visiting the Parrot and Iguanas in El Quelite

Just a thought for the day – maybe no tourists should go to Virginia. Makes as much sense as not going to Mexico.

Looks like it is going to be another beautiful day here. Last night we went to the plaza for dinner and were treated to a wonderful free concert. Pictures and video later. Discovered our phone takes better night videos than my camera. I need to bring myself into the new era!

The other day after we went to La Noria we drove over to El Quelite to have lunch at our favorite restaurant. I’ve talked about it before – it’s where the iguana pooped on my head. You wouldn’t think it would still be our favorite place to eat but it is. The owner of the restaurant is a doctor and does a lot of good things for the town. Last year when we were there he was raising money to plant bougainvilleas all along the road from the main highway into the town. He had got a few planted – this year they go almost all the way into town and they are growing like crazy. Another year and it will be beautiful.

First things first we had to stop and see the ladies who remove the rocks from the beans. BUT the ladies weren’t there – men were. It was okay though the ladies were just at lunch and their spouses were taking up the slack. After lunch we went back to visit with the ladies.

Then to the restaurant to eat. This is Lola the parrot who is always there. When we sat down I could hear her but couldn’t see her. Finally after tracking down where the squawking was coming from I saw her walking along the floor heading for the open kitchen door. After a few minutes we heard yelling and squawking and bird mumbling from the kitchen – out the door came a waitress with Lola on the end of a broom handle. Lola was bobbing her head up and down and mumbling –sounded an awful lot like swearing to me. She was unceremoniously  placed on her regular perch.

She is holding her foot out saying she wants another chip

I am still remember here as the lady of the iguana – We were talking to our favorite waitress about that day. The iguanas are still up in the trees she said. But one day one fell out of the tree on to the floor – in two seconds the whole restaurant cleared out of customers. These are big iguanas. Would have like to have seen that.
As always we spend time walking around the town. A picture of the gazebo in the plaza.

Walking up one of the cobblestone streets. Neat reflection of the brightly colored house in the puddle. Most of the houses in this town are in very good shape and very colorful. And they all have beautiful plants. And they are built one next to the other - sharing common walls.

This is the funeral home – I wonder if they ran out of paint or if that was as far as they could reach up – and/or reach down. Last year it was the cream color all over.

Typical street scene. Kids, old man, delivery truck and chicken. This town is famous for the fighting cocks it raises. They are absolutely magnificent – multicolored and arrogant.

This is a little tienda – a little store on a corner – it has some really unusual cactus around it.

This home is in the process of putting up new fencing. One side is done – the wrought iron with the flowers. Things are done as they are paid for. That is why it takes so long to finish something here. You save the money and then you do the work. When you are out of money you stop the work and wait until you can pay for it again. Not a bad system.

Just one of the many many huge ferns in El Quelite.

As we were walking along past one of the empty old buildings I got a good look at how the wall was constructed. The exterior paint and plaster is gone. As is another layer of adobe. So you can see the rocks and branches and vines used to hold the wall together. Fascinating to me. Can you just see this being built a couple of hundred years ago?

This is a building on the main street built in 1899 – it is a real “mother-in-law” paint job. That means the part in front that she could see looks great – the sides and back that she shouldn’t see are not so pretty. Actually there used to be another building there – that is a common wall. But the other building has been gone for quite a while.

More of the plants and colors.

We see this old man every time we go to El Quelite. Always him with his burro. Sometimes he is riding it and sometimes he is using it for transport. One time he was delivery milk in big old milk cans to the cheese factory. Another time he had plastic sacks of aluminum cans to redeem. Couldn’t figure out what it is this time.

And again it was time to leave this lovely little town. We’ll return again before heading home I’m sure. You can do a search on this site for the iguana story.

I almost forgot about my video - one thing about Mexico there is almost always some kind of sound - here music coming from the homes, the crowing of the roosters, laughter of children and the blaring of the speakers on vendors trucks. We heard this guy coming for blocks. He is saying that he will buy scrap - any kind of scrap. Looking up the street I saw this girl come out of the house with a plastic sack of what looked like metal and aluminum cans etc. She is waiting for the truck. Turn your sound up and watch.

Yesterday we were out and about Mazatlan – saw and did lots of interesting stuff. Ballet dancers practicing, a little black burro escaping from his pen, a sculpture working, friends, sunsets and music.

Today we’re going up in the mountains to Copola to visit friends. Never a dull moment.