Celestino paradise: truck camper just visible in the center.
This is my eleventh post in the eight weeks we’ve been in Mexico, and my last one for 2018. We’ve been camped here for two weeks and because of the poor internet throughout the campground, I haven’t been able to post anything about our experiences here. So here it is: my first blog post of 2019.
Where to start? Maybe from the end of our stay.
After two weeks at Villa Celeste, we’re getting Rocinante ready to move on to our next two destinations: an overnighter at Los Pinos RV Park in Tepic, Nayarit, and Roca Azul on Lake Chapala in Jocotepec, Jalisco.
The mini-paradise of Celeste lies about a mile south of the little fishing village Celestino Gasca. You must first come through the village on the way to Villa Celeste. There are 740 inhabitants who, like in many other similar villages, are very poor but lead relatively happy lives. The main road weaves its way through the center of town and has its share of mostly invisible topes of which only the locals know of their location. People going about their daily lives line the narrow streets, and whenever a tourist (particularly yours truly) hits one of those invisible topes, someone always shouts out “¡Tope!”
These are very proud people who live here. They don’t sense that they are particularly poor; in fact, I feel certain from meeting many of them that they are proud of their village, their families, and the life that they eke out of the sea that has provided a kind of “wealth” that enables them to build schools, run businesses, and lure norteamericanos to their pristine beaches.
Celistino Gasca Escuela Primeria: On the surface the school may not look like much compared to our standards, but the children are educated in the village where they grow up and the people are proud of that.
Local Abarrotes in the center of town.
The Villa Celeste RV Park is down a very poorly maintained dirt road that shows the effects of weather and over use. Celeste has about fifteen or more sites with hookups, but when we arrived, other than two trailers, there was no one else in the entire park. I find this surprising because the location of the park is in an area of the exceptional natural beauty.
But as we stayed, campers started to come and go, including two different pan-American travelers driving identical FIAT diesel van campers, though they did not know each other. Just one of the many ironies of traveling in Mexico. One set of FIAT van travelers was from Holland, and the other from France. Both shipped their vans overseas to Halifax, Nova Scotia, then began their lengthy road trip south.
There are only two couples staying in Celeste all winter long: one couple from Wyoming, Murf (and he does surf) and Linda who live in a little 24 ft. travel trailer; and Ben and Pauline from Quebec, who live in 36 ft. fifth-wheeler he somehow backed in to an amazing site just up from the beach. We backed in to a nice, level site and unloaded the camper so we would be free to cruise to La Cruz (20 minutes north of Celeste) for supplies.
Truck camper nestled into its little spot. Area behind camper shows some of the guest rooms that stayed empty until the New Year’s Holiday.
At first look, Celeste is a page right out of National Geographic magazine. You know the ones I mean: tropical paradises with wind-blown palms, palapas for shade and miles of pristine beaches with no one in sight. That’s Celeste. Unlike the El Mirador in Huatabampito, the park does not sit directly on the beach. Instead, the RV park is situated on different levels atop built up areas above the beach.
View of observation deck in front of unloaded truck camper.
Sheltered among the palms are palapa-covered viewing decks, grass-covered knolls, and patio areas tiled with large, flat, marble-like stone and Saltillo tiles for social gathering areas. Just below where we are parked is a raised viewing deck perfect for morning sunrises and evening sunsets. Various guest rooms with magnificent views of the ocean, built above and around the Celeste sites, are painted bright yellow, each one with individual names like Buena Vista (of course), Las Estrellas, and others.
Noah, el dueño de Villa Celeste, the English-speaking owner of Celeste, is very helpful, and always wants to be certain we have everything we need. When we first arrived, we were low on diesel and groceries, and he offered to take us into town for supplies. In fact, everyone here is willing to help each other out if they can. He also arranges the social events at Villa Celeste like pot-luck barbeques and the catered New Year’s Eve dinner and breakfast the following day. Shared kindnesses seem to be an effect of staying in a beautiful place like this; it brings out everyone’s generosity.
One of the principal occupations of Celestino is oyster harvesting— ostiones. At any given time, one can find ostioneros with their inner tubes attached to tube-like nets floating offshore, diving to dig out the oysters, bringing them to the surface, and then dropping them into the net hanging from the inner-tube.
Here is a video of ostioneros at work:
Here are some photos of ostioneros who insisted I take their pictures. When I told them, Por favor, sonreír señores, on gentleman kept saying, “Whiskee, whiskee…”
Ostioneros: white bag in foreground is full of ostiones. Shirtless guy is diver, while the other three are negotiating a price. It’s common the ostioneros will sell their pickings right on the beach to the highest bidder.
Some of the ostioneros who may not be able to afford diving equipment, harvest the oysters the old school way by digging them out of the rocks at low tide:
An ostionero digging oysters out of the rock reef using a heavy metal bar. He throws the oyster into a bag that he will later haul to town on his bike to sell to local fish markets.
Sunset over the Sea of California as seen from one of Celete’s viewing decks.
View of the beach from a pathway that stretches through palms and palapas.
Looking up from the beach, palapas provide shelter from the sun.
From one of the lower Celeste viewing decks, the beach stretches south to a point that juts out into the Pacific
Jackie takes Louie on one of his daily walks along the beach. Louie loves the ocean and fearlessly romps in the tide pools while Jackie searches for the perfect oyster shell with mother-of-pearl.
View of beach looking north. The village of Celistino Gasca is just beyond the point in the distance.
As mentioned earlier, from here we travel southeast away from the ocean toward central Mexico. While the pacific coast of Mexico is unquestionably beautiful, both Jackie and I long for the Mexican culture that we will find in towns and neighborhoods of central Mexico. Stay tuned, dear reader.
Call and Response 