Playa Tangolunda

Playa Tangolunda is about 5 km east of Santa Cruz, it's home to the greatest concentration of all-inclusives around here.  We've heard that it has a pretty good beach, but the hotels make access to it really difficult as you can't just walk through their properties.  Fortunately we got the straight poop on public access from a cab driver, so we are headed off for an exploratory trip this morning!

We turned off the main highway onto a little gravel road marked RV Trailer Park, which went about 300 meters into a parking lot, and then it was another perhaps 200 meters along a wooden walkway, over a bunch of sandbags that were used as stepping stones, and through the bush until voila! there we were on the beach.  It's about a kilometer in length, I think.  We came out on the west end, and most of the resorts are on the east end, as that's where the flattest beach is and there's also a bunch of island-things along with reefs, rocks, etc that mean coral and fish and snorkeling. 

Tangolunda from the public entrance.

Looking east.

So off we went to the east end, and it is indeed a perfectly acceptable beach.  Sadly, there are no palapa restaurants selling you chairs and food and drinks like you usually encounter, as the whole place is fronted by big hotels and if you don't have the right wrist-band you aren't getting served.  I decided to wade into the water a bit as my feet were hot from all the walking and after a minute or two I realized that I was pretty much surrounded by reef fish of about 1-2 pounds.  Very cool.  It's kind of a snorkeler's wet-dream (snorkeling, water, wet dream, get it?  sigh), you can wade into the water and literally be snorkeling 10-20 feet from shore!

Looking west from the Snorkel Spot.

My new buddies coming to check things out.

We attempted to crawl over a bunch of rocks to get to the next beach but gave up when Steve's ankle decided it was unhappy. These 2 fellows were selling fresh oysters for strength and virility/agility. If you look to the left you can see people making the journey over.

So with that being the end of the beach, we headed back toward the other end of the beach. 

Deb was chatting with one of the lifeguards on the beach (there are a lot of them) and it turned out he was employed by Dreams (one of the big resorts) and he offered to give us a tour of the place.  I think I counted five pools, two of which were infinity pools on the beach, along with bars and restaurants and tons of loungers and an incredible view and it's just all very civilized.  What was even better, we can walk into the front lobby and buy an all-inclusive day pass for 600 pesos, which is less than $40 Canadian.  That buys full use of everything (except the sailboats) all your food and drinks, everything (including massage).   

Two of Secrets' beachside pools.

Water aerobics in the infinity pool.

This is the Barcelo Hotel. My penpal Linda, her husband and sister will be staying here for a week in Feb. Looks like a game of chess may be in order. 

After that we walked back to the other end of the beach, which ends in a river mouth and a marina, and then we decided to head back to the highway and pick up a cab. These Chachalaca's are a large chicken-like/vulture-like birds and they have a very loud raucous call.

Deb suggested we take a 'shortcut' through what looked like a hotel but was actually an access road that was about a kilometer walk in the mid-day heat.  Happily, it was more than worth it as the first 100 meters was fenced-off jungle and water on one side and it was teeming with wildlife.  I got a glimpse of a female Barramundi and her baby, and the place was full of honking big Iguanas up in the trees.  Six to eight-foot iguanas that would feed a family of twelve.

Birds everywhere.  Further down the road we saw a flock of about 20-30 wild parrots flying around making a racket as well! These Termite nests provide the nesting home for some kinds of Parrots.

Golden-shouldered and hooded parrots nest in these mounds, digging into them with beaks when they are damp and soft during or just after the wet season. The baby parrots feed off the termites, the termites eat the leaves etc that land on the jungle floor and along comes the other animals that feed off the termites. So, termites are not necessarily a 'bad' thing, unless you live in Kamloops.

Snake skin..best to see skin than snake

This squirrel is 'logging' the coconuts. One dropped just two steps from me. Another one of life's lessons. We have learned never to sit under a coconut tree and when around squirrels, don't even think of walking under them.

Eventually we found ourselves back on the highway, I called up our cab driver and 15 minutes later we were home.  Just in time for a cold shower and a colder beer!

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