Following the hurricane there were apparently quite a lot of bugs, as you may know, I am not that fond of bugs, particularly the eight legged variety. However, I was assured that there was not that many now. And actually it has not been bad at all. There are many unusual bugs that we had not seen here before - one of the is a very large (about 2 inches long) black cricket. Apparently following the hurricane there were hundreds around and in the house once the sun set; fortunately not that many now. Just enought to be annoying. They are very loud, particularly when in the house. Like most of the houses here Casa Metta is made of concrete block and has a wonderful echoing resonating sound for a chricket to sing in. We could make a killing selling them in China!!
The other interesting insect we have seen lots of is a humming bird moth. They are very amazing insects, look and fly a lot like our hummingbirds at home and like most things in the desert, very very fast. We have lots of pictures of empty space, they are really difficult to capture on film. They have a very long tongue that rolls out to sip the nectar from the flowers. There is also quite an assortment of beetles with beautiful designs on their backs and great long antenna. No, I don't think they were cockroaches, they didn't mind the light and they were very easy to catch.
At the park where we are now there are so many kite boarders - it's a very popular sport here on the East Cape, along with windsurfing of course. They are quite amazing to watch as they leap and twirl high in the air with the big winds that come up here. These of course are not kayaking days and no it's not my next thing to take up, at least not yet . . .
The sunsets here are truly breathtaking. Dawn really does "break" this far south and the sun rises so quickly out of the Sea of Cortez. Mainland Mexico is not visible at all as it is quite a distance away (over 300 kms) so for us Westerners it is quite wonderful to see such a sunrise. The full moon rising out ot the Sea of Cortez is also spectacular. The rise of the full moon was amazing - the sun was setting on one side of us while the moon was rising simultaneously. Two spectacular events!
We are out to dinner tonight with the Bradleys, good friends from Rancho Pescadero, and then tomorrow morning we go north, hopefully as far as Ciudad Constitution.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Casa Metta
What a beautiful spot, a beautiful home, great weather. Its great to be here. The sea has been fabulous, we have had lots of flat water so have been able to do lots of kayaking. The water is so clear on flat days that we can see a multitude of tropical fish right under our boat.
Mike Kate and the grandkids Lindsay (4) and Tristan (2) were here from the 5th to the 15th. We all had a great time, playing, walking the beach, swimming in the little pool; Lindsay is now swimming all on her own! She likes to dive under for things and to sink down to the bottom and sit on your feet! Tristan had a good time in the water too. The two of them get along so well, they played and played all day. They found lots of cool things on the beach including a whole dried trigger fish! That was the best find, but it has to stay here. We visited the neighbors animals with the children and fed them treats. The dogs were more than happy to gobble up their treats and to play ball with the kids but Trish and Trev’s cats scampered away when the kids arrived, only two of the four came out for camerone! And Smokey, well forget him! He didn't show his face!
Mike and Kate did some kayaking and snorkeling while here and they took the kayaks out one day to where the batrays were jumping. They saw literally hundreds of batrays swimming under their boats and watched them leaping out of the water at a very close distance. They were able to get some great pictures. This leaping thing is a very strange thing the batrays do. It sometimes looks like a chorus line with many of them leaping up together and landing with a big slap on the water. This goes on at times day after day and all through the night. When the water is really flat they make a very loud slap, almost like a gun shot! These are not small creatures – their wingspan is between 3 and 4 feet on average so a fairly awesome sight to see at close range.
I started a Spanish class on the 12th for three hours a day with about 6 hours of homework every night. There were a total of 8 in the class and it was only for 8 days, one can do anything for a short period of time right? I learned a great deal, Paulina was a wonderful teacher. There was an exam at the end and I passed. This means I can go on to the second level and spend another 8 days working 10 hours a day/or I fall asleep on Spanish. Not this trip - maybe next year, that was an exhausting 8 days but I think well worth it!
Our neighbors (and friends) Jim and MaryAnne lent us their quad and Lorne and I drove the 6 miles into town. Way cool. I think Lorne is sold on getting one. I had to travel daily with Trevor to town on his quad to attend Spanish lessons; quite a different driver than Lorne! Each day he went a little faster, very fun. Perhaps once Lorne gets more used to it he will find the gas pedal…. Ha.
