We parked our dinghies on the beach in Manzanilla and walked into town
Across the bay from Tenacatita’s anchorage sits the village of La Manzanilla. About 30 miles north of the town of Manzanillo, curiously named La Manzanilla is a small vacation spot for a mix of Mexicans, Canadians, and a few Americans. In addition to it’s miles of white sand beaches, La Manzanilla also boasts a crocodile sanctuary, or cocodrilario.
Our first glimpse of a crocodile
Located on the edge of town, the sanctuary is home to a few hundred crocodiles. The animals range in age from hatchlings of a couple months to fully mature adults of 30 or 40 or more years. The crocodiles are native to coastal estuaries with fresh to brackish water, and this section of the Mexican coast has many such inlets. Nearly every anchorage we’ve stopped at has an estuary, while only about half have signs warning of crocodiles.
The crocodiles at the sanctuary lounged mostly submerged in the still dark water, or rested under trees in the mud flats to the side. The large ones were 20+ feet in length, complete with teeth sticking out of their mouths at all angles.
Angie looking relaxed while crocodile viewing behind a mainly intact chain link fence
The sanctuary itself is accessed by an elevated wooden walkway. Most of the wooden slats are in serviceable condition – every 20 feet or so, however, there are a couple that look to be only one or two more steps away from dropping a hapless tourist through the boardwalk into the brown, murky crocodile-infested water.
Our concern about the rickety construction was allayed by the sturdy looking chainlink fencing on either side of the walkway. That is, it was until we came upon the first of many holes in the fence….
An adult crocodile skull on display at the museum- check out those chompers
The entire sanctuary experience was typical of how many things seem to work in Mexico – not completely up to the standards we’re used to at home, but somehow more or less functional.
Baby crocs in the nursery. Usually baby animals are cute- these are an exception to the rule
Our viewing was made complete we walked back to where we’d parked our dinghy on the beach on the far side of town from the sanctuary. As we walked across a small bridge over a creek separating town from the beach, there in the water was our final crocodile of the day – not in the sanctuary, but warming itself in the sun about 30 feet from our dinghy. Fastest beach exit ever!
