Travel We Deliver! Wintering in Florida, Arizona or California? By Individual Driver Door to Door or Truck For more information about our services call: We pick up your vehicle from your doorstep and deliver it to your winter destination… and get it safely back home when you’re ready. www.torontodriveaway.com The Premier Driveaway Service in North America! I n t e g r I t y • h o n e s t y • c o u r t e s y 416-225-7754 Toronto Drive-Away Service Nationwide Inc. TrusTed since 1959 Avian haven As dusk arrived, we w a d d l e d out of the restaurant and reluctantly left one of the most charming towns in Mexico. A pelican flew pterodactyl-like into the pink sunset. Herons watched us from docked boats and mangrove trees. The next day, we saw more birds on a boat tour of La Tovara National Park, near the town of San Blas, south of Mexcaltitán. Our boatman and birding guide was Jose Inocencio Banuelos, locally known as Chencho. As the sun rose, he manoeuvred our motorboat through a leafy mangrove tunnel. A great blue heron landed in the vegetation as his mate watched. In the mangroves, we spotted a white ibis and a beautiful, boat-billed heron. An anhinga dried its wings after fishing, and then stretched out its snake-like neck and took flight. A snail kite watched us from a high branch. We wished that we had a checklist. Yellow-crowned night heron. Check. Cormorants. Check. After our tour, we returned to Hotel GarzaCanela inSan Blas. (The name of the family-owned hotel means “cinnamon heron.”) At its El Delfin Restaurant, we met Betty Vázquez, the best chef in Riviera Nayarit and a judge on the MasterChef Mexico TV series. She praised the freshness of Nayarit fish, seafood, fruits and vegetables as she prepared shrimp salads and garnished ceviche with decorative totopos cut from deep-fried tortillas. Betty buys fresh shrimp and chiles from local fishermen and farmers. She uses yerba buena (Mexican mint) instead of cilantro in ceviche, lychees from the hotel’s orchard for sauces and Mexican chocolate in a cake that, alone, would justify a trip back to Nayarit. Chencho points out birds on boat tour of La Tovara National Park Snail kite in La Tovara National Park A great blue heron lands in the vegetation Hotel Garza Canela in San Blas Chef Betty Vázquez garnishes ceviche with decorative totopo cut from a deep-fried tortilla CSANews | WINTER 2016 | 31
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