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WHY?????

Skeet/Loreto - 10-21-2012 at 02:55 PM

Please everybody think about "Why they went Baja and Fell in Love with it.??

My Reason; In 1967 I read Ray Cannons's Book the Sea of Cortez.
I could not beleive it, so I took my little Cessna 170 and went to Baja!!! Fell in love with the Sea and the people of Baja.

Bought a Panga in 1972 as well as Property out North of Loreto.

It is the Sea! It is the Land! It is the People!! Sure do miss it as I set here in the Texas Panhandle living my remaining years!!

God Bless youAll

Skeet/Loreto

DENNIS - 10-21-2012 at 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
Please everybody think about "Why they went Baja and Fell in Love with it.??

It is the Sea! It is the Land! It is the People!!

Not to mention the Rite Of Passage from boy to man.....for a mere three bucks.
Ahhhhh......... Bajaaaaaa in the fifties. :biggrin:

Skipjack Joe - 10-21-2012 at 03:25 PM

I was attracted to baja for the adventure more than anything else. An opportunity to live out fanatasies that were within.

24baja - 10-21-2012 at 03:31 PM

For us it was the peace we felt watching the Sea of Cortez, the thrill of what fish you will bring up next along with the fight to wrangle it, the friendly people and the food. OMG the food is phenominal. The desert is a whole other experience.

tripledigitken - 10-21-2012 at 03:33 PM

I had no choice, my parents took me to Ensenada when I was 7 years old for my first visit. I went back as a teenager in 1967 and I'm still going.

Ken

Up to twenty in the 70's

thebajarunner - 10-21-2012 at 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
Please everybody think about "Why they went Baja and Fell in Love with it.??

It is the Sea! It is the Land! It is the People!!

Not to mention the Rite Of Passage from boy to man.....for a mere three bucks.
Ahhhhh......... Bajaaaaaa in the fifties. :biggrin:

Inflation is a btch, aint it Big D? :lol:

Ken Bondy - 10-21-2012 at 05:14 PM

Here are some of my reasons:

"I think I was a Mexican in another life. I have a strangely powerful attraction for Mexico and all things Latin. The attraction is particularly strong for that part of Mexico known as BajaCalifornia. Perhaps it was just proximity; I grew up in the Los Angeles area, less than 200 miles from the Mexican border. I can’t remember exactly how I got interested in Baja (the
other life, maybe?) but I started going to Tijuana shortly after high school.

I am uncomfortable admitting this, but one of the initial attractions I had to Latin culture was bullfighting. I was a huge Hemingway fan and “Death in the Afternoon” was a strong influence. The Latin pageantry, the whole spectacle of the Tijuana “Bullring by the Sea” grabbed me—but eventually the brutality and cruelty of the “corrida” outweighed the fun parts of the afternoon and I lost interest. I do remember loving the cultural shock of crossing the border, the mostly friendly chaos of the Tijuana streets, the drive out Calle Segunda to Playas de Tijuana, the colors, the smells of the mesquite fires. It was amazing that everything could be that different by just passing a few feet over some imaginary line. It was an attraction for me that would last a lifetime.

I made my first trip to the southern part of the peninsula in the late 1960s. It was a fishing trip to the classic “east cape” resort Rancho Buena Vista. On that trip we flew commercially to La Paz, and then took an air taxi flight in a high-wing single (I think it was a Cessna 206 or 207) from La Paz airport to the dirt strip at Buena Vista. The experience was literally lifechanging for me—flying in a small airplane, landing on a dirt strip, the first taste of the Sea of Cortez where the desert just became ocean—the whole “Baja experience” back when it was still young, simple, and pristine. Back then Cabo San Lucas was a dusty little village.

When I got back I started collecting and reading everything I could find on Baja California. I went crazy over Ray Cannon’s classic book “The Sea of Cortez.” Baja would become a major part of my life and experience for the next 40 years; it remains so today.

