| Pages:
1
2
3
4 |
Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
Member Is Offline
|
|
No such thing as life without risks. We just make our evaluations of risks, select those we find apparently acceptable and live with the results.
You can't spend your life in a closet. While I certainly hear Don's concerns for you and your children, Baja is not a confrontational place,
particularly in the outback. We need to see both sides.
|
|
|
Debra
Super Nomad
Posts: 2101
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
Member Is Offline
|
|
That is sooooo true
And I'm not a dumb woman, my instints are pretty good and I rely on them. The way I feel is that I'm much more likely to have a problem in the
States..., it doesn't make much sence for a Mexican to sit out in the middle of nowhere in the hot desert waiting for someone to stop so they can rob
them. Criminals are lazy, they would be much more likely to hang out on a street corner in a city waiting for a drunk gringo to wander by than get
off their butts and sit waiting for me to stop by 500 hundred miles from the border.
|
|
|
Tucker
Senior Nomad
Posts: 664
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: El Centenario, BCS
Member Is Offline
|
|
Are you sure
it was the 21st you picked up the hitch-hiker? On Wednesday the 21st I picked up a young man in Santa Rita (south of C. Constitucion). Seemed very
spiritual, only food I had was pretzels, he crossed himself when I gave him some. He was headed to San Jose with no money. We didn't talk much, my
van was limping so bad I was a little uptight. I let him off in El Centenario and gave him a hundred pesos. He placed his hands together and bowed.
To bad I didn't ask his name.
\"I think it would be a good idea.\"
-- Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization
|
|
|
Debra
Super Nomad
Posts: 2101
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
Member Is Offline
|
|
Tucker (oh my GOSH!)
I'm pretty sure of the date. And it does sound like the same guy! After I'd stopped by Mike and Maryann's house on the way home, Mike commented that
it might have been better if I hadn't picked him up at the Bahia juntion and left him at the Santa Rosalittia cut (more traffic at Bahia), I thought
about it later and remembering what he had said about never being down Mex 1 before I worried abit, but, he was gone when I came through on the return
trip to Bahia, I figure (wishful thinking on my part?) that it's probebly easier to get a ride the farther south you get? therefore he may have gotten
to you in the same day. He was, as you said very spirtual, very polite...maybe in his late 20's or early 30's, he mentioned to me he had one son, I
bet that it was the same guy, glad to hear (if it was him) that he made it that far that day.
|
|
|
Tucker
Senior Nomad
Posts: 664
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: El Centenario, BCS
Member Is Offline
|
|
It fits, except for the day
I left San Ignacio fairly early on the 21st, so it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for him to have passed me.
Anyhow...........great trip report, beats my 'point A' to 'point B' excursions.
\"I think it would be a good idea.\"
-- Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization
|
|
|
Debra
Super Nomad
Posts: 2101
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
Member Is Offline
|
|
Thank you for the trip report comment
I could be wrong on the date, it wasn't until Vanessa (Doc.s daughter) got back from TJ that I knew for sure what the date was (and that was several
days later, I had to ask  )
It does sound like the same guy, I hope so, if it was he was very close to home.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65178
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
July 22nd entry: Dick Daggett
Here I am Debra... I had to go out of town last night before I could post this... http://community-2.webtv.net/matomi2004/daggett
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65178
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
or here that photo is opened...
|
|
|
Sallysouth
Super Nomad
Posts: 1835
Registered: 10-9-2003
Location: Capo Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: missing Baja...
|
|
Great stuff!
I'm so glad I asked about your trip! My computer has been on the fritz since the day I asked you or I would have read sooner! There is more,yes? Sally
|
|
|
Debra
Super Nomad
Posts: 2101
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
Member Is Offline
|
|
Yes there is more
I'll try to get to it tonight.....
|
|
|
Bedman
Senior Nomad
Posts: 523
Registered: 9-4-2002
Location: Orange County, CA.
