Chacala

[edit] History

Pre-Columbian era

The region encompassing Nayarit and Jalisco was originally home to the Texcoxquin (Teqectequi) indiginous culture millennia before the European conquest. The Altavista petroglyphs, not far from Chacala, are believed to date from 2300 BCE. This extensive group of rock carvings is still used today for ceremonial religious purposes by the native Huichol.

Colonial era

Although Chacala was never as historically significant a port as San Blas to the north or Puerto Vallarta to the south, the sheltered bay saw a visit from Portugese explorer Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeño, sailing out of Manila, who stopped in Chacala on January 07, 1596 en route to Alta California. ^[2] The notable but idiosyncratic Jesuit missionary Father Eusebio Francisco Kuhn, commonly known as 'Padre Kino', and his party departed from Chacala on his Atondo expedition in May of 1683. Many members of the expedition abandoned him after he proposed that his ship be pushed across the Sonoran Desert. ^[3]

Modern era

After slumbering for decades as a small fishing village and Coconut plantation, American doctor Laura del Valle's arrival in 1980 spurred a period of change which, in a relatively brief 15 years, transformed the town into one of Mexico's more unique destinations. Del Valle first built simple accommodations at Chacala's south end, where dense virgin first-growth rainforest teeming with wildlife, including Ocelot, Margay and Jaguarundi, grows down the flanks of a small collapsed volcano and plunges into the Pacific. She built the lodge to house visiting American medical students volunteering at the local health clinic she founded to serve the Mexican poor.

A Zen Buddhist and vegetarian with a strong commitment to helping the less-fortunate, the word of del Valle's work soon spread, and Chacala started attracting others with similar ideals, along with 'eco-tourists' looking for a tranquil, unspoiled and little-visited beach-town 'off the beaten path'. They could stay in her rustic lodgings (and eat vegetarian) when there was room, and even pay a reduced rate if they volunteered on projects designed to help the community. ^[4]

Location

Chacala is located on the south west portion the Nayarit coast, which itself is located about mid-way on the Mexican Pacific Coast. Nayarit encompasses 27,620 square kilometers (10,664 sq. mi.), which makes it a little larger than the state of Maryland in the U.S.A. It has 289 kilometers (181 mi.) of Pacific coastline. Nayarit is bordered by the states of Sinaloa, Zacatecas and Durango to the north, and by Jalisco to the east and south. The town is 11 kilometers (6 mi.) off Highway 200 and is situated on the Pacific coastal plain. The coastal plain is the strip of land that runs along most of the west coast of Mexico between the Pacific Ocean and the foothills and mountains.

Climate

Chacala (and all of Nayarit) lies south of the Tropic of Cancer, thus it is located in the true Tropics, and its climate is Tropical - hot and humid. The actual classification is 'warm subhumid tropical'. Nayarit is characterized by its high rainfall - the fifth highest in the country, averaging 1000-1500mm (40-60 in.) per annum.

Some parts of the state receive up to 2640mm (104 in.) of rainfall a year. The rains are concentrated in periods of brief intense thunderstorms, often occuring in the afternoons, most during the summer wet season between May and October, although a lesser but significant winter wet season exists as well. The wet seasons are separated by spring and fall dry seasons. Chacala received moderate to severe damage from Hurricane Kenna in Ocober 2002.

Flora