I learned to fly in the early 1970s and earned my private pilot’s license in 1973. Within a year I had my instrument and multiengine ratings. Baja influenced my decision to take flying lessons. I knew flying would open up my access to the peninsula, making everything easier to get to and in much less time. In 20 years of flying I eventually logged over 1,700 hours,
flying a wide variety of single-engine airplanes (Cessna 150, 152, 172, 177, 182, 210, Beechcraft Bonanzas F33, V35 and A36) and several multiengine airplanes (Beechcraft Travelair and Duchess, Piper Aztec.) In 1979 I bought a beautiful 1963 Beechcraft Baron, and in the next ten years logged over 1,000 hours in it, more than half of my total time. The Baron was like a family member.

My four kids kind of grew up in Baja. They loved Baja and the Mexicans loved them. The kids all thought they were Mexican…eventually that had to be explained. There were several places we particularly enjoyed and visited often—Hotel Punta Pescadero on the “east cape” near the southern end of the peninsula, Meling Ranch in the mountains north of San Quintin, and the cities of Loreto and La Paz."

DENNIS - 10-21-2012 at 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by thebajarunner
Inflation is a btch, aint it Big D? :lol:

So true.

WOW !! cool theard

captkw - 10-21-2012 at 05:25 PM

as a 8 year kid with my 3 other siblings going down past mexico city in a VW bug in 68 mexico is my life !!! its just part of who/what I am!!! but a a traveler since 12/13 I always dreamed about Baja and as a Big time reader of steinbeck,gardner ,zane gray...etc,,when I got DL at 17 headed down and fished and met some of the nicest folk and pretty girls and the fishing was .................I , myself,being this is all I know !! have always thought in spanish and my life is .................lets just say I'm proud to live here and not a gringo or tourest...pura vida mexico !! K&T :cool:

ps..and yes,,the bull fights at a young age did not go good with me and since I was riding my horse to school .. thought of other parts of life !!

[Edited on 10-22-2012 by captkw]

DENNIS - 10-21-2012 at 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ken Bondy
but eventually the brutality and cruelty of the “corrida” outweighed the fun parts of the afternoon and I lost interest.

Not surprised you had that epiphany, Ken. I went through the same adjustment after my first corrida. I couldn't see around the suffering and it just made no sense to me.
Can't say the same about the post corrida fiesta at the Foreign Club. I became an ardent afficionado.

.

[Edited on 10-22-2012 by DENNIS]

DavidE - 10-21-2012 at 05:47 PM

Gee I wonder why. From age 2 to age 8, we had the Pachecos living on one side of us and the Flores on the other. Sixty years ago it wasn't too cool in a middle-class neighborhood to flaunt one's ethnicity. But Carrie Flores used to call little Freddie and myself to lunch of made from absolute scratch tortillas de maize, barbacoa, that wonderful chicken vegetable soup Mexicanos are past masters at cooking. On the other side Mrs Pacheco would prepare cebiche de abulon, paella, and breaded pork chops to kill for. I'll never forget the day Pino showed up in his 1951 Ford pickup filled to absolutely overflowing with tunas de pitahaya. Underneath sprang what I now believe to be pottery jugs filled with mescal but at my age, yuck! I wonder how it got all that through customs.

Coming to México for me was as natural as visiting an adjoining state. At age 17, I was addicted and didn't know it. The days of innocence. LBJ had been in office 7 months. Everyone was teasing me about having to soon register for Selective Service. San Ysidro had 4 US Customs booths. Getting a tourist card was a little harder back then. "How much money you bringing?" was a standard question. "You got thing to sell?" And "Where you go for how long?" "You gotta guns? Bullets?"

Whatever number the highway, through National City was either 2 lane or 4 lane, but undivided. There were no casas de cambios in SanYsidro, and everyone warned us to not fill up after passing through San Diego "Mexican Gas!" they spouted. B.S. in my opinion.

