Matanchén home of the jungle tour and jejenes

By Chris French
December 5, 2017
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We heard horror stories about the jejenes (little biting bugs) so while in Mazatlán we bought some black veil material and Vicki slaved over needle and thread to fashion us bug screens for the large saloon windows. And yes we absolutely needed them. But let me back up a bit.

Matanchén beach from Strikhedonia

We arrived in the afternoon from Isla Isabel with plenty of sunlight and found a nice spot away from the other five boats anchored in the bay. And also anchored away from the beach, which was two fold – one to reduce the jejenes and two the bay has a very small incline so it stays shallow a long ways from shore. We settled into a relaxing evening with plans in the morning to go on a jungle tour by panga. In the morning we got moving but not before spotting a number of jelly fish floating around the boat. Maybe swimming was off the list…

Moon jellyfish (I think, I wasn’t tempted to test their stinging power top find out for sure)

Once ashore we found a map of the beach in Mantachen. If it wasn’t for the jejenes it might have been a lovely place to enjoy a cold cerveza. Being as it was 8:30 in the morning we carried on, up the road and under the arch welcoming us to Hermoso, San Blas and leading us to the jungle tour launch point.

Map of the beach restaurants and lodges along the beach

Banana bread (Pan de platanos) a big deal here…

Jungle tour pangas waiting for folks to arrive. We paid 300 pesos for two people. Our guide only spoke Spanish but it was all good.

The trees formed an impressive canopy over the river. It looked like a weekly job to chop back the branches keeping the path open.

Since our guide spoke Spanish I can't tell for sure, but my understanding is these are hunting shacks for snagging crocodiles - found out later they were used as a movie set...

The trees had beautiful parasitic plants with bright flowers.

Meandering through the river, at times it was hard to know where the river went.

We only saw a few crocodiles but the ones we saw were enough to convince us swimming was out.

Our tour ended at a fresh water pool where they have installed fencing to keep crocodiles out. There was a fun rope swing to play on. I provided great entertainment for a Mexican family who didn't have their swimming suits but enjoyed my attempt at acrobatics.

At the fresh water swimming hole you can pick up some snacks and drinks.

The marlin tostadas were the perfect mid-morning snack after swimming.

Frigates were around but not anywhere near the numbers we experienced on Isla Isabel. Still impressive to see their size.

As the afternoon wound down I decided to head in and walk the beach. It was so quiet, just a few families. I have heard from friends that during the weekend it is a madhouse, so I appreciated the semi-private beach. With no shoes I was still able to walk the two miles past a couple bays around the point where the open Pacific waves crashed on the shore.