Janice
Junior Nomad
Posts: 78
Registered: 10-19-2003
Location: Owens Valley/Alpine - California
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Trip report Nov. 16 - Dec. 5 (part 3) Long
Tuesday we packed quickly and moved down the coast toward Loreto. We stopped along the way at some of the other camps to see if any were more
protected, for future knowledge. There seemed to be less wind at Burro, but it may have been that the wind was subsiding somewhat. Requeson was a
good stop for the dogs, as they ran along the spit between the two beaches and chased seagulls into the surf. Slimy and sandy, they were loaded up
for the trip south, happy to have had their moment in the sun and surf. That stretch of beach south of Coco's is some of the most beautiful in all of
Baja. We discussed the possibility of it someday being developed and hope that day never comes.
Once in Loreto, we picked up a few more pesos at the ATM, being overly cautious now, then a few more items at the super Mercado before going to the
Cafe Ole for lunch. We have eaten here before and found it to be both satisfying and reasonably priced. Rich ordered the fish taco plate while
Janice tried the machaca burrito plate. Both dishes were quite tasty. We sat there on the patio of the cafe and enjoyed a few moments watching the
activity around us. Loreto is one our favorite cities and since we are not city folk it is interesting to like it as much as we do. Rich still claims
this is the place where he wants rent an apartment for two years and write a book.
We then pressed on for our southernmost destination of this trip, a small town north of La Paz. We reached the shore after about 15 miles, but the
pueblo was still further down the coast. It was a beautiful sight, blue green waters, sandy beaches and offshore islands, surrounded by the
impressive arroyos and crags of the Sierra Gigante. The town itself did not consist of much, a small school, two churches, store, restaurant and a
handful of modest homes.
We drove down to the beach to find a campsite, and had to lock in the hubs and let air out of the tires. We found a nice spot under a large tree just
up from the beach. We had neighbors camping in a 4x4 truck and pop-up camper just down the beach a short distance. We soon met our neighbors, Chuck
and Judy who came over to say hello. They were followed by a small group of Mexican kids who followed Judy around as if she were the pied piper. We
quickly discovered that Judy is well traveled in Mexico, but is also fluent in Spanish and thought far enough ahead to bring along toys and cookies to
pass out as small gifts to the children of the village. Naturally this made her very popular.
A short time later, two ladies from the village came by walking their dogs along the beach and stopped to say hello, or actually "hola" since neither
of them spoke a word of English. Alma and Leona were very cordial and invited us to come to their home "mannana". There was also a young man of
about 16 years old named Jesus who stopped by and stood around not saying much. It was a little unnerving at first and we wondered if he was going to
ask us to pay for camping on "his" beach, but we figured he was just curious of the gringos and he was very shy. This is our fourth trip to Baja and
we are accustomed to visiting places where the locals are used to tourist visiting their town but being greeted by the natives as people who are
simply visitors and are therefore very interesting was a new experience that we found very refreshing.
Chuck and Judy offered us a margarita, to which Rich accepted and they came by to visit for a bit. We sat around after a simple dinner and enjoyed a
very soothing tropical breeze, which wafted in off the Sea of Cortez. While it was still light, Rich noticed the unmistakable tracks of Ghost Crabs
and Land Hermit Crabs, both of which are clear indicators of a tropical marine environment. Just before turning in Rich made a short expedition to
the waters edge and came back to camp carrying a single medium sized Ghost Crab of which he seemed very proud because this proved that there were many
more interesting encounters with tropical creatures ahead.
Wednesday morning we awoke in a virtual paradise. The sun rising over the Sea, a gentle breeze blowing in through the open window and the variety of
bird-life around us. We saw Osprey, bright red Cardinals, Cactus Wren, hummingbirds, some very petite doves and the usual pelicans, frigate birds and
gulls all going about the business of making their living, all of this presented a visual feast for even us non-birders. The sole industry in the
village seems to be harvesting the bounty provided by the sea and the numerous pangas were setting off from the beach before the sun had risen.
Chuck and Judy let us know that they were going out for a snorkel but we opted to pass and instead take an expedition to the tide pools to enjoy
which turned out to be a minus tide. We saw an amazing array of what Rich's marine science professor described as the treasures of the tide pools.
What we discovered was that these were not ordinary Pacific tide pools, but instead an exposed coral reef. The collection of exotic tropical animals
was truly mind blowing. We saw several species of sea urchins with spines ranging from very short to in some cases over four inches long. At one
point we noticed an animated pile of rocks. Janice asked Rich what it was and he exposed a tropical Flower Urchin that covers itself with small
rocks. We placed it back in the water and marveled over it as it proceeded to again cover itself with rocks using its tiny sucker feet.
We saw numerous starfish of every imaginable color. We saw the Crown of Thorn starfish, which Rich had never seen outside of a book before. As the
name implies, it is covered with spiny thorn-like projections and we wisely determined not to molest it, as the thorns can give a painful wound. We
saw soft corals, rock-encrusting corals and reef-building corals. The highlight for Janice was the Chocolate Chip starfish, which is orange with
brown spines. In the tide pools swam miniature versions of all the reef fish in neon colors and positively swarming in some pools. Rich decided to
turn over a rock and was rewarded with very large Brittle Stars, which he handled carefully before placing them back and returning the rock to its
original place.
In Steinbeck's book, "The Log from the Sea of Cortez", he describes his first experience with the tide pools in the Sea of Cortez as being "ferocious
with life", this was our experience too. Rich was like a kid in a candy store (tropical fish store). The neighbors had joined us and Rich took
considerable pleasure in acting as interpretive guide for this expedition. As the tide started to come back in we returned to camp and everyone was
clear in the sense that we had experienced something wonderful.