Member Is Offline
|
|
Debra.....
......a wonderful read. I have to agree with Mike and all the others, you've captured the simplicity and adventure of traveling Baja. Straight to the
core of the daily events. From the adult perspective right down to the grandkids and their incessant questions.
Thank you for a most entertaining read. Now get back to work and tell us more.
Bedman
|
|
|
elizabeth
Senior Nomad
Posts: 742
Registered: 7-30-2004
Location: Loreto, BCS
Member Is Offline
|
|
Debra-
Your report has been fun to read. I've really enjoyed it.
You commented on the dead squid. "There are hundreds of dead Giant Humbolt (sp?) Squid at the tide line, I ask Doc. (later) why that happens, no one
seems to know, best guess it that they get lost for some reason and beach themselves. (I learn later from a fellow camper, a vet...that he thinks they
are spawing similar to what salmon do here up north)"
We saw lots of dead squid around Isla Coronado while headed in and out for diving this July, and on the beach at Coronado. The stench was pretty
unbearable at the western end of the island. I got curious...yep they do spawn and die...
Here's a quote from eebweb.arizona.edu/marina/gulf_ca/invert
"The Humboldt squid, Desidicus gigas, is abundant in the Sea of Cortez where they migrate to spawn and die. They grow to at least 13 feet in
length and may weigh up to 100 lb. They feed at the surface at night and will not hesitate to attack divers that dare to swim amongst them. Their
suckers are toothed so they will cause circular abrasions on one's skin if they wrap their arms around an arm or leg. Alex Kerstitch was attacked by
a large Humboldt squid who stole his dive computer and neck chain wile filming the Nature documentary "Shadows in a Desert Sea"."
Probably more than you wanted to hear about squid!!!! And just imagine some squid swimming around with a dive computer checking his depth and water
temp!
|
|
|
Debra
Super Nomad
Posts: 2101
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
Member Is Offline
|
|
July 23rd.
I wake early (kids still sleeping)
I see a Panga come into Camp, no one is on the beach, (no show? late?) The Pangalero goes back out and runs around, about an hour later a Mexican
family starts assembleing on the beach (the Pangalero stays north) I watch, more Mexicans show, Pangalero still not making a move to come in. MORE
MEXICANS SHOW! I sit and count, 17! including several children under 7 (or so) and 2 "babes-in-arms" Several fishing poles and not a life jacket
among them! I watch in amazment and worry, I say a prayer to St. Christopher (I'm not a good enough Catholic the remember the patron St. of idiots)
The Pangalero picks them up.
Dolphins come into the bay, dozens, no further that just beyond Doc.s boat, they are feeding but a few jump and spin just for my amusment I'm sure.
I think about waking the kids, but, I figure by the time I get them up the Dolphins will be gone, besides, they got to see some while out with Phil
and Corrie's family the other day. They also got to see a Manta Ray fly out of the water. I've never seen that! They probebly need the sleep more.
Wow! I see the panga come back with (I think) all aboard, I breath a sigh of relief. I can see weather building at the Islands (I'm sure the
Pangalero knows better than I)
Payton and Brendan decide to tidy up camp (I haven't been able to move very well today, back again) They do a very good job, Brendan is now
sneaking up on birds with the binoculars (I smile to myself watching him and remembering he and Mike H. doing the same thing a couple of years ago),
Side note here: In the "you haven't lived catagory" until you watch Mike H. and Brendan (then I think about 8 or 9) on their bellys crawling, and
crawling (for about an hour) sneaking up on birds to get a better look. Mike wrote a story about it, maybe he can be talked into posting it again?
"Brendan's Song" it was a very sweet story, even my macho husband had tears in his eyes when he read it! 