U.S. Customs Officer "You know you're going into Mexico past here. They beat up a bunch of sailors a few days ago and now TJ's off limits. You've been warned".

shari - 10-21-2012 at 06:01 PM

Ken, you truly are my hermano! I feel that same affinity for all things mexican...food, fiesta, musica and the milagros that have happened to me here!

liknbaja127 - 10-21-2012 at 06:13 PM

The people mainly. The kick back lifstyle, never in a hurry in Baja. After my 1st trip back early 90's racing, I still seem to enjoy but less racing, more visiting. Oh & let's not forget the food. And all the new things & places to see. It's always a new adventure in the Baja.

Skeet ?? why? can you not return?

captkw - 10-21-2012 at 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
Please everybody think about "Why they went Baja and Fell in Love with it.??

My Reason; In 1967 I read Ray Cannons's Book the Sea of Cortez.
I could not beleive it, so I took my little Cessna 170 and went to Baja!!! Fell in love with the Sea and the people of Baja.

Bought a Panga in 1972 as well as Property out North of Loreto.

It is the Sea! It is the Land! It is the People!! Sure do miss it as I set here in the Texas Panhandle living my remaining years!!

God Bless youAll

Skeet/Loreto

Ken Bondy - 10-21-2012 at 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shari
Ken, you truly are my hermano! I feel that same affinity for all things mexican...food, fiesta, musica and the milagros that have happened to me here!

Igualmente sis. Here's a little bit more:

"But our favorite place was Punta San Francisquito, “PFQ” for short, a small basic Sea of Cortez resort about halfway down the peninsula on what must be one of the most beautiful
beaches in the world. With a difficult drive on marginal dirt roads it is accessible by land (we have driven in several times in recent years) but it is known primarily as a “fly-in” place. We made over 100 flying trips there from the mid 70s to the mid 90s. We would make it down to San Francisquito for long weekends at least once a month in the summers. We could be there in less than 4 hours from Van Nuys airport, where I kept the Baron. Driving takes two full days. We kept a locker there, with two inflatable boats, scuba tanks, a small compressor, and an ungodly stash of fishing, diving, snorkeling and other beach, camping, and kid gear."

Mexitron - 10-21-2012 at 07:20 PM

Flew into Gonzaga in 1975 with Link Grindle, woo-pah---I was hooked! The stars, desert, Mexicanos, plants---I loved it all.

David K - 10-21-2012 at 07:39 PM

Summer of '65 by Jeep with mom and dad... I was 7 and what an introduction to both Baja and four wheeling on a trip to Gonzaga Bay! That was the start of my lifelong love for the peninsula. The next year was the big adventure of driving to the tip from Tijuana south... taking the new ferry out from La Paz to come home on pavement. In 1966, we had over 700 dirt miles to Cabo San Lucas. Once I had a driver's license I began going without my folks. It's been a great experience to have lived with Baja so much a part of my life.

Skeet/Loreto - 10-22-2012 at 07:04 AM

Landing at the small little strip, taxi to the small Restruant Fuel from a Barrell i San Felipe then.

The People of Loreto Still a best friend after 40 years Alvaro Murrillo Romero, then up to San Nicholas for 4 years with no other Americans around.
Fishing from the Shore taking 25 Lb yellowtail off Shore chasing Sierra.
South to the Isla Sta Catalana, observing the Rattles Rattlesnakes, catching Wahoo, more Lobster than anyone could eat.
Helping Mundo and Rodrigio build my Palapa North of Loreto known as Rancho Sonrisa.

To me it is the Sea and the People .

durrelllrobert - 10-22-2012 at 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Can't say the same about the post corrida fiesta at the Foreign Club. I became an ardent afficionado.

[Edited on 10-22-2012 by DENNIS]

Were they serving the bull's balls or the matadore's?

Iflyfish - 10-22-2012 at 08:56 AM

I had a couple of buddies in third grade, Santa Clara, California, Dewey and Raymond, from Guadalajara. "So your Mexican then Dewey?" "NO!! I am Spanish!!" His mom made the first tortillas I had ever tasted and they were wonderful. Her pasole was to die for, at the time I just thought it was soup. Anyway Dewey's insistence that he was Spanish got me interested in learning more about Mexican people and Culture. The realization that there were other Cultures and ways of being in the world contributed to my interest in Psychology and my eventual career.

