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 Travel & Outdoors | March 2007 
Galeria Yelapa
 R. K. Liggin - ucdadvocate.com
| | (R. K. Liggin) |
Denver hit 63 degrees the other day, and yet we're still groaning under an unprecedented 47 ft. of snowpack here in the Mile High. OK - maybe I exaggerate, but with three winter weeks still to go, even a seasoned Inuit would feel pressured to crack. If it feels like the paint chips are starting to kick in, you're not alone: Cabin Fever is back in town and with it the need to escape to warmer climes.
Here's a cure: Spend a scant 10 minutes booking reservations, hop the puddle jumper south to Puerto Vallarta, hitch a 30-minute bus ride across town and blast down the Pacific on an hour-long boat ride and you my friend are leaving your winter blues behind - sea-side with a hammock and cocktail in hand - in your very own palapa in Yelapa.
Yelapa, Mexico is a bit off the radar. A sleepy fishing village hewn haphazardly into the densely-jungled mountains that spill down from Mexico's Southern Escarpment, Yelapa offers the weary traveler seclusion with a touch of the wild near the mouth of the El Tuito river where it spills into the mighty Bay of Banderas.
Literally, Yelapa is that land lost in time you always hear travel agents squawking about. There are no zoning laws here or municipal planning codes. No cops, no rules, no stinking badges. Instead, expect to find a little bit of sea, a little bit of sun and a little crescent of white sand yawning across the bay - what more does a budget-minded wanderer need?
A bit out of step, Yelapa has managed to find its own, organic way - a way far slower and far more removed from our slick and quick LoDo lifestyles. It's raw: a gem you have to dig for by passing over other, more polished stones. But one stroll - Corona in hand, flip flops on feet - down its meandering, cobble-stone pathways and you'll realize how simply refreshing and refreshingly simple this place is and why it's worth mining for. (Never mind that the area boasts one of the most diverse bioregions this side of the hemisphere.)
And if it's the natural beauty that draws folks in, it's the abject lack of cultural clich้ that keeps them coming back. Forget what you think you know about Mexican vacays. You won't be parasailing here. There are no jet skis to rent or Hard Rock Cafes to flock obediently to. Instead, visitors can wander back the mountain trails under the jungle foliage or kayak past the breakers to commune with passing dolphins or simply flop down on the beech, down a beer and belch their day away until the sun fades into the gentle Pacific. Only at the end of one of these days do travelers realize how this very lack of "amenities" carries with it its own seduction.
But such seduction comes with a price. Raw? It is that. But Yelapa can feel too raw to the uninitiated. Think National Geographic, not Club Med. There are no roads to Yelapa, no roads in Yelapa. Up until about 30 years ago there wasn't even electricity here. It's not the kind of place you want to break a leg or blow an appendix at. When the only access to services comes by way of an hour long skiff-ride-O-doom, slaved to the tides and the whims of weather - well this might seem unsettling to some. Just keep in mind that your level of enjoyment is directly proportional to your ability to abandon the creature comforts.
Speaking of which, have I mentioned the palapas? A study in minimalism, palapas are little more than glorified, Robinson Caruso-style huts, complete with thatch roofs and bamboo-pole construction. Palapas may have real, running utilities, they may not. They may have paved floors, they may not. They may have kitchens, they may not. (If they do, it's not unheard of to be cooking your meals on an ancient Colman stove or to heat up your hot water by building a fire under a dubious, gravity-fed, hot-water heater.) Actual walls, however, are rarely an option. If you're lucky, there might be a roll of bamboo that offers a modicum of privacy or perhaps crudely fashioned wooden slats nailed into the roof supports. Blessed are those without inhibition and expensive consumer electronics. Read as: not a lot of privacy here in Yelapa. (Ask your host about lock boxes for wallets and such.)
Take this in stride. The lack of privacy translates into an open little collective where maybe your neighbors pop in unannounced to borrow the sugar or maybe you feel spunky enough to return that favor. Don't be surprised when a roaming dog, the chance monkey or even a random donkey wanders in to say buenos dias. It's a tight community of native locals, kooky ex-pats and the occasional Euro vagabond that keeps Yelapa ticking.
There is this lonely, ground-level "hotel" of sorts that squats on the east corner of the beech. But the savvy traveler knows that the true Yelapa experience obtains from roughing it a bit and rocking in the breeze in your hammock-bedecked, open-walled palapa.
Besides, what palapas lack in modernities and conveniences like walls they more than make up for in charm and rustic reverence. And they're damn cheap, too. That's the point: You're not so much roughing it as you are saving it. Some fancier models may tag you for $60, $70 dollars a night - even in the low season. But the rougher you go the more your dough. (I found one sea-side sleeper - not pretty, but serviceable - going for $15 a night!) With more money in your pocket, you get more sand, surf and sea-side snoozing - the perfect calculus of a budget spring break getaway.
The "town," such as it is, is pure Pacific gold. The cobblestone streets; the tiny, twisting alleyways that crawl up idly from the shore; the lazy-leafed palms bending to share space with surgically planted roses, marigolds and flaming orchids; the micro grocery stalls selling Fruit Loops, still-warm eggs and indiscriminate Mexican goods. Then too the side-street venders grilling spiced meats and honey-encrusted plantains. And the children, all the smiling townspeople young and old waltzing through their day. There's even the proverbial old beggar woman who'll bless or curse you, depending on your generosity.
And though the town isn't exactly spilling over with multi-stared restaurants, there are a handful of must-eats that nightly fill up with locals and vacationers alike. Or? Keep your eyes peeled for the guerilla kitchens that occasionally open for a week or a weekend and just as quickly disappear. You can always opt to buy produce and fresh butcher at the myriad local stalls. Or just subsist on beer and slices of freshly baked apple strudel or from-scratch coconut creams that the "pie lady" sells daily. Whatever you chose, you've got to take Yelapa by its own rules.
So if you need kitschy Mexican culture or a clean place to put your shoes, go back to Cancun. But if you need it quiet and tropical and not much more, then fire up the Mac and Google Yelapa. You can be booking your next winter |
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