Payton is washing the dishes (she is going to rub the color right off of them!) She deserves another "bucket bath" tonight, she loves it, she has
become a real Baja Gal, no longer afraid to put her face under the water, shower or ocean, she bathes out of doors (as long as I assure her nobody is
looking, and she goes (E-GAD, TOPLESS!) She has a nasty rash "Chiken Pox" comes to mind, bUt it isn't traveling the way it should, also, she doesn't
seem to be itching as much as I think it should, still, the ointiment I've put on her hasn't worked, it worked on my heat rash (first time) We'll see
when Doc. gets back, in the mean time she enjoys her "bucket baths" "GRANMA!, THANK-YOU, this feels SOOOO GOOD! AHHHH"
She has been having such a good time, last night she had a "hormonal" (as we call it in the family, you would think she was 15, not 5 sometimes)
After she was all bathed and I tucked her into bed she came crying to me "I miss my Mommmmmie", sniff, sniff, I just held her and patted her, soon she
was fine and I tucked her back into bed, today all smiles and running, swimming fun (I heard her telling a new found departing friend that she would
see her next summer (she turned to me and asked if she could come back again), I said "sure, if you want and it's okay with Momy and Daddy". She is
the next generation of Baja Lovers in the making only 5 (almost 6) and I can't keep shoes on her, she has lost her "FOO FOO GIRLness" She is soooo
proud? "GRANMA!, LOOK" her face is wet as she comes out of the water) I tell her Mommy is going to be so surprized when she doesn't cry while getting
her hair rinsed in the bath, (she grins, HUGE!)
|
|
|
Debra
Super Nomad
Posts: 2101
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
Member Is Offline
|
|
July 23rd. 6:30am
Doc. is back (I find out the real date from his daughter Vannesa) Quiet morning, it's overcast and cool (a welcome change) It rained last night,
just a little. The Pangalero picks up the Mexicans again (only 7 this time" they head toward Smith with fishing poles. The kids are of playing, I'll
take them to Las Hamacas for some pancakes if they ever return! Brendan especially loves the freedon he has at camp. He's older this year and I give
him free rein.
11:30am Payton is at Brendan again (trying to kiss him" "just one more PLEEEZE" (he gives her a peck on the cheek) , "how about one on the lips?",
NO WAY" Brendan says (she reminds me of her mother trying to kiss Dustin (my older son 5 1/2 yrs. younger that my daughter) Brendan is holding her
in his lap while she giggles and keeps trying to kiss him, Brendan is trying to play his Game Bay, his patience with her amazes me. She wins the
giggle fest, "Let's go swin" say Brendan (so much for Game Boy)
about 3pm
I see some people in a van with a pop-up trailer pull into the palapa next to the boat launch, they have WA St. plates, ask them whre they are
from, "Bellingham", "Port Orchard" I say. They are Nickie and Scott and they have 2 kids , Elena 14 and Alex (about to turn 8) they come over a visit
after they set up camp, I offer them a drink and we chat (Brendan builds a "magic rock" fire and the kids roast marshmellows while the grown-ups
visit. Nickie asks if the kids can have pancakes wit them in the morning, the kids yell "YES!"
July 24th.
Nicki and Scott show up with pancakes, sour cream mixed with homemade rasburry jam (sure looks good, but, I don't like pancakes and am not a
breakfast eater, the kids eat it up and ask for seconds. Neckie and I (with kids) head out for a snorkel, I've brought canned peas to see if I can
lure fish (works great!) they didn't much care for the canned corn I'd tried the other day, soon I have a array of Angel Fish, yellow and black
stripped things (I couldn't find them in the Marine life book we'd borrowed from Bob) in a feeding frenzy. Elena had complained that she didn't want
to go (afraid of the "creepy fish", but she came anyway (14yr. olds! ,
complaining all the way) until I started pointing out all of the colorful fish, she quickly was having fun and later asked if we could go again.
The kids head back to camp and Nickie and I sit in our chairs in the water, soon Scott joins us, we float and enjoy the coolness of the bay.
