Santa Maria del Oro | Tepic, Nayarit

Since arriving, we have been busy trying to get the apartment in order and painted. Man, painting is a lot of work! Mostly though, we have been busy exploring! Cue in the whole "Adventure is out there!" scene from UP. There is sooo much to see here and so many beautiful beaches. However, we didn't want to drive the hour+ to the beach and we were told of a laguna here named Santa Maria del Oro.

Legend has it, that the towns princess fell in love with the son of her father's greatest enemy. Very much the Romeo and Juliet story with a twist. Rather than the young love struck couple killing themselves for love, they were punished by both their fathers. The tears that they shed in captivity are the same tears that filled up the laguna. So they say... (True story is that it was a crater that hit the area and with time, rain water began to fill the laguna. But I like the other version much more!)

The lake is about a 35 minute drive down the highway through luscious trees and lots of fields filled with agave, sugar cane, and corn. Everything is just so green here, tropical, jungle. Armed with our bathing suits we went. Man, I've never seen such a beautiful lake before. Not even Big Bear comes close to how beautiful this lake is. Hardly anyone there and a few boats passing by but other than that, it was like finding a lake in the middle of a jungle.

The photos were taken on my trusty Canon Powershot A495. I bought this camera eons ago and it has always chucked on. It doesn't have the settings that my big camera does but to be honest, I'm out having a good time with the possibility that the camera might get wet or damaged... so I'd rather it be this little camera than the bigger one.

Anyway! Check out the lake... What do you think?