We have had some great visits with the neighbors here. Some very interesting and lovely people; we feel completely at home in this little neighborhood.
Our friends Ellen and Chris own Casa Metta and they have been so very kind to welcome our use of it even though they will not be here till March 5. I wish we could stay till they get here but we do need to start heading north. Ellen told us that they had a caretaker here who was in the casita (small house) and we could have the big house. Well we did have a bit of a surprise when we arrived here, as the kitchen in the casita had been ripped out and a new one, which was to have been put in months ago, was yet to be completed, or to even have had any workers for quite some time! So that puts Dirk the caretaker in the house with us. Well he sleeps in the casita; and understandably has to cook in the house. Good thing he is such an easy going nice guy.
Tomorrow, Friday, we head to Los Barriles to stay at an RV park in town for a few days then will head north looking for good kayaking. We plan to be home the second or third week of March.
Being without a computer is such a drag I tell you. I only hope we can get things off the hard drive from the fried one.
Mike Kate and the grandkids Lindsay (4) and Tristan (2) were here from the 5th to the 15th. We all had a great time, playing, walking the beach, swimming in the little pool; Lindsay is now swimming all on her own! She likes to dive under for things and to sink down to the bottom and sit on your feet! Tristan had a good time in the water too. The two of them get along so well, they played and played all day. They found lots of cool things on the beach including a whole dried trigger fish! That was the best find, but it has to stay here. We visited the neighbors animals with the children and fed them treats. The dogs were more than happy to gobble up their treats and to play ball with the kids but Trish and Trev’s cats scampered away when the kids arrived, only two of the four came out for camerone! And Smokey, well forget him! He didn't show his face!
Mike and Kate did some kayaking and snorkeling while here and they took the kayaks out one day to where the batrays were jumping. They saw literally hundreds of batrays swimming under their boats and watched them leaping out of the water at a very close distance. They were able to get some great pictures. This leaping thing is a very strange thing the batrays do. It sometimes looks like a chorus line with many of them leaping up together and landing with a big slap on the water. This goes on at times day after day and all through the night. When the water is really flat they make a very loud slap, almost like a gun shot! These are not small creatures – their wingspan is between 3 and 4 feet on average so a fairly awesome sight to see at close range.
I started a Spanish class on the 12th for three hours a day with about 6 hours of homework every night. There were a total of 8 in the class and it was only for 8 days, one can do anything for a short period of time right? I learned a great deal, Paulina was a wonderful teacher. There was an exam at the end and I passed. This means I can go on to the second level and spend another 8 days working 10 hours a day/or I fall asleep on Spanish. Not this trip - maybe next year, that was an exhausting 8 days but I think well worth it!
Our neighbors (and friends) Jim and MaryAnne lent us their quad and Lorne and I drove the 6 miles into town. Way cool. I think Lorne is sold on getting one. I had to travel daily with Trevor to town on his quad to attend Spanish lessons; quite a different driver than Lorne! Each day he went a little faster, very fun. Perhaps once Lorne gets more used to it he will find the gas pedal…. Ha.
We have had some great visits with the neighbors here. Some very interesting and lovely people; we feel completely at home in this little neighborhood.
Our friends Ellen and Chris own Casa Metta and they have been so very kind to welcome our use of it even though they will not be here till March 5. I wish we could stay till they get here but we do need to start heading north. Ellen told us that they had a caretaker here who was in the casita (small house) and we could have the big house. Well we did have a bit of a surprise when we arrived here, as the kitchen in the casita had been ripped out and a new one, which was to have been put in months ago, was yet to be completed, or to even have had any workers for quite some time! So that puts Dirk the caretaker in the house with us. Well he sleeps in the casita; and understandably has to cook in the house. Good thing he is such an easy going nice guy.
Tomorrow, Friday, we head to Los Barriles to stay at an RV park in town for a few days then will head north looking for good kayaking. We plan to be home the second or third week of March.