Doc. comes in with a charter, they don't have but a few small Yellow-Tail and a bunch of bass and Nickie goes and asks the Mexican fisherman if she
might buy a few, he tells her to take what whe would like. (she brings him a cervasa, Nickie has a new "best friend" he again tells her to take all
she wants.
|
|
|
Debra
Super Nomad
Posts: 2101
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
Member Is Offline
|
|
Nickie and Scott, again try and decide what to do (this was a several times a day theme!) This is their first trip to Baja and Nickie really wants
to go to Mulege that was her main destination.
(I found out later while in town with her at the computer "cafe" that she had been researching web-sites) The way I found this out was I showed her
Bedman's Magic Rock fire at David's site) "OH MY GOD", she says...that is one of the sites I looked at!" "that's the one that made us stop here!" I
show her the group picture of us, (David, Me, Paulina, Nana, Bedman, Emma, Mike H. and Maryann, kids...I forget who else was in that pic.) and she
says "I REMEMBER SEEING THAT!", I point out myself, she is stunned! She can't wait to go back to camp and tell Scott.
Anyway, if they are going to make a move, they may have to be home by the 10th., mother in law is coming, although she has been told not to.
Nickie tells Scott he should go into town to call is mother and find out if she has bought a airline ticket. Scott pops another cervasa. Soon the
phone call is forgotten. We have a pot-luck with the fish, and my "famos" Clam Chowder 
Still nothing is decided about Mulege, we bed all the kids down and Nickie brings up that day after tomorrow is Alex's birthday and it would be
nice if he got to have a birthday party with Brendan (they have been having a great time together.
(I'm reminded of a conversation I'd had with Brendan on Friday....As all of his "friends" were packing up to leave, Brendan say "Mom, all of my
friends are leaving, I won't have anyone to play with", I say, "Brendan it's friday, wait until this afternoon, more kids will be coming into camp"
this was about 9am, by 3pm Alex had arrived.
I suggest that maybe Juana would be willing to bake him a cake, Nickie says that would be great and maybe she would also cook us a birthday feast,
I tell her that I will talk to Doc. and ask if it would be approitate to ask her. (Mulege is put on hold, at least for now.
|
|
|
Debra
Super Nomad
Posts: 2101
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
Member Is Offline
|
|
July 25th.
I catch Doc. early and ask about Juana, he says she would probebly be happy to, she can always use the extra money. It's Sunday and her day off
so Nickie and I head to the ranch to talk to her, Nickie speaks enough Spanish to convey what we want, Juana says she will do it, but, she has no way
to bake a cake, she suggests that MerrieBelle a the the store might be able to do it. The menu is figured out, and Juana has her grand daughter write
a grocery list for it (It makes me sad to realize that Juana can neither read nor write) this lady has a huge family at the ranch, husband, sons,
daugher's (son-in-laws probebly too) grand children, and she is the only one that works.
Nickie and I go into town to shop, MerrieBell has a cake, but, it would probebly fee 20 plus people, she offers to sell us half (still WAYYYY too
much!) Nickie decides to buy a mix (no idea how to get it baked) We get lucky, the vege truck has come in so we buy a bunch of greens for a salad to
go with our birthday feast. I also spot some beautiful Mangos, I tell Nickie about Beach Bob's Mango Maggies, she says, "Dang! that sounds good, I
have a blender and some really good tequilla, wish we had some way to get electricty", Bob is the only one I know around here right now, then it dawns
on me, I have an invertor! I buy Mangos and we head back to camp trying to figure out how to get that cake baked. We drop the groceries with Juana
and set up a time, 7:30pm is decided and we will have our party at the "resturant" in camp.
Nickie and I put our heads together and come up with a plan to get the cake baked. I have that Hybachi style propane BBQ that I'd bought in town,
Nickie has thermomoter that she never leaves home without (it goes up to something like 900f and a couple hundred befow.
