Whale Watching, San Ignacio

Truly a magical experience this week - Robin was reluctant to go on another whale watching tour but I persevered & we had an amazing time! We spent 90 minutes in the "observation area" out in the bay at San Ignacio, in an open boat surrounded by momma & baby gray whales. The only rules to follow were not to touch the eyes, blowhole, fins & tails. It didn't take long for them to approach the boat, allowing the 6 of us to touch them and marvel at their immense size & gentleness. Their skin is actually soft, sort of like an eggplant, the moms had many barnacles stuck to them, probably why they would scratch against the boat. The mommas would push & lift the calves up to us as we reached over the sides of the boat. We were "baptized" with whale spray & took lots of pictures & videos. At the end we had 4 pairs all swimming around & under the boat - an experience that words cannot explain!

Before we left Santispac we managed to get in a few more kayak trips, lucky again to get close to a sleeping sea lion & actually glide right over the top of a whale shark! We met a couple camped next to us who live 10 min. away from us back home. We had a good day in Mulege, took in the Chili cook- off, bought charbroiled chicken & ceviche on the way home ( we have developed quite a liking to ceviche).
We enjoyed our last 2 for 1 happy hour at the beach, Robin a bit more than others as 3 margaritas seem to be his limit! The beach was getting a bit crowded after a caravan arrived, bringing the number of RV's to 50, plus 10 sailboats in the bay. The cutest puppy ever that wandered the beach was lucky enough to be adopted by friends of ours who will ensure she gets a loving home. We left the beach March 17 after stocking up with chicken tamales for the road.

We are heading for home fairly quickly, the" horse to the barn thing", we drove 586 km in one day, it only took 10 hrs! We had a tarantula just 20 ft from the RV in one campground, we drove thru sand dunes on the hiway (it was closed for part of a day due to poor visibility on a very windy day) and passed thru 3 military checkpoints where the rig is looked thru by a young Mexicans  with machine guns. We passed huge strawberry fields being picked by crowds of workers  & multiple varieties of cacti starting to bloom. we stopped to visit a mission church with 3 ft lava rock walls built in the 1700's.

We are set up now in Ensenada, again close to the Pacific Ocean. We spent yesterday sightseeing, first to La Bufadora - a natural blow hole where water shoots up 30 ft into the air between the rocks. The entry road is flanked by dozens of shops selling souvenirs, baked goods, clams & piña coladas. Unfortunately the many samples along the way are without alcohol! We headed into Ensenada to check out the fish market, eat more fish tacos & browse the shops. We were happy to find a set of Margarita glasses & we stocked up on a few favourite Mexican grocery items. The items for sale are varied & strange ( see the shark heads!).

Today we walked along the shore, of course a few more shells will fit in the RV. We saw what someone called "sea cows" - looks like a lump of liver that squirted purple dye when disturbed, strange indeed. The night that we arrived here we went to the beach & found a very young, tired looking sea lion that had just waddled up on shore. It allowed us to get close, then after we left it, it moved further up the beach & huddled next to a rock wall. It was gone in the morning & we certainly hope that it was reunited with its mom.

We are spending today catching up on housecleaning, blogging & resting up for the trip tomorrow out of Mexico. We are happy to be on the way home but will miss this weather & easy life. Robin did find some work in San Ignacio, sweeping the street with palm fronds as the Mexican was doing - he always likes to leave a place better than when we arrived!

Still living the dream!

Fishing for Yellowtail

The highlight of the week was fishing out in the ocean for yellowtail with Randy & Wendy, friends from Washington. They took us out in their boat, we left at first light when I actually saw sunrise! The day started off poorly, my first lure in the water got stuck in the rocks & lost, but things looked up from there. Robin caught the first fish, a pinto bass, and followed that up with 2 large yellowtail! The biggest was 20 lbs, definitely the biggest fish that we have ever caught! I caught 2 yellowtail as well, they give a good fight, resulting in a few sore muscles the next day. We picked up a fishing belt for Randy in Cabo as requested & it came in handy for Robin bringing in the "big one". We were able to share our catch & still put a good amount into the freezer. The loins can be thinly sliced, raw & dipped in a Wasabi/soya sauce mixture & eaten - sushimi - actually quite good!

We took in the Mulege version of Carnival & watched the parade. Police car to start, fire truck to finish & maybe 6 floats in between, but fun to watch.

The Mision Santa Rosalia de Mulege church was built in 1776, interesting to visit these very old sites.

We had to outdo our hike from hell in Cabo so we undertook a hike/journey here at the beach. There is a very large hill/mountain above the beach that we climbed, then walked all along the crest before struggling with finding a way down. We dodged cacti & rocks for almost 3 hours but had incredible views of the beach, bay & islands.

We have been kayaking several times, one trip out to an island that took us 1 hour to paddle to. Lots of birds, fish, rays to see & a cute little beach to stop for lunch. Of course the water was calm on the way there, then becomes full of waves & whitecaps on the return, requiring much more effort to paddle - I just kept telling myself that it was good exercise.