Being without a computer is such a drag I tell you. I only hope we can get things off the hard drive from the fried one.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Aaaaarrrrggggg
Our laptop has crashed!! Life without a computer is something else - total isolation - totally not connected - I can't remember not having a computer..... We are using a neighbour's old old old laptop and have to go to their house to do it, so its a bit of an interruption in their day; consequently I will not likely be responding much to email or be able to post to my blog frequently. Will, as ever, do my best as I do hate not being connected.
Life at the Casa is well - shorts and ts, bathing suits in the pool, leisurely paddles in the kayak, looking at the multitude of tropical fish in the beautiful crystal clear turquoise water, Its almost as good as snorkeling without getting cold. The water here is a bit on the chilly side when snorkeling even with a wet suit. There are light breezes to slightly cool us so its never too hot. Two delightful grandchildren to play with, a little pool, excellent food and drink, wonderful neighbors with dogs and cats for the kids to visit, what can I say - besides life is good? - fabulous, grand, wonderful? It think its about as good as it gets without a working computer.
We did manage to take the beach road (about 6 km of a one lane packed sand road with a few pullouts) to town and then back on Mex. 1 to Los Cabos to pick up the children. We only met two trucks and had to pull way over, they were very considerate. We almost got stuck in the sand and Lorne drove right over a glass beer bottle and then over a very large boulder. It is a very narrow one lane road with occasional spots called "the slides" by the locals where the road slips away down to the beach. However, the drops are small, only about 20 feet as opposed to I dunno a km? definately to a certain death on the upper road.
We ended up being a bit late to get the kids, it took longer than anticipated and we still had to stop at Costco before getting them and rushing back home before dark. I tell you we took the shortest time ever in Costco (20 minutes) and spent the most money ($500) in order to have enough supplies for 10 days while the kids were here. So yes, we are eating (and drinking) well.
Word from the neighbors is that they are doing actual road work on the upper road with machines. So, perhaps it will be drivable for us to get out of here.
Life at the Casa is well - shorts and ts, bathing suits in the pool, leisurely paddles in the kayak, looking at the multitude of tropical fish in the beautiful crystal clear turquoise water, Its almost as good as snorkeling without getting cold. The water here is a bit on the chilly side when snorkeling even with a wet suit. There are light breezes to slightly cool us so its never too hot. Two delightful grandchildren to play with, a little pool, excellent food and drink, wonderful neighbors with dogs and cats for the kids to visit, what can I say - besides life is good? - fabulous, grand, wonderful? It think its about as good as it gets without a working computer.
We did manage to take the beach road (about 6 km of a one lane packed sand road with a few pullouts) to town and then back on Mex. 1 to Los Cabos to pick up the children. We only met two trucks and had to pull way over, they were very considerate. We almost got stuck in the sand and Lorne drove right over a glass beer bottle and then over a very large boulder. It is a very narrow one lane road with occasional spots called "the slides" by the locals where the road slips away down to the beach. However, the drops are small, only about 20 feet as opposed to I dunno a km? definately to a certain death on the upper road.
We ended up being a bit late to get the kids, it took longer than anticipated and we still had to stop at Costco before getting them and rushing back home before dark. I tell you we took the shortest time ever in Costco (20 minutes) and spent the most money ($500) in order to have enough supplies for 10 days while the kids were here. So yes, we are eating (and drinking) well.
Word from the neighbors is that they are doing actual road work on the upper road with machines. So, perhaps it will be drivable for us to get out of here.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
South to Casa Metta, our Home for a Month
After Saturday night in La Paz we headed to Tecolote, the beach just south of La Paz, rather than drive on a Sunday on Baja, generally not a good idea. We have been told there tends to be copious drinking and driving on Sundays, so a good day to just hole up. Tecolote is a beautiful white sand beach with lots of shells – I know, I think there is something about women and shells – we just have to collect em. As much as I kept reminding myself I already have many containers of shells at home, as much as I walked along doing my best to hold my head up and look into the distance, I kept finding myself finding more treasures along our walks. Even trying to make a deal with myself: nothing in my hands or pockets till on the way back, no matter how pretty…. To no avail; before I knew it I had my hands and pockets full. Of course Lorne will not carry any of my treasures for me; in fact he tries to get me to carry great huge rocks, insisting they are absolutely beautiful and must be carted back, by me. I think he is having me on.
