Mostly sunny, 80-85°F days and 55-64°F nights. 
It’s taken me way too long to get to the second part of my vacation! So I’ll make it short-ish so I can get to all the spring blooms in Oklahoma.
The day after the jungle tour was a lazy day with a beach walk, shopping and sunset watching. I found some crab tracks in the sand, pretty neat looking.
I did not dig this up to find out what it belonged to!
I saw several birds relaxing along the beach. These adorable things are American Oystercatchers.
I think this sleepy bird is a Willet Sandpiper.
We came across some men fishing with a net. They had a decent catch.
Big plans for tomorrow, so it was an early night.
I had an extra roommate this evening, a tiny gecko.
We signed up for a zipline canopy and tequila factory tour. I wasn’t allowed to bring a camera besides my iphone or I’d share some of the plants I saw. I did catch a few on the zipline route. There are massive cacti throughout the trees called an Indian Comb commonly, but I can’t remember what they called it on the tour (Pachycereus Pecten-Aboriginum). They had the most interesting fruit on them, big yellow thorned balls. I couldn’t get close enough to one to get a good look at it.
The final zipline went over a field of 14-16 month old blue agave plants.
On the walk back up to our luncheon spot, I was able to see at least one awesome unknown plant! Anyone know what this little vine is?
It has the most unusual flowers and makes me think of a carnivorous plant. I can’t seem to identify it. It didn’t smell like rotten meat or anything.
Update: this vine is a type of birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman’s pipe. They aren’t carnivorous. The plants are aromatic and their strong scent[2] attracts insects. The inner part of the perianth tube is covered with hairs, acting as a fly-trap. These hairs then wither to release the fly, covered with pollen.
We had a snack and loaded up to tour the tequila factory! The first thing I saw was a massive Guanacaste Tree. They spell it differently there – huanacaxtle. I just call it “the tree so big I could never get the whole thing in one photo” tree.
There were seedpods on it this time of year. Very interesting tree. I hear the seed pods are edible while they are still young and green.
The factory tour was short and sweet. I at least caught sight of the agave heart they use to make the tequila.
On the way out we slowed down to take a shot of the cactus fence!
We had one more glorious day of relaxation in Mazatlan before heading home. I’m grateful to have gotten to explore as much as I did. Mexico has a ton of interesting plants and animals to explore.
Cool pics! Did you try a pod?
I think it was past the season for collecting the pods. I would have loved to try them!