It is Saturday February 19th, and we have spent a quiet, hot day aboard in Puerto Escondido. We will remain here until a diver comes to clean our hull, and then we will make our way back to the islands and north to Bahia Concepcion and Santa Rosalia. Aleydabeth is very quiet, and she is patiently waiting for us to resume our travels.
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A four hour motor brought us into Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen. There was a semicircular of beach and a small fish camp on shore. Green vegetation and high sierras lured us to the most wonderful hike so far.
We wandered up a dry riverbed in ankle deep scree, surrounded by lush greenery, hummingbirds, cacti, flowers, insects and colored rock walls that were ever changing in the different light shades of the day. We expected a 2 mile hike, but in the end round trip it was closer to 10 km, and the last part was aggressively steep up a winding road that had been cross hatched to protect it from erosion. As we crested the hill, we were rewarded with a stunning view of the salt flats that remain at Puerto Salinas where the remnants of a small village lay, that had previously survived by mining salt. We were still miles from the salt flats in the valley so we didn’t continue any further; just enjoyed the view and a hiker’s lunch. Hopefully, we can return to Puerto Salinas by boat another time and visit the flats and mining operation close up. When we returned to the beach, I noticed smoke coming from the fishing village and on closer inspection we realized that the fish camp had completely burned to the ground in our absence. The sailboat “Patience” from California, with Lee aboard hailed us on the VHF and told us that the fishermen’s cooking fire had blown out of control in the wind, sending sparks and ashes dangerously close to the anchored Aleydabeth. He had gone ashore and tried to fight the fire as best he could with pails of sea water. We considered ourselves very lucky that we received no damage. Lyle, Lee and Steve from “Lilly” made their way to shore when the fishermen returned home devastated at the loss of their camp and belongings. The men tried to salvage as much of the fish catch as they could. It had been stored in two refrigerators, that had been incinerated by the flames. We offered them some pesos, some food for dinner, and collected some sundries from our boats that we thought they might be able to use. The fishermen left the bay desolated by their loss and made their way to Loreto to spend the night. Their families were in Agua Verde. We inquired later if there was any way we could help out, or if the marina officials knew if they were able to rebuild their camp and how- but information was sketchy. The area is “marine park”, and from what we can gather, fishermen who had always fished the area were allowed to continue….(a sort of “look the other way” policy) but it seemed unlikely they would be allowed to rebuild a structure on the beach. Whale watching pangas and other tour entrepreneurs, were just as happy to have the fishing operation gone. Our return to Puerto Escondido on Wednesday morning took us through the same bay where we had seen the whales, and again they were there. We spotted at least three whales in the bay and saw more blowing off of Coronados island and further up the channel. We drifted and watched mesmerized, as the gentle giants circled the bay and gracefully broke the still water. We took a mooring ball, at Puerto Escondido in anticipation of a farewell restaurant dinner with our friends. But alas the Tripui restaurant was closed on Wednesday, so we cracked a beer on the roadside in front of the mini-mart as we waited for the cab to take Ron and Monica to the late bus for Cabo. It is Mexico after all. As it turned out the bus from Tijuana never made it in to Loreto, so Ron and Monica spent the night at a hotel near the bus depot and left on Thursday morning. We haven’t been very lucky with dependable services in this little spot, but we are learning patience. We got up on Monday morning and after a hearty pancake breakfast aboard Aleydabeth – we set out for Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen. We assumed that we could take advantage of prevailing northerlies to head northeast, but alas, again the wind was not cooperating. It was a very calm day and the seas were glassy. However, we were rewarded by whales!! Just around the corner, on our way out of Puerto Escondido we entered a calm strip of water flanked on both sides by land. Here we spotted a huge whale blowing, and what seemed to be her calf. They were very dark in color (almost a navy blue) and had a loud and distinctive blow. We actually heard them before we saw them. We cut the motor and just drifted between the two of them. They circled around the bay blowing, and gently surfacing, once just behind Aleydabeth. We guessed her to be about 50 feet in length. She was much larger than us. I tried to identify them, and could ascertain that they were not grey whales because there was a dorsal fin and their color was wrong. Humpbacks tend to show their flukes and tails more, and breach the water more often, as those we had seen on the west coast of Vancouver Island. After doing some Wikipedia research and talking to local people, I think they were either blue whales or fin whales – (color would indicate blues). What an experience! Ron managed to get some good pictures and Lyle got video footage of them surfacing. We watched them in awe and wonder, and felt very small. We struck out early Sunday morning to have an early shower (very cold) and waited patiently for a couple of hours for our car to arrive. It never did. So, we walked to a nearby resort (everything at the marina was closed and there were no taxis available) where the concierge/manager called us a cab. Rigo, the cab driver, took us into Loreto and we spent the day in the little town, enjoying the farmer’s market, and the historic centre where the old Jesuit mission still stands. Loreto was the first Catholic mission in the Baja and became the administrative centre for the Jesuits who began spreading Christianity to the local inhabitants in the 1600’s. Loreto’s mission is the first, and the oldest and part of the original walls still stand, although much of it was destroyed and later rebuilt.
We shopped (some of us for odd things - see Lyle's picture) and ate Mexican food, and walked the Malecon. Our cab driver kept reappearing throughout the day, and eventually drove us back to Puerto Escondido after supper. Loreto is about 20 miles from Puerto Escondido, and he made a better fare taxiing us than he would have taking small fares around Loreto all day. Loreto was the original capital of the Baja and there is an airport with flights to Los Angeles. Ron and Monica made arrangements for a bus back to Cabo San Lucas later in the week and we found a few provisions to carry us through the next few days aboard Aleydabeth. By morning we started out again, with winds on our nose and headed for the village of Aqua Verde (aptly named as the water is very green). Aqua Verde is an interesting port surrounded by a reef that Lyle cautiously maneuvered around to enter the harbour. There are two distinctive rocks covered with guano in the bay reportedly with good snorkeling. Monica tried to snorkel off the shoreline once but she said the visibility was poor and it was VERY cold. I managed to get in once just to wash my hair and have a warm water deck shower but it was chilly and I stayed out of the water until we reached Puerto Escondido.