After completely filling the motor home with bags of good things to eat and drink from Soriannos, and CCC, our favourite supermarkets on the Baja, we headed south for the final few hours drive to Los Barriles and our home at Casa Metta for the next month. The road was twisty and narrow – so what else is new you ask? Well we were able to look down on small interesting pueblos and more lush vegetation, palm trees, bougainvilleas if glorious flower; there is definitely water in this area.
Los Barriles was a welcome sight and we could see some of the remains of the damage deal from Hurricane John. The roads through the two arroyos were quite damaged and have not been repaired yet, although there is work on them and there is an alternative road beside the one being repaired.
There are two choices of roads to get out to where we are staying – the paved road through mountain passes that eventually gets to El Cardonel and has a cut off road through the arroyo to Rancho Pescadero where we are located, or the sand Beach Road. We were advised to take the paved mountain road. Oh my goodness….. what a scarey trip!! It’s only about 11 km or so north from Los Barriles on this road – however – it has suffered horrendous damage from the hurricane. Coming this way was a bad decision.
Our first clue should have been when the road crew, who were busy sweeping the road with their new brooms and wearing their brand new safety vests (very unusual to have safety vests on the Baja) looked quite stunned as we drove by. Not a single smile, not a single wave, nada. You have to realize that in Baja, whenever we pass a Mexican they smile and wave; men, women, children – really – everyone does it, and we find that we are cheerfully waving back to complete strangers whenever we pass anyone. As you drive through the little pueblos you are greeted with big smiles and waves from everyone on the street, the truck drivers driving by or passing smile and wave (I wish they would keep both hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road) all the road crews stop working and smile and wave. Even those guys on the telephone poles smiled and waved! BUT – not these guys on this road.
Our next clue – not one single person passed us, nor did we meet anyone on this highway (thank goodness as we were hugging the left side of the road and this is not Britain). Back to this mountain road… I wish I could post pictures – I was trying to distract myself from completely losing it by taking pictures - there were about five places where the road was narrowed to one lane. Why? because the other lane was gone – truly gone – as in down the mountain gone. There was one spot, the very last gruesome piece where it truly looked to me that there was nothing underneath the pavement we were about to go over. The road was so undermined…. I was trying my best to be calm and keep breathing as I demanded that Lorne move over more from my edge – he kept telling me that he couldn’t as there was nothing on his side either ….. now what does that tell you?? I think we are very lucky to be alive.
We successfully made our turnoff (obviously) to cross through the arroyo to Rancho Pescadero (the name of our small community of 8 houses along the beach) however, as we drove on this narrow sandy road throught the arroyo we met two large trucks, one of them the water truck and we knew that at this time of day they could only be heading back to Los Barriles - so they drive that road…. Regularly we find out. And they live. At least so far. HOWEVER – that does not mean that we will drive it. Ever. Again. At least not this trip south…. and certainly not with me in the motor home. What remains to be seen is how on earth we are going to get out of here. I think a helicopter would be good.
At last Casa Metta! Ah what a wonderful sight, we can just relax and enjoy for many days to come. The grandchildren arrive on the 5th (and their parents) for 10 days. That will be fun. We have a little pool (actually a large hot tub) so the kids should have fun with that. Of course there is the ocean at our doorstep as well and low and behold a good effect of Hurricane John is that the beach has returned to sand – the last two years the beach was deep in round boulders, very slippery when getting in and out of the water. Sand is much better.
After completely filling the motor home with bags of good things to eat and drink from Soriannos, and CCC, our favourite supermarkets on the Baja, we headed south for the final few hours drive to Los Barriles and our home at Casa Metta for the next month. The road was twisty and narrow – so what else is new you ask? Well we were able to look down on small interesting pueblos and more lush vegetation, palm trees, bougainvilleas if glorious flower; there is definitely water in this area.
Los Barriles was a welcome sight and we could see some of the remains of the damage deal from Hurricane John. The roads through the two arroyos were quite damaged and have not been repaired yet, although there is work on them and there is an alternative road beside the one being repaired.