She checks out my one fry pan and borrows another from the camp kitchen.. She somehow gets the cake baked (one layer is a bit "done" on the bottem,
but, she scrapes it off and puts it together with a mixture of sour cream, cream cheese mixed with the homemade rasberry jam she has brought from
home. I thought it turned out beautiful and tasted even better. Nickie is worried that is isn't perfect, I assure her that this is the one cake that
Alex will remember for the rest of his life. "Yeah, you're right" she says, "He'll probebly remember this birthday most in his life".
I had sent Brendan over earlier to ask Bob to join us about 8:30pm for Mango Magies (figured it would be nice to be able to offer him one for a
change.) He tells Brendan he will try to remember.
We go to dinner at the time set. Juana has set up the table for us beautifully! Nickie has brought along a bunch of votive candles and it is a
beautiful setting, Juana serves us and sits back waiting to serve our every need. She is acting like a servent and I feel a bit uncomfortable. I
want to invite her to join us, but, this isn't my party (Nickie is seated with her back to Juana and probebly doesn't even realize she's there, she is
so quiet.
Juana comes over and asks if she can get more of anything for us. Our plates are filled again. The kids eat and eat, me too, I don't think I've
eaten this much for a week! Nickie has bought birthday presants for Payton and Brendan and while Nickie was busy at the computer eariler that day in
town I'd snuck off and found a "Bahia de Los Angeles" T-Shirt for Alex, he loves it and never took it off the rest of the time they were there except
to go swimming. Good choice I guess.
We thank Juana, tell her how much we enjoyed the meal. She looks very proud.
BTW: Juana is making Tamales once or twice a week to sell at the camp. Don't miss out, they are great! 10 pesos per
We head back to camp and fire up the blender, I'm so full I can't even finish one. Bob doesn't show, I find out later that he had, but, he'd
walked over (beach way) rather than drove in. (he would have seen us at the resturant) I guess we were late (no clock) so we missed him.
The night wears on, the kids play, parents chat. Will they leave for Mulege tomorrow?
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65178
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
Here's the group photo Debra mentioned
From Bedman's 2002 Photos in the Contributed Photos section of VivaBaja.com:
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65178
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
Magic Rocks in the campfire do this...
from Bedman's camera (2002 Baja Photos)
|
|
|
Bob H
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5867
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
|
|
Debra, your trip reports are getting better and better.... OUTSTANDING!
Hey Mike H... We'd like to read about "sneeking up on birds" story!
Bob H
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
|
|
|
Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
Member Is Offline
|
|
Gere you go, Bob
Brendan?s Song
They were camped at Camp Gecko for two weeks. The man and his wife and two grown boys; a family friend and her son, Brendan, 8. The heat was
intense, well over the hundred degree mark daily, the sun pounding the sand more fiercely than the surf.
They were sitting in front of their palapa near the beach. A flock of cawking gulls and a number of brown pelicans stood along the shore, facing into
the breeze. A set of four Oystercatchers, bright beaks against dark bodies, settled with the other birds. They stood aside, didn?t mingle with the
others, rather kept within their own band. The boy pointed out the four birds to the group. The man picked up a camera; he had never seen
Oystercatchers in the Bahia de Los Angeles before.
?Come on Brendan.? he said to the boy.
They moved toward the birds, some thirty yards distant. The man moved behind a beached boat to avoid frightening the birds. He and Brendan ducked
low and as they emerged from behind the boat, then dropped to the sand on their bellies. The birds saw them crawling forward but were unthreatened.
The pair inched forward toward the Oystercatchers, forcing themselves forward through the sand with their elbows, knees and feet, moving ever so
slowly. The birds were now twenty feet in front of them. The man indicated to Brendan that they should not make a sound. The boy signaled back the
sign he would use when he wanted to borrow the man?s camera to take a picture.
It took them 10 silent and slow minutes to crawl forward to a position where they were both about six feet from the birds. The man took several
pictures. The boy tapped the man?s leg when he was ready and received the camera silently, took several pictures himself. The birds were curious
about the event, but didn?t seem to mind the proximity of the two quiet humans in their presence. Then they lost interest and merged with the other
birds, a few yards away.
