In the end of May, we left our home in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico after two months. We had our friends, Inga, Torben, and Sybren sending us off with hugs, promises to stay in touch and wish for safe travels. Larry had called around for many days looking for a spot to camp. Many places were still closed because of the covid pandemic. There were a lot of no answers but he finally got a hold of Antonio at La Jungla in Catemaco, Veracruz. Antonio spoke very little English and put his daughter Cecilia on the phone. We asked if we could camp at their place for a few nights. They hadn’t officially opened up yet. They had been closed for 2 months and had only allowed the family to visit. She said we could stay as Larry explained we had been isolated for the past 2 months in Palenque. I had enjoyed Catemaco when we stayed there back in February so I was happy to go back to a familiar place.
Our plan at first was to head up to Texas as soon as possible, making shortstops. We figured that we could make it to Texas in 4 to 5 days but we would need to drive a lot each day. When we arrived in Catemaco, the google directions had us stop about 2 miles from the campsite. We called and Cecilia gave us better directions to their driveway. They are right next to Reserva Ecologica De Nanciyaga We had stopped at this place in February by boat and did a small tour. We saw our first macaws in the wild at this park. The driveway to the campground looked narrow and had lots of tree roots on the road. Larry got out to walk the road before he took the trailer much further. He was pretty confident that he could make it so we drove onward. About 25 feet before we got there, the trailer stairs got caught on a tree root and he dragged the trailer over them. It was a super sad day for the stairs!!! They were a bit mangled when we parked. Luckily, Larry knew how to straighten them out. We have already done this to the stairs on the west coast of Mexico!
Antonio came out to direct us to any open spot to park the Airstream…..All spots were open too! LOL They hadn’t had campers for months. We parked so that the back windows were to the lake and the door looked out to the large trees in the jungle. It was beautiful! I immediately felt welcome and comfortable. We set up and then went out to explore. This place is amazing! I highly recommend La Jungla. First, you are right on Laguna Catemaco and next to the Ecological Reserve. They had a freshwater swimming pool that is constantly fed by mineral spring. The pool has multiple rope swings and all the water toys you can imagine. At one end of the pool is a small water slide that goes to a small pool the size of a large hot tub. We put our folding loveseat in this pool a few times and sat in the shady trees. The view here was to the lake and it was spectacular! We watched birds for hours. They also have a 3 story water slide to the side of the extra-large palapa. This slide was not in operation when we were here because they weren’t officially open to the public. It looked like so much fun…..even for adults. They had a dock on the lake and 2 kayaks that we used a few times during our stay. Another great thing here was we could get BEER!!! Alcohol was still not available in Chiapas when we left. They had an honor refrigerator with beer, soda, and water. We took out 2 Dos Equis’ and sat by the pool.
Well, we ended up staying longer than planned. Partly because it was hard to find the next spot to stop and also because we were having a great time and aren’t sure when we might be back. There was so much to do right on the property that all the closures didn’t affect us here at all. We had 8 to 10 scarlet macaws visit us each day...several times a day in fact. They were eating the berries off of the huge ficus tree 20 feet from our trailer. They seemed to be just as interested in us as we were in them. They purposely flew right over our heads, about 8 feet, when they took off. They were also quite the posers for pictures! The day we left. Larry found the longest tail feather. The macaws gave us a going away present! I loved the macaws and never tired of them.
We had the howler monkeys visit our campground twice in the 5 days we camped at La Jungla. These monkeys had a deeper howl than the ones we saw in Palenque. They didn’t put on as good of a monkey show either but I was happy to see them one last time. I tried to savor every last bit of the jungle while we were here. We went on walks up the road/driveway each morning. We saw so many butterflies and dragonflies. We saw a few new birds too. The most amazing one was the great curassow. Several ran in front of us. This bird is 3 feet tall and such a sight to see in the wild. We had several white-nosed coatis cross the road ahead of us too. We saw tons of lizards that were way too fast to catch. I was happy to be able to capture them with my camera. No boa constrictor….. :( There were 2 german shepherds that lived on the property and became fast friends, especially with Larry. They were up early to sit with him for coffee. Gypsy our cat, was not that enthusiastic about the dogs as it limited her freedom around the campsite. Taco and Nacho (the dogs) learned that we walked the road each morning and they were our constant companions after that. We saw less wildlife with the dogs unfortunately but they made sure we were safe! Lol
The lake was super fun to kayak on. We went out 3 different times. Once across the lake to a small little island. It looked as though it’s only inhabitants were grazing cattle. Interesting. There is an island that is entirely for birds to roost and we cruised by it. They have 2 other islands with monkeys on them but we didn’t get to them this time. Last February on our boat tour we stopped by them. On our second kayak adventure, we spent nearly 2 hours cruising around the shoreline. We found lots of birds to photograph but the best part was yet to come! When we got to the Reserva de Nanciyaga, we discovered a small cocodrilo (crocodile). This little cutie was around 5 feet head to tail. We quietly paddled up as close as we could and I was able to get some video of him eating. So cool!! I only had my phone so the pictures were just okay. We watched him until he disappeared into the water plants. The next day we went back with my good camera and got some better shots. He was in the same place. This was the only croc we encountered. It was so exciting to be that close to him!
After 5 days at La Jungla, I felt we should start traveling north again. Cecilia helped Larry call on campgrounds as I like to talk to someone before we head out to make sure we have a place to stay. They were able to find a campground right on the beach near Playa Oriente. Playa Oriente is about 1 ½ hours south of Tuxpam. We left Catemaco around 8 am and on the way out we dragged the stairs again. In the future, we should get some quick release stairs for these campgrounds.
We got back on Highway 180. This road took us right up the coast to Playa Oriente. We stayed at Trailer Park Playa Dorada This was a nice little park but I think it’s mainly for tent campers or smaller trailers. The clearance between trees was pretty narrow. This is where my help was enlisted. I stand on the side where Larry can’t see with the mirrors. We communicate by yelling at each other when things look good or not. Well, it looked good from where I was standing….if he continued straight...he would clear the tree branch. When I said clear, he thought he was clear and turned the trailer hard. The trailer did something I never expected……..it kicked out right into the tree limb. OMG!!! STOP!!!! The damage was already done...so sad. The owners of the park came to help. They brought a saw and cut the limb the rest of the way off. I felt horrible….it took some time to get past the “Incident”.
The cat liked this place a lot despite all the dogs. There were a lot of dachshunds and one other cute mutt. She roamed around so much, we thought we had lost her one day. The beach was empty and we walked it several times each day. I even did some jogging on the beach. They had a wonderful pool that we enjoyed too. It was a great place to stop for a few days.