Laguna de Quelele, Nuevo Vallarta – Birdwatching and Hiking

From reading Blake Maybank’s online birding reports, we knew that there was excellent birding near Nuevo Vallarta. So one day we packed up our binoculars, DEET, and Mr. Maybank’s directions and map, and set off for the Laguna de Quelele.

 The easiest entrance to the Laguna is located a little east of the town of Mezcales. (Another lagoon entrance is by the crocodile sign -  1 block south of the Flamingos Golf Course entrance off the highway.)  Our taxi driver, having lived in Mezcales for several years,  couldn’t understand why we wanted to go there (although it’s actually an interesting little town). He kept trying to take us to the Rancho Quelele, where apparently there used to be some animal exhibits that he thought we might be interested in. We finally convinced him to drop us at the Rancho de la Laguna, the entrance in Mr. Maybank’s directions, although I think he felt badly about leaving us there. He’s probably still shaking his head over the loco gringos who wanted to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere!

According to Mr. Maybank, the property owner will collect a $5 donation for trail maintenance if he’s home, but we missed him. Instead, the trail rangers that day were three large but polite dogs. They were fine watchdogs, but a trifle deficient in short-term memory. Every time they saw us they started barking again and had to be reminded that we were friendly. Land is being cleared at the Rancho, but it’s still easy to find the lagoon, and the trails under the mangroves can be located with a little sleuthing (walk as far north as you can, turn east along the lagoon edge, and look closely at the vegetation). The birding did not disappoint. Practically the first thing we saw when we reached the lagoon was a tree filled with hundreds of roosting cattle egrets and snowy egrets, with great blue herons standing below. We enjoyed rambling around this swampy ecosystem. It’s particularly amazing that such an untouched wildlife reservoir exists amidst all the surrounding towns and tourist developments.

After exploring the lagoon area, we hiked back into Mezcales (only about half a mile from the Rancho). We walked around El Centro for a while, saw the school and tequila distillery. Then walked the block out to the highway where there is a large cab stand next to the police station, as well as an ATM bus stop that can take you back to resort row. This was an enjoyable and inexpensive excursion for hikers, birders, and wildlife enthusiasts.