Brendan and the man stood and returned to their camp and families.
?That was fun!? he said.
?That was teamwork.? the man replied.
Later that day the man took the boy out in his boat, a small tin fourteen-footer with an outboard. The boy wanted to fish. They went to a place a
few miles out, between the north point of Piojo and the south point of Smith?s and dropped baited jigs into the hundred foot depths. The man showed
the boy how to let the line out until the lure hit bottom, bring it in a bit to keep it off the rocks and then wait. Within seconds the boy had a
hookup. The man guided the boy?s retrieval and Brendan soon had a four-pound jawfish nearing the surface.
?Now what?? he asked.
?Bring the line over to me.? the man said. ?Don?t reel the line in too tight. Leave me some slack.? He pulled the fish aboard, unhooked it, held it
up for the boy to admire, then tossed it to the rear of the boat.
?Teamwork.? the man said.
They fished another hour, the man and the boy. Brendan caught six or eight more jawfish, two cabrillas and a trigger, was tired from reeling them in,
his small hands struggling to turn the spool, his arms rubbing against his life jacket, the sun wearing the boy down.
?Let me know if you need help.? the man said. The boy continued, tired but unwilling to relinquish the rod.
?I think I can do it,? he said.
?Just remember we?re a team. I?m here to help if you need me.?
So Brendan brought in all his own fish, and several the man had hooked. When they fired up and headed back to camp the man saw a shine in the boys?
eyes that he recognized as pride. The boy had accomplished a small unimaginable feat.
They arrived at camp and threw the fish on the sand, carted them up to the cleaning table, protected from the sun with a small thatched cover. The
table was tall, designed to fit the height of a man standing. The man placed the fish on the table, found his filet knife, noticed that the boy was
not able to see the working platform.
?Stand here, Brendan.? the man said, pointing to an old fuel tank positioned beside the table. The boy climbed onto the tank and was now level with
the man. The man filleted the first fish, began the second.
?What?s my job?? the boy asked, ?we?re a team, aren?t we??
The mans knife paused only briefly as he absorbed, recognized the boys desire to support his efforts, to be a member amidst others. It was an
overwhelming moment for the man, but he showed little, wanting the boy to be proud of his own action rather than to have made another happy.
?Feel like getting dirty?? the man asked.
?What do I do?? Brendan replied.
?Here,? the man pointed to the building pile of guts, lying beside the soft flesh of the fish, ?Give these to the birds.?
The boy tentatively picked up a liver with two nervous fingers, stepped off the tank on which he had been standing, and walked toward the building
attack of seagulls and pelicans along the shore. He threw the liver into their midst and a great feathered flurry commenced that built as Brendan
retrieved and threw fishguts to the growing throng of birds. By the time the last gut hit the beach, the boy?s hands, arms and legs were covered in
blood. He had no care except for the activity at hand.
The man and the boy washed and bagged the fish, cleaned the table, sheaved the knife, and carted the bags to icechests for dinner later that day.
?Thanks for taking me fishing.? the boy said.
?My pleasure.? the man responded with no further words.
What good were words at a moment like that? he wondered. His heart felt the warm moments with the boy, pulled thoughts of his own children forward
for perhaps a final time, from so long back over a twisted trail of years to the times when he had carried his boys forward through another adventure,
had shown them something new, unexpected; when they had piloted the boat for the first time, caught their first fish, found their way home from miles
out in the gulf in rough weather.
We are a team, he thought. He walked down to the shoreline, threw water on his face, walked back into camp.
?Here, honey.? his wife called, tossing him a towel to dry his face. She knew his was a clever ruse to camouflage the fact that tears had dampened
his eyes.
Thanks for the memories, Brendan, the man thought, to himself, it truly was his pleasure.
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2
3
4 |
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