Robin felt the urge to help the Mexicans as they extend the roof of the beach restaurant, except when I went to take a picture the only one working was Robin. He even had to supply nails, seems everything is in short supply here.

That restaurant is hopping - on Wednesday they have Happy Hour with 2 for 1 drinks, Friday night is a dinner special then dancing with a DJ, plus a few daily specials. We will need a good exercise routine on our return home!
Another week or so here, then northward. We have calculated the time to get home, still hoping to avoid any snow, but really looking forward to seeing our kids!

Adios amigos!

Slowly heading north

We have been on the move this past couple of weeks. We really enjoyed the beach on the Pacific, listening to the waves & watching the whales. We ventured out before 6:00, still dark, to watch the fishermen launch their boats at Playa Los Lobos. There is no actual boat launch, just beach, so they use a truck to pull & push the 26 ft, heavy open boats into a line along the beach. The fishermen start arriving as it gets light ( the boat moving happens before dawn), they load up their gear and the fun begins! The first boat is quickly pushed into the waves by both the truck & several fisherman (of course Robin was right in their to help & almost got run over!), the boat guns it thru the surf & stops. They attach the 2nd boat to the first with a really long rope & they pull it out thru the waves. This continues, daisy-chain style until all 25 or so boats are out. We had to return in the afternoon for their return-this time the boats aim for the shore, gun the motor & run right up onto the beach. The truck then pulls them up over the hump in the beach for the night & the whole process starts again the next morning! Very exciting to watch & you can buy very fresh fish there if you like.

While at this campsite we stopped at an establishment along the hiway called Art & Beer. We had heard that it was interesting, but didn't really know what to expect. We entered & were greeted by the owners, an older couple, both with long grey hair, he with a long beard ("old hippies") We were to order a drink & then wander thru the art - outdoor sculptures, metal work, paintings. We were a bit shocked at the price of a drink- 160 pesos ($13.50)  for a piña colada or margarita, but we were there. We had one of each - and they kept refilling our glasses until we had each drunk a whole blender full! This is how they do it! Then once we had finally finished they proceeded to pour us each a beer into a red Solo cup "for the road"! Luckily we were camped less than 10 km away!

We left that area & moved to Tecolote beach near La Paz, free camping on the beach. We fished from the kayak, I caught 1 trigger fish & 1 Morray eel, about 2 ft. long. This thing wrapped itself around the hook & the line & tied itself into a knot, Robin had to paddle for shore with me holding the eel at the end of the fishing rod. Once we got to shore we offered a beer to anyone who could retrieve my brand new hook & get this thing untangled. The line got cut, the eel unwrapped, the hook was pried from its teeth & it was returned safely to the ocean! We did some hiking up to some caves, Robin did more landscaping - clearing the rocks & adding sand to our path to the beach. A Mexican family was having a picnic close to us, Robin went over with our last booze bird house to offer them shots of Fireball, they got such a kick out of it that he gave them the bird house. Who knows, next time we come here they may be selling them on the streets along with all the other trinkets!

In La Paz we were parking to go for tacos & we agreed to a car wash on the street - they wash the outside of the car (really good job) for less than $4. A strange sight - entertainment while waiting for the traffic lights to change, of course expecting some cash, unicyclist juggling, at night the jugglers use fire. Robin actually broke down & paid for a haircut, all of $5.

We can remove an item off the bucket list - kayaking with whales! We took our kayak out at Lopez Mateos in a 1 km wide inlet where momma & baby whales hang out. We saw quite a few swimming nearby but of course Robin needs to get as close as possible, so we paddled to head one off. I got a picture of it heading our way then set the camera on movie. The HUGE whale swam up right beside the tiny plastic kayak, looked at us, dove down while lifting her LARGE tail up out of the water, soaking us, causing quite a wave. Luckily this didn't swamp our boat, luckily her tail did not smack us - we were shaking & having palpitations for quite a while! Very cool! Unfortunately my movie was not focused the whole time, surprisingly. The underwater picture is a close up of her face/eye, taken from the video.

We have now moved back to Santispac beach, parked right on the water, set up with outdoor kitchen again, the weather is marvellous, 30 C today. We set up the hummingbird feeder as we always do, this time the hummers found it within 30 min. & a pair of orioles found it within 1 hr. We went out kayaking today & were lucky to be surrounded by a pod of dolphins, amazing! We have met several new folks here, one couple showed us where they pick butter clams right here on this beach, we will have them for lunch tomorrow. The tamale & empanadas guy was here this morning as well as the lobster guy - we bought both, can't turn down a kilo of lobster tails for $25. The restaurant on the beach had 2 for 1 Happy Hour today, so 4 beer for $3.30. Luckily this isn't an every day thing! We hope to spend 2 or 3 weeks here, then take another 3 weeks to get home. Hopefully the snow has melted by then!

Still Living the Dream! Adios for now.