Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Baja 2/21/11 Cabo Pulmo







We took a road trip on Monday to Cabo Pulmo, a World Heritage Site. This area has been a fishing village for a long time, and overfishing threatened it's livelihood. Local residents (an extended Mexican family and retired expats) petitioned the government for protection. Environmentalist got involved and finally the area became a World Heritage Site. It is only 1 of 3 coral reefs in Baja and the only living one. It is also a turtle refuge. There are 8 fingers of the reef extending into the bay. It is winter time now and the winds can be pretty fierce; no one else was on the beach while we were there. There is a small hotel, several dive/snorkle/fishing businesses and a couple of small retaurants at the site. Except for a couple of fellows at one of the dive shops, everything else was pretty much closed. However, the beach and water were beautiful. In my opinion, it is sad that so much of the surrounding area is closed to the public; much of the land is private, though I guess if you can get to the beach, it is open to public use. On our way out we took one of the 'roads' provided for public access. We were in our Jeep, and the 'road' was only wide enough for us to go through. If we had met another vehicle of any sort, someone would have had to back up all the way to the road or to the beach. Obviously, "access" was the minimum required. Both sides of the 'road' were fenced with barbed wire. However, once we made the beach, it was open. I expected a World Heritage site to be bigger than this one is. The water area probably is immense that is protected and access with one of the local charter businesses would allow access to see it all. Though there are many signs about the turtle refuge, there was nothing at the site to indicate where or what is being done. And of course, we were there off season, so there was no one around to get further information from. However, it was a beautiful day; notice the "Baja" road that is the last drive into the park, about 9 kilometers. The grader was working as we drove in, which helped on the drive out! I had to take a photo of Senor Chili Pepper sitting on a truck outside 'Nancy's" restaurant. He was ready for business, even if Nancy's wasn't. I hope you enjoy the video. It is a poor reflection of the beautiful turquois water, baby blue sky and those wonderful 'feather' clouds. Another beautiful, windy day in Baja. Remember you can click on any photo to enlarge it. ... Happy trails....




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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Baja hot dog stand dinner

Well, I promised photos of the dinner at the hot dog stand near our park. I wish I had started taking photos sooner. Quickly it was dark, the crowd had gathered and we were chowing down on great food. This 'restaurant' is in a dirt lot next to the family home/yard. The cart and barbecue are there all the time, but the table and chairs come out as dusk approaches. We were lucky, arriving as the tables and chairs were coming out, so we managed a place to sit. Soon there was standing room only - the crowd knew good food was on the way. Because this place has a limited variety of drinks availabe, many folks bring a cooler with their own preferences. It is all outdoors, so the full moon last night made it very nice. The specialty on Friday and Saturday nights is papas rellenos (stuffed potato with steak filling). Other delightful items on the menu were burritos grande, hamburgesses, tacos, and hot dogs of course. Everything we tried was delicious, and reasonably priced... in fact, this is the best deal in town! I know it seems like all we do is eat here in Baja... that couldn't be further from the truth! We eat, kayak, explore, read, take side trips, do internet, and yes, eat some more! Too much fun....Roger and I plan an excursion to Cabo Pulmo, a World Heritage Site south of us. This is an area of fabulous reefs and a turtle refuge I think. We understand it is paved part way, and then washboard dirt for the last 5 or so miles. Another Jeep adventure! Hope to have some great photos next time too. Meanwhile, happy trails....