There are two choices of roads to get out to where we are staying – the paved road through mountain passes that eventually gets to El Cardonel and has a cut off road through the arroyo to Rancho Pescadero where we are located, or the sand Beach Road. We were advised to take the paved mountain road. Oh my goodness….. what a scarey trip!! It’s only about 11 km or so north from Los Barriles on this road – however – it has suffered horrendous damage from the hurricane. Coming this way was a bad decision.
Our first clue should have been when the road crew, who were busy sweeping the road with their new brooms and wearing their brand new safety vests (very unusual to have safety vests on the Baja) looked quite stunned as we drove by. Not a single smile, not a single wave, nada. You have to realize that in Baja, whenever we pass a Mexican they smile and wave; men, women, children – really – everyone does it, and we find that we are cheerfully waving back to complete strangers whenever we pass anyone. As you drive through the little pueblos you are greeted with big smiles and waves from everyone on the street, the truck drivers driving by or passing smile and wave (I wish they would keep both hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road) all the road crews stop working and smile and wave. Even those guys on the telephone poles smiled and waved! BUT – not these guys on this road.
Our next clue – not one single person passed us, nor did we meet anyone on this highway (thank goodness as we were hugging the left side of the road and this is not Britain). Back to this mountain road… I wish I could post pictures – I was trying to distract myself from completely losing it by taking pictures - there were about five places where the road was narrowed to one lane. Why? because the other lane was gone – truly gone – as in down the mountain gone. There was one spot, the very last gruesome piece where it truly looked to me that there was nothing underneath the pavement we were about to go over. The road was so undermined…. I was trying my best to be calm and keep breathing as I demanded that Lorne move over more from my edge – he kept telling me that he couldn’t as there was nothing on his side either ….. now what does that tell you?? I think we are very lucky to be alive.
We successfully made our turnoff (obviously) to cross through the arroyo to Rancho Pescadero (the name of our small community of 8 houses along the beach) however, as we drove on this narrow sandy road throught the arroyo we met two large trucks, one of them the water truck and we knew that at this time of day they could only be heading back to Los Barriles - so they drive that road…. Regularly we find out. And they live. At least so far. HOWEVER – that does not mean that we will drive it. Ever. Again. At least not this trip south…. and certainly not with me in the motor home. What remains to be seen is how on earth we are going to get out of here. I think a helicopter would be good.
At last Casa Metta! Ah what a wonderful sight, we can just relax and enjoy for many days to come. The grandchildren arrive on the 5th (and their parents) for 10 days. That will be fun. We have a little pool (actually a large hot tub) so the kids should have fun with that. Of course there is the ocean at our doorstep as well and low and behold a good effect of Hurricane John is that the beach has returned to sand – the last two years the beach was deep in round boulders, very slippery when getting in and out of the water. Sand is much better.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
The Big Sting
Friday January 27
Friday morning was beautiful at Santispac! Totally flat sea and no wind. I had a lovely paddle while Lorne got things ready to go. Unfortunately we are feeling compelled to moved along. We met some a delightful couple on the beach - Sandra and Richard Law and their cat Whisky from Osoyoos BC. Lovely people, hope we run into them again.
Didn’t travel far before a big wasp flew in my window, landing on my chair! I successfully dispatched him with our trusty electronic swatter and settled back to writing again when bang bang, I received two sharp stings on my inner thigh! Ouch! I applied sting stop right away and then applied this fabulous German ointment we got in Mexico last year. It went from a large and very sore red welt to two little red dots in short order, and stopped hurting entirely! Quite amazing. I kept applying this ointment the first day and a few times the second. It seemed to be gone so stopped and now (Sunday) it is a large puffy red welt again and hurts. Dang! I’m just so darn delicate.
So, my activity while driving on Friday was to build screens for our windows in the front. Kept me busy for quite some time. Duck tape is amazing stuff. Lorne tells me all kinds of things are made out of duck tape, including ball caps. He wants to make a bet with me about this… somehow I think this is just another of his factoids and I will lose, so I’m not taking him on.