After returning to camp we were soon visited by a herd of goats shepherded by two thin dogs of unremarkable breed. We were surprised to find that the
dogs interacted with the goats in a manner which indicated that they were a part of the herd, and not just there to do a job. They came around the
dunes and both dogs and goats stopped to stare at the gringos and the gringo dogs that were barking their fool heads off. We found out later that the
locals will introduce the dogs to the herd as puppies and they are raised with the goats, even drinking the goat?s milk. All to bond them with the
herd, therefore producing a very protective goat herder that no human will ever need to watch over.
We were then invited to join Chuck and Judy on their trip into town. We visited the tienda, a relatively new and modest establishment that was
surprisingly well supplied. We picked up a few items then asked at the store for directions to Alma's home. It just so happened that Alma's niece
was there to provide us a guide through the maze of homes to her aunt?s house. As Judy pointed out, everyone seems to be related to someone else in
the town. We passed by Leona's home first and she provided an escort to the front gate. Alma seemed pleasantly surprised to see us there and invited
us to sit down and visit. We stayed for a short time, meeting her two daughters Noamie and Cynthia. She also brought out a photo album to introduce
us to the rest of her family. Son, husband, sister and mother were all familiar to us by the end of the visit.
We said our good-byes and headed back to camp making a detour through the dunes and by a house where Judy had learned the man living there had gone
out of town and left a young boy to care for his dog. We were pleased to find that the dog had water, which he did not have earlier. Judy imparted
with several dog biscuits, which she seemed to have an endless supply of in her pockets, and we moved on. At this point a gray kitten of perhaps six
months came out and howled at us and began to follow us back to camp. It seems as if the kitten was not only hungry but also lonesome for human
companionship. Both Judy and Janice fed the poor waif and she proceeded to adopt us for our short time there. It was an early evening with soup on
the menu for dinner before we turned in for the evening.
Thursday morning we were both still feeling a little under the weather, but decided that nothing would keep us from snorkeling out to see what there
was to see.
We waited a few hours before venturing out, following Chuck and Judy, as they made their way north along the shore. The water was warm but we decided
to wear wetsuits in case we wanted to stay out longer. What we found underwater was amazing. Wildly colored fish swimming through coral encrusted
rocks and coral heads while Sea Fans waved in the current. We began trying to identify the different species of fish we were swimming with and here is
a partial list of what we saw: Reef Coronet fish, Burr fish, Bull?s-eye Puffer, Porcupine Puffers, Speckled puffers, Balloon fish, Blue chin Parrot
fish, Cortez Angel fish, King Angelfish, Cortez Round Stingrays, several kinds of wrasse including the Cortez Rainbow Wrasse, and Mexican Hogfish,
Cortez Damselfish, Giant Damselfish, Mexican Goatfish, Butterfly fish, Graybar Grunt, Yellow fin Mojarra, Tinsel Squirrelfish and the usual snapper
and Sergeant Majors. There were lots of groupers, basslets, gobies and various damselfish we could not identify but it didn't matter.
It was like swimming in the best tropical aquarium imaginable. Rich loves the Caribbean because of the variety of tropical reef fish but also because
Pacific reefs have a wider variety of fish, many of which come to the Sea of Cortez, he was stoked. He even managed to corral a porcupine fish long
enough to get it to puff up like a spiky balloon (something he had always wanted to do). Janice got seasick as she normally does in the tidal surge
and had to head back after about 20 minutes, but the others stayed out for close to an hour. We later regretted the fact that we only had gone out
once during the time we spent at this place but vowed to return for a longer stay another time.
We spent the rest of the afternoon on siesta before heading north along the shoreline to explore the rest of the immediate beach during low tide. The
dogs had fun chasing the pelicans and fishing in the shallows while the humans found even more coral reef and more exotic tropical sea life in the
tide pools. This was to be our last night here so we decided to burn the rest of our 4x4's that we had acquired near Santa Rosalillita and invited
the neighbors to join us. We enjoyed one more night visiting with these fine folks and took another stroll on the beach to see the "crab show" before
turning in for the night.
Friday morning we awoke and began to slowly pack up. Rich was still feeling a little queasy, so we did not set our sights too far down the road. We
took some final pictures, said good-bye to Judy and Chuck, talked ourselves out of bringing "Miss Kitty" home with us (even though she kept trying to
stow away in the van) and headed out. Our neighbors were leaving too but probably would have stayed a little longer if the tienda had purified water
for sale. We vowed to send them an email and call if we were in the neighborhood. The drive out was uneventful but we did stop a few times to let
the dogs out and take a few pictures. When we reached Loreto we searched out the campground that we had stayed at previously and set up camp.
Rich, Janice & Pooches
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Tucker
Senior Nomad
Posts: 664
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: El Centenario, BCS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Janice
We then pressed on for our southernmost destination of this trip, a small town north of La Paz. We reached the shore after about 15 miles, but the
pueblo was still further down the coast. It was a beautiful sight, blue green waters, sandy beaches and offshore islands, surrounded by the
impressive arroyos and crags of the Sierra Gigante. The town itself did not consist of much, a small school, two churches, store, restaurant and a
handful of modest homes.
I'm curious as to what town this was? |
\"I think it would be a good idea.\"
-- Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization
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Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
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Some of us can go to places that seem to have everything and see little; others can go to places that have limitations and see everything...
Great story...write on!
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