Stage 12: San Blas to La Laguna de Santa Maria de Oro
May 13-15, 2013
1.5 hours, Cuota MX$311.00

After the triple-whammy of jenjenes (no-see-ums), Montezuma’s Revenge, and rude management, I escaped to the mountains, Laguna de Santa Maria de Oro, to lick my wounds and recover from the lack of sleep. There wasn’t much to do there but it was peaceful and beautiful and the water felt divine. One day we drove up into the hills to see the local pueblitos. The following day we then drove around the lake to see how the other half lived, dining in fancy lakeside restaurants and reclining on the restaurant decks.

I had packed my Odyssey with all my necessary camping gear, thinking I would camp my way through Mexico and Central America. I learned early on that camping south of the border isn’t like camping at home. Most “campgrounds” would not be recognized as such back in the USA. They are generally little more than a place to park with a pit toilet – cold showers, no toilet paper, no picnic tables or trash cans… This campground, Lago Encantado Campground, was no different. But it was lakeside and the lake here is gorgeous, the cool water soothed my battered body and Luna got to swim off some of her Mexico Stink. For some reason, the warm climate brought out the worst in Luna’s stink factor, and because she wouldn’t let me bathe her, I was always happy when we had an ocean or a lake to clean off a bit. Luna did love to swim!