I got my first Spanish lessons picking fruit with Braceros, they were faster than lightning and they relegated me to counting buckets of fruit. I swapped my brown paper bag lunch of bologna and chips for a trip to the Taco Truck and I experienced Chile Verde and have never gone back! It was love at first bite! My rudimentary language lessons were composed of "hey, go say this word.......to that guy" and I would and I learned how playful and fun loving these folks were. Such a contrast to my German/Lutheran relatives!! I fell in love with Mexicans. They worked hard and played just as hard. I identified more with the Mexicans than with my other friends.

At 17 my twin brother and I jumped on his 250 Ducati Diana Road Racer and headed south for Mexico. I will never forget my mother standing on the curb, crying, waving good bye to her sons and their childhood. We did not ask for permission, we infomed our parents that we were going. We ended up in Tijuana at the Blue Fox on New Years Eve and beat a hasty retreat when the beer bottles started to fly! We headed south to Ensenada and stayed on the beach where Estero Resort now stands. We were awaken by a wave washing over us in our sleeping bags and to the sight of two hung over college students puking their tequila soaked guts out over what was left of the fire.

We returned to Santa Clara and that stared for us now 50 years of travel to Mexico. My brother became an Anthropologist, area of specialty Mexico, after living with the Mixteca out of Oaxaca and he and I traveled most of the country, taking two and three week trips every year for over 40 years. After working for 19 years in Queretaro my brother now lives in San Miguel de Allende.

There are many Mexico's. Baja is it's own, a wonderland of nature, of endless vistas and beaches, magic cactus, people and places. I recall nights spent on the beaches of Conception throwing phosphorescent sand into the air and stomping the shoreline to watch my footprints glow green while phantom green flashes of fishes scooted away from this intruder. I recall clear nights of stars from horizon to horizon, the Milky Way as thick as skim milk. I recall the fresh tortillas cooked on a flat piece of steel in the hand made sand oven on the beach. I recall the kilos of fresh shrimp off the trawlers I cooked on the beach with butter, garlic, roasted almonds and sherry. I recall catching trigger fish off the rocks and their white, firm flesh fried in butter and garlic! I recall the grand discovery of the Deposito where I could get Pacifico's by the case for 25 cents a bottle! Heaven on the beach!

We spent one week in our motor home in parking lot of the Bahia in Ensenada ensconced with the revelers from the annual Regata, fishing for White Sea Bass and joshing with the amateur matadors who frequented the bar. Worst bull fight ever as these guys got their asses kicked by the local bulls, who won that day.

Speaking of Bull Fights my first was in Tijuana where I saw El Cordobés, one of the greatest matadors of all time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cordob%C3%A9s
This amazing matador moved like Mikhail Baryshnikov and was one of the bravest men I have ever seen. I did not know that I was witnessing bull fighting at it's zenith, how could I know, it was my first fight! I have since been to a number of bull fights and have always been disappointed, there simply in my book was never a better matador than El Codobes. I know, I know, it's brutal etc. but I cherish this memory with so many of the other wonderful sights and sounds of Mexico. If you are interested in what all the fuss is about you might want to see this film of El Cordobes, watch the whole thing, trust me, it gets better toward the end. I learned my the meaning of Huevos from an aficionado sitting next to us at this first bull fight of my career.

Over and over I have returned and will return to Baja and the places and people I love.

The magic of Baja is still alive and well. These are the good old days amigos!

Iflyfish

scouse - 10-22-2012 at 09:05 AM

I've lived in four countries and four US states. Travelled on all the continents (except the frozen ones) From up in the Himalaya to down in Death Valley. Never got to Mexico except the airport at Mexico City on my way to our mosquito days in Costa Rica before it became the gringo tax haven.

Then one day while sitting in our office up north of Seattle watching 'lumps' of rain going horizontally by the window, my wife got on line and found 2 weeks of timeshare in Cabo for 10 years, cost 2K.

Love at first sight. The condo was just the bedroom the rental car was our way to visit BCS and I'm 'almost' ashamed to say we beat it up unmercifully with the travelling of the beaten track.

