| Mismaloya-Yelapa,
Mexico |
| Traveling
In Mexico |
| by Bill Moake |
| The first
time I saw Mismaloya beach on the Pacific coast of Mexico there was nothing
on it except a few palapa (thatched-roof) huts selling cold beer and hot
tamales. Now it's is covered with high-rise condos, hotels and fancy restaurants,
thanks in part to publicity from films like "Night of the Iguana"
and "Predator" which were shot in the area.
Mismaloya is
still quite dramatic looking: jungle-clad cliffs rising on two sides of
a large bay with a crescent white-sand beach. If you squint to block out
the high-rises, you can see why John Huston chose Mismaloya in 1963 as
the setting for his film about wanderers in a remote tropical paradise. |
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From the beach
highway a rough road parallels the Mismaloya river upward into the mountains.
After passing a row of Mexican shanties, I stopped the rented VW Thing
at one point when I noticed wild parakeets perched in trees. Strange how
I had never thought of parakeets existing free in nature. Until that day,
I had the stereotyped notion that they all lived in cages.
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I ate lunch
in a restaurant with a foot bridge that straddled the river. An odd-looking
furry animal the size of a small dog was tied to a post near my table. |
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| Sporting a
long nose and quick bright eyes, he kept touching one of my sandals with
his sharp-clawed paw, as if begging for food.
I finally tossed
him a morsel of meat, which he gobbled with delight. The waiter described
the animal as a "tacon" - racoon in English. I learned later it was a coati,
the Latin American cousin of the northern racoon.
Farther up
Mismaloya valley I came to El Eden, a resort and restaurant thrust into
the limelight when "Predator" was filmed in the nearby rainforest.
One of the movie props, a destroyed helicopter, now rests outside El Eden
as a tourist attraction.
For the adventurous
who are in good physical shape, a long hike or horseback ride to a waterfall
at the back of Mismaloya valley begins at a trailhead near El Eden. A professional
guide is required since it is easy to get lost in the dense rainforest. |
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| The round-trip
hike takes 8 hours (not counting stops) and you will see hawks,
parrots and other wildlife as well as brightly-colored bromeliads.
The tropical
jungle gives way to pine trees at a higher elevation. The waterfall consist
of seven cascades with a drop of nearly 6,000 feet and from the top there
is an exquisite view of Mismaloya bay and the encompassing Bay of Banderas.
Swimming is available in the river or waterfall pools.
The more sedentary
can visit Yelapa to see what Mismaloya beach looked like decades ago. Located
several miles south, Yelapa is a relatively undeveloped artist's village
that can only be reached by boat from Puerto Vallarta or Boca de Tomatlan.
The boats leave each morning with afternoon returns.
Yelapa has
no telephones and no electricity outside of one small hotel and restaurant,
which are powered by a generator. The bay is much more pristine than Mismaloya,
but has the same dramatic look of jungle cliffs reaching to the sea. A
115-foot waterfall is a short hike inland where a hillside cafe overlooks
the waterfall pool. |
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| Mismaloya
is located about 10 miles south of the Puerto Vallarta, the much larger
and more popular tourist town.
The drive along
the picturesque coast highway takes less than half an hour.
Yelapa
The Jungle
On Raicilla
Raicilla (pronounced
"rye-see-ya," which means "little root" in Spanish) is a type of Mexican
moonshine distilled from the fermented roots of the maguey cactus, the
same plant from which tequila is made.
It is much
more potent than tequila, usually well over 100 proof. |
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| Like American
moonshine, raicilla is illegal since it is produced and sold without government
license. But it is easily available in the Mismaloya-Yelapa area where
it is considered a traditional art form and largely tolerated by local
police.
Even in small
amounts, raicilla can produce a sudden violent and unpredictable inebriation
that has been compared to the effects of a psychedelic drug.
Convulsive
gastric reactions and temporary motor paralysis are common. Often your
first shot of raicilla will hit your gullet and then come right back up.
There is no shame in this, even though seasoned raicilla drinkers will
shake their heads in disgust. The second shot will usually stay down and
then the fun begins.
Carry the bottle
of raicilla and follow a foot-path into the rainforest near El Eden in
Mismaloya valley. Two or three drinks later you will be ready to view the
jungle from a whole new perspective. If you can still focus your eyes,
you might even be able to see the alien creature who chased Arnold Swartzenegger
in "Predator," a film shot in this very location. Of course it was
fiction, but under the influence of raicilla, reality will seem like fiction
and vice-versa.
Be sure to
take a designated hiker along in case you pass out in the jungle. It's
full of carnivorous critters and if you're alone, they might mistake your
prone body for their next meal. Manage to stay conscious and you could
see parakeets, snakes, iguanas, scorpions, wild orchids, etc. Don't reply
if any of these animals or plants speak to you. It's only the raicilla
talking.
The raicilla
hangover has three stages. First you're afraid you might die. Later you're
afraid you won't die. Then comes a period of mourning for deceased brain
cells. Mismaloya bay is good for a refreshing swim to clear your head.
The water is so salty its buoyancy will keep you afloat without moving
an arm or leg. This is called the dead man's float, which is what you might
be doing if you drank too much raicilla.. |
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Article
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