We stopped in Loreto to meet a fellow GMCer that Lorne met on the internet, he and his wife have a house just south of Loreto, next to Loreto Bay developments (this is Butterfield’s project, a man from Victoria). We spent the night just south of Loreto at Porto Escondido at what looked to be a nice RV spot but turned out to be not so great. Driving out of Porto Escondido (its only a few miles off Mex. 1 and on a paved road) we drove over what looked like a tarantula – so of course we stopped, backed up and sure enough it was! It was the biggest dang spider I ever saw! Yuk. It just sat there! So I took some pictures of it – from the safety of the motor home of course. If we ever get to a place with any internet speed and we can upload pictures, I will add them.
Next day we came south to La Paz and stayed at Aquamarina RV Park in town. This is a lovely park on the beach where we have stayed the other times we have been in La Paz. It is operated by a very interesting elderly couple – Richard and May Lou, and is right on the water. They used to have a dock and a very large ship until various hurricanes wrecked them. There is a boat launch tho. Mary Lou grows orchids and their park is filled with beautiful flowering trees as well as palms. Hurricane John this past year did further damage to their trees and they lost half their orchid house. They are such interesting people, we would love to stay and learn more about them. They used to take people touring on their ship, including many oceanographers and biologists on their various ventures.
From La Paz it is just a short drive to Los Barriles and our beautiful Casa on the beach. Casa Metta is owned by our dear friend Ellen and her husband Chris whom we have yet to meet. It is a beautiful home and we are so fortunate to have use of it for the next month.
Friday morning was beautiful at Santispac! Totally flat sea and no wind. I had a lovely paddle while Lorne got things ready to go. Unfortunately we are feeling compelled to moved along. We met some a delightful couple on the beach - Sandra and Richard Law and their cat Whisky from Osoyoos BC. Lovely people, hope we run into them again.
Didn’t travel far before a big wasp flew in my window, landing on my chair! I successfully dispatched him with our trusty electronic swatter and settled back to writing again when bang bang, I received two sharp stings on my inner thigh! Ouch! I applied sting stop right away and then applied this fabulous German ointment we got in Mexico last year. It went from a large and very sore red welt to two little red dots in short order, and stopped hurting entirely! Quite amazing. I kept applying this ointment the first day and a few times the second. It seemed to be gone so stopped and now (Sunday) it is a large puffy red welt again and hurts. Dang! I’m just so darn delicate.
So, my activity while driving on Friday was to build screens for our windows in the front. Kept me busy for quite some time. Duck tape is amazing stuff. Lorne tells me all kinds of things are made out of duck tape, including ball caps. He wants to make a bet with me about this… somehow I think this is just another of his factoids and I will lose, so I’m not taking him on.
We stopped in Loreto to meet a fellow GMCer that Lorne met on the internet, he and his wife have a house just south of Loreto, next to Loreto Bay developments (this is Butterfield’s project, a man from Victoria). We spent the night just south of Loreto at Porto Escondido at what looked to be a nice RV spot but turned out to be not so great. Driving out of Porto Escondido (its only a few miles off Mex. 1 and on a paved road) we drove over what looked like a tarantula – so of course we stopped, backed up and sure enough it was! It was the biggest dang spider I ever saw! Yuk. It just sat there! So I took some pictures of it – from the safety of the motor home of course. If we ever get to a place with any internet speed and we can upload pictures, I will add them.
Next day we came south to La Paz and stayed at Aquamarina RV Park in town. This is a lovely park on the beach where we have stayed the other times we have been in La Paz. It is operated by a very interesting elderly couple – Richard and May Lou, and is right on the water. They used to have a dock and a very large ship until various hurricanes wrecked them. There is a boat launch tho. Mary Lou grows orchids and their park is filled with beautiful flowering trees as well as palms. Hurricane John this past year did further damage to their trees and they lost half their orchid house. They are such interesting people, we would love to stay and learn more about them. They used to take people touring on their ship, including many oceanographers and biologists on their various ventures.
From La Paz it is just a short drive to Los Barriles and our beautiful Casa on the beach. Casa Metta is owned by our dear friend Ellen and her husband Chris whom we have yet to meet. It is a beautiful home and we are so fortunate to have use of it for the next month.
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