Next time we drove down 8,000 miles from North WA and back. Lots of side roads to distract you from the highway. Can't drive this year but I will next year.

Now I'm looking out of the window and it's raining again but in less than four week we'll be winging south again. I'm just wondering why?

Why I had to wait until I was an old fart before I discovered this place. And feeling envious of you guys.

Life happens while you're making plans!!!!!

pappy - 10-22-2012 at 10:46 AM

1968 camp trip with parents . i was 11 . everything consumed me- the air, the sea, the people, the food, the frontier atmosphere...hooked ever since...

Ateo - 10-22-2012 at 10:50 AM

1984......Estero Beach with my parents. Took the Zodiac out to Todos Santos. Ate food. Boogie boarded. Even saw my first real set of bare breasts that trip. I was just a young kid..............

David K - 10-22-2012 at 11:16 AM

Very cool story Frank!

DanO - 10-22-2012 at 01:54 PM

I think it's a combination of things, but food always seems to factor into every experience that I want to remember and re-live. During Christmas of 1969, when I was 9, I rode down the peninsula in the cabover bunk of my dad's camper. Along the way I, among other things:

-- Sat huddled in a blanket by an ancient wood stove in a shack we camped next to at La Bufadora, while the cold wind howled like a banshee outside and an impossibly wrinkled old woman cooked spicy chorizo tacos on top of the stove.

-- Had my first steaming hot churro the next morning, with a cup of hot chocolate in the brilliant morning sun.

-- Froze my butt off on the beach at San Quintin the next night and had my first shot of tequila, from a gallon jug ("here, try this kid, it'll warm you up").

-- Dug up butter clams with my toes at El Requeson and ate steamers until I couldn't move.

-- Dug up pismo/chocolate clams with a pitchfork somewhere north of there (and found out that pismos make great squirt guns when you purge them in fresh water).

-- Had my first oyster, off the rocks at Playa Coyote where we camped.

-- Bought fruit and vegetables for pennies from a burro-drawn wagon, including an avocado the size of a canteloupe that I ate for lunch with a sprinkle of salt and a squeeze of lime juice.

-- Helped my dad make grouper-head soup and laughed myself silly when one of the women in our group found an eyeball in her bowl (which my dad had intentionally placed there), threw the bowl in the air and ran screaming from the camp.

-- Watched my dad motor out to a trawler in Bahia Coyote with a jug of tequila and a couple of Playboy magazines and motor back half an hour later with about ten pounds of live shrimp (saying, "is this a great country, or what?").

We went back in a bigger RV in 1972 and went down to La Paz, and then over to Mazatlan on the ferry. On that trip I caught my first yellowtail, had my first taste of fresh coconut juice, and had my first (and only) bowl of turtle soup.

I didn't go back again until 1986, when a long weekend at La Fonda brought back memories of my two earlier voyages and for my wife, her memories of family vacations in San Felipe in the 60s and 70s. (This was back when La Fonda had a burro and a funk factor of 11 on a scale of 10, which we loved, except for the time my wife's black bean soup came with a hunk of pork that still had the skin and hair attached to it, yikes!) We decided to spend as much time as we could south of the border and the rest, as they say, is history.

[Edited on 10-22-2012 by DanO]

BajaGuera - 10-22-2012 at 02:05 PM

My first overnighter at La Bufadora - when there was no light pollution. Looked up and asked my husband about that hazy cloud in the middle of the sky. He said "Honey, that's the Milky Way"...

vgabndo - 10-22-2012 at 02:57 PM

TJ was the obligatory liberty town for under-aged Jarheads from Pendleton. Starting in '62. Between then and '68 my Mexico was a mix of TJ and San Luis, Sonora. After the Marines a a few years of college I was back in SoCal. and started being a motorcycle mechanic. Through the guys at a bunch of shops, especially Lucky Yamaha in El Cajon, I got hooked up with dirt biking in the Sierra Juarez. Being a NorCal guy, I fell in love with the Mexican pine forests, and the Mexicans I met never failed to interest me.