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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Baja 2/17/11

Well, we've had a week of beautiful weather. We've spent the last couple of mornings kayaking; we've seen dolphins, rays, a whales, as well as some little fishies jumping around in the water. Mike has tried his hand at fishing from his kayak. His paddle provides the 'trolling' part. On Wednesday, after kayaking, we headed south to Santiago for a wonderful lunch outdoors at the Hotel Palomar. I've included some photos here of the lovely setting outdoors that we enjoyed. Elaine had the tour book which had directions to the waterfall. Then we continued out into the countryside to the eco reserve and waterfall out there. This was a true Baja trip, all dirt roads and very little in the way of signs for direction. But we found the place, paid our entrance fee and walked out to where we could see the waterfall. Now most of you know I am not a "high ground" person... I am not about to climb along the face of a cliff over rocks, sand, with a rubber hose for a handrail! I stopped about half way to the waterfall, at a vantage point where I could see the nice waterfall, thank you very much! Roger, Mike and Elaine continued on a way further down the trail. And I will say there were a couple of people at the pool. However, we were not among them. No only does one "crawl" down the cliff face, but then!... one has to crawl back UP! At the entrance to the perserve, there is a little cantina where we stopped for cold drinks before heading back to Los Barriles. It was a very warm day and they were good and cold. We made it back to Los Barriles before dinner time. We know we are on the down side of the clock for our stay here in the sunshine. Have to savor every moment I guess. Our big plans for dinner tomorrow night is the hot dog/stuffed potato stand. We have heard stories about this place every since we got here and have seen it open in the evenings a few times when we've been out and about. I'll put up photos after our visit. Water is still as calm and smooth as bath water today; our first reallllllly calm day... and it's getting very warm! Happy trails....


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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Baja 2/8/11 perfect day at the beach

After too many days of wind and chilly weather, we have calm seas and beautiful warm weather today. Koehns rushed out with kayaks and paddles and hit the water. Pelicans sit on the boat anchored off our beach all the time. I drifted close in my kayak and got these shots. Of course, they flew off when I got too close, and my last shot on the camera is of just the boat. But I did manage to get some close ups, which is great. I took a lot of photos further north on our beach of the homes there. There are some Really gorgeous places. Right now there are several kayaks and divers in the water. Calm seas have brought out the sunbathers too. Just another beautiful day in Los Barriles. We leave for Enumclaw on Thurs and will return here the following Monday. Our daughter in law's mom has passed away and we want to be with them for the services. Enjoy every day - each one is a blessing. Happy trails...


Thursday, February 3, 2011

Baja trip and stormy day







On January 22 Roger and I drove to La Paz for a stay at an RCI resort, La Concha. It is only about 60 miles to La Paz from Los Barriles, so we took the 'road less traveled' and stopped in the village of LaVantana . We found a "Freaky Dog Coffee' place (hardly a 'shop') and stopped for a cuppa. In La Paz, you may remember the Freaky Dog Coffee there in a photo. Today, Feb. 3, we have battened down the hatches, taken down the awning, side awning and pulled the kayaks up from the beach. The sun is out but the wind is blowing like mad, and the surf is rollicking along like mad too! We don't usually have any surf on the beach here to speak of. The wind may blow, making the kiters and sail boarders happy, but no real surf. The word is that we are catching the tail end ( or side ) of the storms in the US. This morning our beach has receded 5-10 ft. I'm told to expect even high surf later this afternoon. So far, this has been a boon for us, as the 5 ft high bank has been smoothed out to a gentle slope. As it happens, we have even a closer 'beach front' than we did when we arrived! I am hoping the video of the surf works! I am including a couple of photos of the beach as well. You will be able to see how far the water has come up at times. This is all amazing as the sun is still shining bright so it's hard to see how this is a 'storm'... not in the usual Northwest sense I guess. When this is over, it will be interesting to see what our 'new' beach looks like. I certainly will not mind if the high bank is washed away... hauling the kayak up that bank was harder than the 1 or 1-1/2 hour paddle.
We also did a one day trip to La Paz (Walmart) and Tecolote', a beach further out on the La Paz penninsula. We dry camped at that beach on our way down with the Baja Winters tour last year. Much to our surprise, there was a pretty good surf there that day. Last year two people stayed the week to kayak while we went on to Cabo; the water was so perfect and it is such a pretty place. We are thinking we will stop there for a few days on the way north this spring. This just proves that any day may be sunny day in Baja, but the wind may be another matter! Still any day in Baja is better than winter anywhere else! Happy trails.....



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