Into the Beautiful North -- Great Mexico Read

I lost myself in this book! I wanted to do nothing more than sit on my back deck with my eyes sheltered by a picnic umbrella and my feet basking in the summer sun while sipping iced tea and reading.

Not only was it a winning piece of fiction, it also took place in a region of Mexico I recently traveled to -- the swampy mangroves north of Puerto Vallarta.

I didn't know this when I picked up the book. I only knew that I had read one other book by the author, Luis Alberto Urrea.

A few years back I read his nonfiction book, The Devil's Highway, which blew my mind! I pushed it on everyone I knew for months. I still think of it and wonder at how fantastically it was written. It's about the trials of crossing from Mexico in the U.S., about the coyotes and the loans they give and the interest they charge. It was soooo interesting.

But anyway...back to the book I just finished -- Into the Beautiful North. This book is a work of fiction.

It starts in a dying Mexican village that is so tucked away in a mangrove swamp that even the Mexican government isn't exactly sure whether the town is in the state of Nayarit or the state of Sinaloa. The village is dying because all the men have left to seek work in El Norte.

One day, the young women of the town suddenly realize that there are no men left, which poses a very big problem as it means none of them have boyfriends. And what is life without a little romance? Nothing!

And so, they devise a plan. They also plan to go to El Norte, but they aren't going there to stay. They are going to find young, able-bodied men. They plan to recruit them and bring them back to their town.

Can they do it? You'll have to read the book to find out -- which isn't a bad thing at all as the book is -- did I already mention this? -- fantastic!

Magical Island of Mexcaltitan, Mexico

A day trip north from the town of San Blas took us to an island called Mexcaltitan.

The island, some theorize, is where the Aztecs originated.

Some say that before the Aztecs set out to wander Mexico for 300 years looking for the eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake, which was to be their sign from their god as to where they should re-establish themselves, that they were living here on the island of Mexcaltitan.

Well...that's what some say.

Whether or not you want to believe the legend is up to you. What is certain, however, is that the island has been designated as a "Pueblo Magico", or magic village, for its unique history and way of life.

It's unique way of life, while it may have been something stellar in the past, is quite depressing right now.

The village is a bit in shambles. Jobs are scarce. Most make their living from fishing. There is nothing much to do but apparently wash clothes. Clean clothes flitted from clothes lines all about the island.

We did, though, eat a very fresh and filling meal of shrimp, shrimp and more shrimp that, according to our waitress, had just been pulled in two hours ago.

It was an interesting place to visit and I was glad that it was a stop on our route. I tend to like historical stuff, so it was up my alley.

I would even recommend it should someone be in the area as it was a pretty boat road out to the island.

La Tovara National Park, San Blas, Mexico

The town of San Blas is a starting point for exploring Mexico's La Tovara National Park.

The park is a huge swath of protected mangroves and marshlands that is a bird-watching paradise.

Every winter the area is taken over by birds from both North and South America who have descending upon it for its abundant food supply (read lots and lots of mosquitoes).

The park is also home to a considerable number of crocodiles.

We took a boat ride through the mangrove swamps, spying all sorts of birds along the way.

We also spotted some newly hatched crocodile babies and a couple of full grown ones lurking in the depths.

The ride ended at a crocodile park where the beasts are protected and bred.

Unlike the ones we'd spied during our boat ride there, these big lizards are kept in cages so their eggs can be scooped up and hatched, then sent out to other parts of Mexico that are experiencing a shortage in their wild crocodile populations.

San Blas, Mexico

Our road trip up the coast from Puerto Vallarta-Nuevo Vallarta has finally landed me to the town of San Blas. Yeah!

I've been looking forward to visiting San Blas since I found out I would be coming here.

I didn't know anything about the town before arriving other than that it was the title of a popular song by the rock band Mana (En El Muelle de San Blas).

So here I am and as it turns out, there's not really a "muelle" (or pier) here in town like what I had imagined.

There is, though, a government program to build a modern marina for vacationing yachts.

The views from the San Blas marina, however, just can't complete with the views from the San Blas beach.

But we didn't spend too much time chillin' in the sand before heading back into town and wandering it central plaza and quaint brick streets.

Then, to catch the sunset, we headed to the old Spanish counting house, perched high on a hilltop over town and lined with colonial-era cannons.