.

My friends showed up and we all sat down and ordered something to drink. They have beer and wine, and a variety of juices and Thai iced tea, sodas and bottled water. We choose white wine and beer.

 

A Delicious Meal

We decided to order three different dinners off of the menu so we could all share and get to taste everything. It is always so much fun to share food! And, what a culinary delight it was! Everything was so delicious, and it had been quite a while since I had eaten any Asian food, living here in Mexico all summer, and I was hungry and ready for some soba pan fried noodles.  We ordered their signature entree Teriyaki with chicken, Yakisoba  with shrimp, which was my favorite, and the T.T. fried rice with tofu. which was firm and cooked to perfection.

Good Energy in the Kitchen

It was fun to watch Alex in the kitchen preparing the food and cooking at the stove. He is a very happy sort of fellow, with a big smile. I knew that a lot of good energy was being put into our food, which is important to me. Every meal created here is made fresh to order.  When Jorge brought out the food, it really looked great, and the aroma made my mouth water with anticipation. We ordered another round of drinks, and toasted to good friends and good food. All three dishes were exceptional, and the portions were large. You can see more photos in picture gallery to check out their menus, which are in English and Spanish. I like that, as I am still learning my Spanish!

With our appetites fully sated and our stomachs very full, we gave thanks for the great meal and wonderful hosts. TeriYaki Time is in the perfect location because it’s not right on the main street, so you do not have all of the noise or the car exhaust while eating, yet the walkway leads to the main street  where the fun shopping is, and that is what we decided to do after dinner. It was a very fun evening, and I will be dining at the TeriYaki restaurnat again soon.

 

So, if you are ready for something Asian and wonderful to eat, try this delightful restaurant in Rincon de Guayabitos on the Riviera Nayarit on your next Mexico vacation.

 

 

On the Road

As we are currently living in Lo de Marcos in the Riviera Nayarit in Mexico, it was not a very long drive on the 200 road to San Blas. We had not driven through San Blas on our way to Mexico from Colorado, and since we had our friend Conor visiting, we thought it would make for a fun trip with a bit more authentic Mexican flavor of the Riviera Nayarit in comparison to some larger and well known cities.

We figured that it would take us about two hours to get to San Blas from Lo de Marcos. We took off around 9:00 P.V. time, so as soon as we got to La Penita, it was only 8:15! The hour difference in the time zones starts at Lo de Marcos, going south towards Puerta Vallarta. (We are on PV time). So, we were off to an early start! lol!

Just past Las Varas is a small town called Zacualpan that had a really interesting saying on a rock with a large rock painting above it as you entered the small town. It was about lovers, of course! Mexico is so very passionate about love and life! We went into town and down to the town square. Every pueblo has a town square. And in the town square is where you will find life in the town.

I started talking to a  gentleman about which way to San Blas, and he started to tell us (in Spanish) that the road ahead was severely flooded, and it would be two to three hours before we could cross. Then he saw the jeep, and said we could probably make it. I wanted to see the flood and get some pictures, and thought that we could simply turn around if we had to, and I ended up getting this video instead.  I’m not the best at videos yet, as you will surmise, but you will see what the summer rains can do. The flooded pastures were literally turned into a raging river. It was a bit scary at one point where the water really started slamming higher on the truck in front of us. Yikes!

 

So, Leaving Zacualpan and coming into San Isidro was an adventure for sure! We stopped after that and bought some very delicious banana bread and a fried coconut ball and away we went onward to San Blas. There is nothing better than fried coconut sugar!

Pueblos of the Riviera Nayarit

As we came over the mountain just before the San Blas valley, we were able to see the valley with the orchards and other crops, along with the beautiful coast line below.  Driving is a fun way to get around Mexico. There are so many small towns (pueblos) to see and interesting culture to absorb. Some of the streets get over grown due to the heavy rain season or flooded. Everything grows so fast here in Mexico.

These small pueblos have some of the same qualities; the small stores and shops with cobblestone streets. Some of the folks are cooking whole chickens and carne for tacos outside on their grills for lunch. It feels very friendly and inviting. Families… lots of family are working together and supporting each other. It is their culture to take care of each other, and to live together. The parents take care of the children, and then the children take care of their parents. There are mostly family run and owned businesses in the smaller communities.

Some small towns are geared more for fixing and repairing; buying your work supplies such as La Penita. Other pueblos are for vacationers, that are filled with restaurants and tour companies, and places to stay like Sayulita, which is huge for weddings and fun music and is also known for its “hippie” energies, while Chacala feels a little more calm and private.  Each of the pueblos has an authentic Mexican flavor of their own, making it easy to find the right pueblo for your vacation or retirement that will be sure to meet your needs.

Tacos and Swimming at the Beach

As we drove into San Blas, the road split. It seemed like a one-way street, and so we went with the flow and veered right. The road ended up doing a tear shape loop and came out on the other side of the split when we left.

San Blas is a pleasant looking pueblo with a large town square. There is a large cathedral church there with shops, carts and restaurants along the perimeters. There are a lot of small art galleries and different clothes and jewelry shops. Conor found a really cool Mayan vortex type of tee shirt, and I purchased a really cool pair of beaded yellow daisy earrings.  We walked around town for a while. The market was busy and there were several vendors selling their goods like fresh shrimp and fish.

We decided that it was time for lunch, and I found a carne taco vendor cart along side of the town square. The tacos were very tender and yummy!!!  We all were quite happy with filled bellies.

We really wanted to get to the beach, so when we were headed out, we stopped at a restaurant on the beach and had a margarita with some chips and salsa, and watched the surfers surf some good-sized waves.  We decided to continue on our journey and ended up turning off of the road onto a dirt road that had restaurant after restaurant alongside the beach with covered parking under palapas. I drove to the end of the restaurants that were open and we came to this beautiful spot with big waves to swim in. The beach was flat and the water was warm. We had a blast.

Then, the ice cream man came by and we all got some delicious ice cream afterwards!  There was also a mother Mary sighting in this small cove, and so erected upon the rock was Guadalupe.

We are blessed on so many levels indeed to live and breathe in the Riviera Nayarit, Mexico.

© 2012 Riviera Nayarit Fun Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha