Taking a Wheelchair outside of Vallarta

I wanted to write about some of the small towns we have visited that make great day trips from Vallarta. We've been looking around at places to take our clients who cannot get out of their wheelchairs to walk. It's been an interesting adventure, and it will continue as we explore this beautiful Banderas Bay.
  

One of the first towns that we took clients to was San Sabastian de Oeste. It's a beautiful town that is just far enough up in the mountains to be cooler than the summer heat in Vallarta, but near enough that it can be enjoyed for a 4 hour tour. We picked up our guests and headed to Las Cazuelas in El Colorado for breakfast. This is definitely my favorite Mexican restaurant. The food is all from Grandma's recipes and you won't find anything more authentic or unique. If you're a foodie, you need to try this place. We had a leisurely breakfast, enjoying the sights and sounds of rural Mexico at it's best. There was a lot going on at Las Cazuelas. If you stop here, don't be surprised if you have to wait for a table. It's very popular with the locals.
   

After our wonderful breakfast, we made our way into San Sabastian. We were able to park at the police station right near the town square. Unloading the wheelchair wasn't a problem. We had visited the town earlier and checked for accessibility. We learned a valuable lesson. Looking around for ramps and passable thresholds is very different than riding around in a chair. The sidewalks and square were pretty accessible. Unfortunately, getting across the street from the square to the sidewalk was difficult cobblestone. We had a nice visit, but I don't think I would recommend it for wheelchairs. Not yet anyway. They seemed to be making improvements to all of the walkways that included consideration for wheelchairs. Maybe soon.
     

So, in an effort to be more prepared and more aware, we packed the scooter into our wheelchair accessible "Blanca" and headed north. We went as far as Guayabitos. We stopped at a few road side venders along the way, just to see if they were accessible.

     

Well, there were a couple that were accessible. I rode the scooter through the aisles without any problem. The restrooms were not accessible, but I'm not sure someone visiting Mexico for a short time needs to be exposed to the rustic restrooms of a roadside fruit stand. There is a very nice OXXO just up the road with an accessible restroom if needed.

 

When we got to Guayabitos, the first thing we noticed was the pace of life. It was hectic. There were buses and taxis driving around like a big city. The beach was nice, but unless there is something unique to Guayabitos I can't imagine taking our clients there. It is a beautiful town, don't get me wrong. It's just that it has the big city feel that you can get in downtown Vallarta. The next stop was Lo de Marco. I've heard and read a lot about this little town and was hopeful that it would be a good destination. They have a great cultural presence in the area and host a number of events. The beach was beautiful, the accessibility not as much. It would be a nice day trip for someone who has no physical limitations. From there we headed to San Pancho/San Francisco. I'm still a little confused on where it is San Pancho and where it is San Francisco. They seem the same place to me. Perhaps the town is San Francisco and the beach is San Pancho. I'm not really sure. Anyway, we had been there once before and I loved the ambiance. If you've been to Sayulita then you know the hustle and bustle of a tourist beach. It is packed with venders selling everything from surf lessons (we recommend Patty) to chairs and umbrellas for day use. It's very Bohemian with artists and surfers aplenty. It is not accessible with a standard wheelchair or power chair. With a beach wheelchair you can visit Sayulita. It's a great day trip. You still won't be able to get into the galleries, but there are plenty of street artists. Well, San Pancho feels like Sayulita must have been 20 years ago. There are still artists and surfers, but the number of venders is small and they aren't selling you a piece of the beach to use for the day. The streets are tile instead of cobblestone making them passable for any wheelchair. The sidewalks generally have ramps at the corners and they are ramps that you can actually use. There are a few ramps in the middle of the block here and there where there used to be a step that were passable, but it was nice to have someone at the back of the chair for an assist. I have to commend the town for putting ramps almost everywhere that used to have a step. I really had no problem getting around this town in the scooter. We stopped for coffee at a corner coffee shop. It had counters at a good level for the wheelchair. I couldn't go inside, but had no problem ordering from the sidewalk and enjoyed the hand rubbed wood counters. It had a good selection of barista brews and even had coffee ice cubes for the iced drinks. There was a book shelf and games for customer use. It was a cute place I would definitely visit again. We had lunch at the Italian restaurant "Toscana" which is owned by a man from Italy. I mention that because, like Sayulita, San Pancho is very international in it's population and food choices. I've been to Italy and I have to say that this was very Italian Italian food :)  Oh, and "a portion of bread" is a basket enough for the table. We each ordered one LOL.


After lunch we headed for the beach. I remembered from our previous trip that there were ramps down to the beach, but didn't remember what was at the bottom of the ramp. There are two restaurants at the beach. The one on the right has some seating at the square that you can get to in a wheelchair and a couple of tables sidewalk level in the square. The restaurant on the left has a section of the bar that you can reach with a wheelchair. Neither one can you get to a beach side table with a wheelchair. If we were able to take a beach wheelchair along it would work well here. There are a couple of reasons that we love San Pancho and will recommend it to our clients. First, it is very different than Vallarta. If you're going to take a day trip to another beach, it should be something a little different that what is in front of your resort. The people and atmosphere of San Pancho and welcoming and beautiful. Second, it is the most accessible destination we have found. There are very few places you can't get to. Getting inside the small stores and galleries is not possible, but the shops are so small that you really can look at most of the wares from the doorway.

   

Beach Crossers Gives Back.

People are so kind and gracious in their support of our Beach Crossers mobility rental business. Our customer's often give us a bonus because they "want to support what we're doing." This week, we went to buy a scooter that we found on Craigslist in Tuscon. We were road tripping a second accessible van down to Vallarta.  The owner of the chair had just lost his Mom a month ago. He listened to our story and then gave us part of our money back along with a shower chair and some cold drinks for the road. This kind of generosity happens often. We are so thankful for the donations of money and equipment that have allowed us to keep our costs low and be able to give back to the community. We always recognize the smiles on peoples faces when we have given them something special, but we don't always realize that it has become part of who we are as Beach Crossers. Lately, we've had some good reminders of that so we wanted to share a few of our stories.

From the beginning we have donated use of the chairs to people who couldn't or wouldn't have ever dreamed of going to the beach again. Amazingly, there are people who have lived right here in Vallarta for 50 years that have never been on the beach. We often see families carrying loved ones with mobility problems from the pavement to the sand so they can sit on a towel and enjoy the sunset. The first time we gifted the chair, we had only one chair in Mexico and were staying at Paradise Village. We were sitting in the lobby when a lovely woman in a wheelchair checked in with her daughter, son in law, and grand daughters. She reminded me of Mom. I told Sheri, "We're giving her the chair." She laughed and said, "Of course we are." We approached the family and told them we weren't selling anything, but wanted to let them use the beach wheelchair for the day. They were pretty sure we were scamming them at first, but finally decided that we were legit and took the chair. They were to return it to our room at dark. When 10:00 rolled by, I started getting nervous, when 11:00 came along I started making calls. It turns out that they had walked down the beach, gone into the pool, dipped in the hot tub and then gone back to the beach. The daughter said that her Mom was having the time of her life. She and I cried together. Sheri and I knew from the beginning that this business was always about Mom. This was the first time we saw that commitment in action. Mom would have loved that beautiful woman in the wheelchair and would have been proud of us for helping her to the beach. 

This became a normal practice for us. We look around and try to find someone to loan the chair to. I wish I had a picture of the first woman, but here is a beautiful picture of a gentle man who we loaned the chair to.  He was sitting by the pool with his son, daughter-in-law, grand children, and great grand children. I would guess he was in his 90's. He was non-verbal and no one in the family spoke English. I did my best with Spanish and gestures and got the point across that we wanted to loan the chair to them so they could take "Abuelo" to the beach. His smile was priceless. The family took tons of pictures and insisted that we be in their photos. It was so much fun and so rewarding to see his smiling face. He gave us the "it works in every language" thumbs up and waved excitedly to us as we were leaving. 

We still love this game and on days when we aren't busy or if we are staying at Paradise Village with family or friends, we take a beach wheelchair and look for someone to gift it to for the day. Try to imagine how fun that is. 

We have had the opportunity to help with World Access Project for the last 2 years. Here's a link to some information about their project  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYX7aXoDtfY  

Richard Dennis is the founder of the organization. They bring wheelchairs to people in the area, teach them how to use them, put on a sports camp, and bring them to the Malecón. That's where we come in. We have our beach wheelchair at the Malecón and shuttle people to the beach. The first year that Sheri was in Vallarta by herself. She had help from some of our friends and was able to shuttle most people to the beach. The second year, Sheri was in the states and I (Terrie) was in Vallarta for the event. I recruited help from friends once again and also put the word out in the Facebook community. With the extra help, we were able to get people not only to the beach, but a few actually made it into the bay for a swim. 

When it comes to paying it forward, I think these two pictures speak volumes. The young man, the picture speaks for itself. The older woman? It took almost an hour to convince her that it was not a burden or inconvenience to take her to the beach and that we didn't mind helping her from one chair to the other and back again. She had a wonderful time. 

   

These are some examples of how your rental with Beach Crossers helps others. We appreciate your help in allowing us to do what we do.