It wasn't until the '90s that I got married and we drove to Belize for our honeymoon. The runs across the mainland for a two dozen days, very short on Spanish, and long on insecurity, will never be forgotten. In '93 we started building our casita in the arroyo at San Nicolas. Spending just a month each year there for 15 years, among neighbors who welcomed us WARMLY each year, grew something in me that was perfectly natural. En mi corazon soy un parte Mexicano. I now know this is true. I love how it puts a smile on my new friend's faces when I say it. I'm proud to say it. I have a lot to learn from my Mexican neighbors. Becoming conversant in a second language after age 50 is one of my proudest achievements. It has also been one of the most life-expanding.

I've only been to 10 countries other than the one I was born in. If I only get to go to Mexico from here on out, esta bein.

Iflyfish - 10-22-2012 at 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vgabndo
TJ was the obligatory liberty town for under-aged Jarheads from Pendleton. Starting in '62. Between then and '68 my Mexico was a mix of TJ and San Luis, Sonora. After the Marines a a few years of college I was back in SoCal. and started being a motorcycle mechanic. Through the guys at a bunch of shops, especially Lucky Yamaha in El Cajon, I got hooked up with dirt biking in the Sierra Juarez. Being a NorCal guy, I fell in love with the Mexican pine forests, and the Mexicans I met never failed to interest me.

It wasn't until the '90s that I got married and we drove to Belize for our honeymoon. The runs across the mainland for a two dozen days, very short on Spanish, and long on insecurity, will never be forgotten. In '93 we started building our casita in the arroyo at San Nicolas. Spending just a month each year there for 15 years, among neighbors who welcomed us WARMLY each year, grew something in me that was perfectly natural. En mi corazon soy un parte Mexicano. I now know this is true. I love how it puts a smile on my new friend's faces when I say it. I'm proud to say it. I have a lot to learn from my Mexican neighbors. Becoming conversant in a second language after age 50 is one of my proudest achievements. It has also been one of the most life-expanding.

I've only been to 10 countries other than the one I was born in. If I only get to go to Mexico from here on out, esta bein.

Equalamente amigo! Equalamente!

En mi corazon soy un parte Mexicano

One of my favorite Baja memories is you and I playing air guitar with our fishing rods to Credence Clearwater!! Priceless!!

Love these stories.

Iflyfish

Iflyfish - 10-22-2012 at 03:58 PM

Waxing nostalgic I recall a trip to San Felipe in the late 60's. 112 in the daytime so drove the VW bus at night, firewall blazing against my bare legs. Had a Latvian girlfriend at the time, wanted to go down to Ensenada but turned back at the border...."donde es Latvia?" Well, impossible to explain the Buffer States of Europe pre WWII so we decided to blow down to San Felipe. I recall the dirt streets and the pool hall with out any windows. I recall helping a family unload their turtle boat in the 90 degree water. Went to get a beer at the pool hall and my blood pressure dropped off the chart and I passed out back to the adobe wall. Went fishing there for Totuava and landed a 25 pounder.

I thought I was in heaven, the boat was one of those African Queen wooden hull models with 6cyl auto motor cooled with sea water, radiator hose with a hole that blew a continuous geyser as we motored out to the fishing grounds, bilge awash with sloshing sea water, perfect!

There was the usual banter and wager on first, biggest, most etc. and having sampled some outrageous herbs with my tacos and when it came to weigh in time I got locked into a time warp and couldn't concede to the other guy who landed the twin to my fish. The captain of course did not have a scale big enough to weigh the fish so we had the deck hand cut them in two and weigh both halves. I won, I think and laugh each time I recall this adventure. The fish was excellent eating and enjoyed by myself and the turtle fishing family.

I also was very excited as there was a 50 gallon drum onboard to throw the empties in. I thought this was Amazing and that ecological consciousness had finally hit Mexico. We fished and drank beer the entire trip and when we hit anchored the deck hand unceremoniously dumped the drum of empties overboard!! One can get ahead of things in ones mind eh?