We stayed in Aqua Verde for 3 nights. The first morning, a panga came out to Aleydabeth with a man by the name of Gregorio. He was selling handicrafts that his mother made and some shell necklaces that he makes to earn extra money for his mother, who he claimed was ill and needed medical attention. He knew Carlos, who we had met the previous day and seemed happy that we had spoken with him. He asked for school books for his children. Paper goods seem to be a precious commodity and notebooks are appreciated by outpost families. I had purchased some small journals at the Coombs store before I left and they have been treasures. The other special thing seems to be wrapping paper of any kind for gifts. However upon reflection, there isn’t a tree to be found on the Baja, so I am sure that pulp and paper products are rare. We went on two good hikes, one into the village where we bought a few things at the local store. There was very little there and the restaurant seemed closed. The second day, I just hung out at the boat and read a little, and blogged a little. Ron and Monica dinghied ashore and beachcombed; returning with starfish and pretty shells. The last day, on the advice of Harry on the sailboat “Destination Unknown” – we hiked up to the site of the cave paintings mentioned in our cruising guide. The hike was amazing, through a desert valley beside an old cemetery, past a palm treed beach, along a shoreline and up the side of a hill to a cave, where we found the handprints on the cave wall. The guide suggests that the cave paintings are from former Amerindian inhabitants, but I am not sure as they are really only handprints in an ochre colored paint, and I don’t believe that their authenticity has been verified. Lyle said he expected a graffiti slogan underneath that said “Grad 1964” – but really we couldn’t be sure what the prints meant. However, we were very glad that we made the trip. The cave itself was interesting and I expected to meet Clint Eastwood on horseback somewhere in the valley. The landscape reminded me of every western I had ever seen….mountainous, dusty and dry. We returned each day to our cocktail hour in the cockpit and good dinners with friends followed by rousing card games, conversation and laughter. It was a good ten days even though we sailed very little. We made our way to Puerto Escondido, (Hidden Port – aptly named) arriving on Saturday February 12. The harbor is very protected with high hills all around. Puerto Escondido has mooring balls operated by Singlar, a government agency. They had brave plans at the time of construction that seem to have fallen by the wayside. Paved roads lead nowhere, and empty lots suggest the lost possibilities of a housing or condominium development. Many of the services were unavailable on the weekend, and the store and restaurant opened late in the day. We have seen this repeatedly in Mexico – that developments have been abandoned part way through development, and many that have completed the first phase sit empty or have high vacancy rates. The state of the world’s current economy is definitely evident, however we don’t seem to see the prices coming down, or fire sales on property. There still seems to be a belief that condos are worth $500,000 US and more. We made arrangements to rent a car for Sunday and had lunch at the marina restaurant, and caught up on email. We got an early start and continued north passing Isla San Francisco by, and anchoring off of a small fishing village called Nopolo. Within a few minutes a local fishing boat came out to greet us- with Carlos and two daughters and a one year old son in the panga with him. I managed to find a few gifts for them, some journals for the girls, a jade bear for Mom and some candy. I also gave the girls each a little sewing kit to make a Christmas ornament. One of the girls was brave enough to come aboard, and Carlos gave us fish. Monica seasoned and cooked the white fish and we barbecued it that night. The white fish we think was skate, and it barbecued nicely but was very bland.
Nopolo is mountainous and there was a small cut off the beach where we walked for about 15 minutes. We saw burros and found a well with pipes running back to the settlement, and a wash area where the woman of the house does her laundry and dries it in the sun. They seem to live a simple life, but there is a satellite dish on the tiny house, and Veronica tells me she has television and goes to school just around the corner in the village. After spending a few great days with Michelle and Kevin, who came aboard in La Paz – we are off on a new adventure north. We will not return to La Paz during this cruising season.
Michelle and Kevin flew into Cabo San Lucas and took the shuttle to us in La Paz. Once again we were locked down at the marina by a strong northerly and unfortunately couldn’t leave the dock. We enjoyed our time, getting to know Kevin a little better, hearing all the exciting news of the new Calgary house and learning about Kevin’s boys, Jonah and Nic who are now a part of Michelle’s family. They had just come from a cruise and had stories to tell of their trip. We took a walk around La Paz, bought some pottery and ate some Mexican food. And, of course rounded out the evenings with rousing games of “Oh Hell” (a good trump card game). After two days they shuttled back to San Jose del Cabo, where they had a reservation at an all inclusive for some well deserved time together. Ron and Monica Mayhew arrived a day later, and we had time to change the sheets, re-provision and set out early on Superbowl Sunday morning for Ensenada Grande. That Sunday was also provincial and municipal election day in Mexico and they had closed down alcohol sales, much to the disappointment of the American cruisers who had planned for a full day in the local sports bars. It was good to welcome Ron and Monica aboard. They are seasoned sailors and used to living small aboard a sailboat. We enjoyed the anchorage again, and took a long hike up the arroyo above the sandy beach. On day two we spent the day on the beach, with a howling north wind spinning the boat on its anchor. The men hiked and the ladies chatted and sunned. Poor Ron peeled off a rock wall into the sea and took some time to dry out in the sun on the sheltered little beach. Lyle managed some snorkeling but only for a few minutes as the water temperature remains cold. |
AuthorLark Balmer Archives
March 2011
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