Talk:San Blas, Nayarit/Temp
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San Blas is a fishing village located on the Pacific coast of Mexico in the state of Nayarit. The town is famous for its abundance of migratory birds in the surrounding estuaries and lowland palm forests, attracting bird-watchers from around the world. The town is also gateway, along with the nearby village of Matanchen, to the La Tovara national park, a massive mangrove forest and federally-protected nature preserve that can only be accessed by the small boats that ply the single canal flowing through its midst.
A boat tour ends at the foot of the nearby hills, where a freshwater spring provides the local drinking water as well as a natural swimming hole enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. The town is known as the birthplace of the California missions given that the Spanish priest Junipero Serra embarked on his journey to found the missions of California from the port of San Blas.
The town was devastated by the Pacific Hurricane Kenna in October 2002, but has since been rebuilt. The town is immortalized by the Mexican rock group Maná in its song El Muelle de San Blas or The Pier of San Blas.
San Blas boasts gorgeous unadulterated beaches. Many believe the town's notorious population of sand-flies have kept them safe from touristic development. San Blas sits like a sliver of land in between two estuaries. These two estuaries, the Pozo and El Rey, are the main entries into a vast wetlands system. The many rivers that flow through the mangrove forests serve as the breeding grounds for fish. The wetlands also serve to buffer the land from storms and prevent erosion.
Recent incursions by shrimp farms have threatened the balance in this very fecund ecosystem. A local environmental movement has helped to mitigate the loss of substantial mangroves and diversion of waters. While claims that San Blas has suffered a loss of fish and wildlife due to development may be true, this area remains abundant in birds, bugs and crocodiles.
For tourists looking to get away from the common tourist filled Mexican beaches where they can get away and not see many other English speaking Americans, San Blas is a perfect place.