Iflyfishnostalgicly

MMc - 10-22-2012 at 04:06 PM

In 1960 we camped at Estro Beach, I was fishing and hooked a perch and a sand shark on the same cast, never did that with trout.
-- Spent a lot of weekends in La Bufadora doing things we couldn't do at home.
-- San Felipe and dirt toys.
-- Got my license, We would drive to TJ for the night and did all the other things couldn't do at home.
-- Patrolling surf spots all over Baja.
-- Getting stuck and getting helped by great people.
-- Driving To Santa Roslia by myself to deliver a sewing machine to a family friend. First long solo trip in high school.
-- Surfing my first BIG WAVE
-- Taking a girl friend on her first camping trip. Driving same girl to Cabo for our honey moon.
-- Watching the slab being poured for the bar at Scorpion Bay, wondering why they wanted pave paradise?
-- My vacation in hell.
-- Turning 50 beach Party in front my my house with a bunch of friends.
-- Meeting and knowing a bunch of legends in the off road and surf worlds.
--Countless Waves and Fish
Baja has and will fill my life great memories and learning experiences.
It is a cherished part of my life. :yes:

DanO - 10-22-2012 at 04:07 PM

IFF's post reminds me of a story my dad used to tell about the time he spent sailing around the SOC during the early 80s (and calling me periodically to tell me that I was an idiot for staying stateside and working for a living, which was true). At one point he had been out for a couple of weeks and needed to stock up on supplies, so he sailed into La Paz. During the time at sea he had dutifully bagged up all of his trash, and took it with him when he went to check in with the Capitano del Puerto. The guy at the CDP's office said he'd be happy to take care of the trash, and then picked up the bags and heaved them into the water.

[Edited on 10-22-2012 by DanO]

windgrrl - 10-22-2012 at 04:08 PM

Me gusta el viento.

Skeet/Loreto - 10-22-2012 at 04:14 PM

Fantastic "Why's"

Keep it up!

There i was living at San Nicholas going out to Isla del Infonsa, diving, snorkling and fishing.
I watched and learned much about the Survival of the Fitist from watching the various levels of Fish around the isla.
Would go to filet the yellowtail and have the pelicans helping me get rid of the Skins. What an experience in Life!!

Landing at the small airstrip called Pulpito living with Enrique and his family, shoting dove and having Rosvella bringing them back ready for the Skillet for a great meal. Great People!!

DianaT - 10-22-2012 at 04:28 PM

Well, I hated Baja the first time I visited---I could not wait to get out of there. I was five years old and my parents took us to Tijuana and the bullfights. It was awful and why they decided it would be OK for us to be there, I don't know.

I remember it so well. There was one bull who did not want to fight and they kept sticking him with whatever those things are and I just cried and cried as he just kept bleeding more and more. I just hated seeing those bulls killed --- I was hoping at least on bull would win!

Obviously, my feelings about Baja have changed and for me, it is all about the people. I will admit that while I love Baja, a big part of my heart is and always will be on the mainland--- The Colonial Highland cities, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Vera Cruz, Chihuahua and more. They are all very different and all quite wonderful. But, Baja is closer and also very different.

DanO - 10-22-2012 at 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DianaT
I remember it so well. There was one bull who did not want to fight and they kept sticking him with whatever those things are and I just cried and cried as he just kept bleeding more and more. I just hated seeing those bulls killed --- I was hoping at least on bull would win!

I've seen a bull fight that the bull won, and it wasn't pretty. It was in Madrid, Spain, at the Las Ventas corrida, and the matador was the headliner, some fairly famous guy. The crowd was unhappy because the two opening acts had made messes of their bulls while basically running away from them, so they were roaring for this guy to stand his ground. He did, and on one pass the bull hooked him by the groin, slammed him down and plowed the ground with him for a few seconds until the toreadors were able to separate them. I never found out if the guy lived, but if he did, he'd better have already had children. Anyway, bullfights are brutal and I don't think I need to see another one, but I did appreciate the sheer spectacle of the whole thing.