Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Mazataln to Pontre Mitre
After Toni and Barry left we once again left Mazatlan to head back to Isla Isabella. This time we were joined by fellow catamaran sailors from Hawaii on their 55foot “Kalewa”. They had Kevin and Marcie aboard with their 14 year old daughter Ayla they were a great family and we enjoyed spending time with them. We were gratified to see how difficult traveling with a 14 year old could be and realize that our kids at that age were normal!!
We had a few more days on Isabella and this time walked the other side of the island where we found the blue footed booby nesting area. This was amazing as some of them were already sitting on their nests but a large number were performing their incredible courtship rituals. The male bird would strut around and present the female with a stick. She would accept it and it seemed to let him know of her interest and the courtship continued. There seemed to be an equal number of males and females and they were already coupled so am not sure how much competition had occurred before our arrival.
We traded a couple of the t shirts I had brought back from Canada for a mahi mahi and we bought 2 lobsters for $15 from the seasonal fishermen.
We spent an evening where Ken and Kevin matched their knowledge of the Lord of the Rings series by challenging each other to play Ken’s “Trivial Pursuit Lord of the Rings” game which Amy and Rob had given him a number of years ago. No-one has previously dared to challenge him and Marcie and I were happy to read the questions. The game proved to be very time consuming and after several hours with no end in sight we declared a draw.
We had a great spinnaker day sail to San Blas after which they joined us for another “games night” this time played Pictionary and Balderdash so we could all be humiliated.
San Blas was a small very Mexican town which had a great town square which as all Mexican towns came to life after dark. We arrived in time to enjoy the Festival of the Migrating Birds; somehow every week presents a new excuse for a party.
Together we explored the town and the old ruins of the old church and fort.
We hired a boat to take us up the river to Toleva Springs on the “Jungle Cruise”. It was pretty amazing as we spotted many crocodiles ranging from about 15 inches to 6 feet. We had a great guide who also knew where all of the birds would be. Swimming in the springs was a treat as the water was fresh and we washed all of the salt from our pores. Also did a side trip where they breed and release more crocodiles—a little sobering considering our swim in the springs!!
San Blas’s biggest issue was the no see’ems which came out at sunset and proceeded to devour our ankles. We learned to bug proof the boat and wear socks in the evening.
After a few days we decided the bugs could feast on someone else and we headed to Chacala 20 miles south.
Had and easy sail and arrived into beautiful Chacala Bay.
This is a small sandy bay undiscovered by big North American hotel chains and has only a few small Mexican hotels and a yoga retreat. There are a lot of little restaurants with very Mexican food. A number of Canadians have discovered it and park their campers on the beach and others have purchased houses here to use during the winter months. It is definitely somewhere I would consider if I was in the position of finding a seasonal cottage. The swimming is great and we took the opportunity to clean our hull and the boat. A man from Oregon is developing a huge area on the point and is subdividing lots which apparently are going to be around $450,000 each so the flavor of this lovely bay will change. At least these will be beautiful homes set in the trees and not condos or American style huge hotels.
We took a trip into Las Varas, 6 miles away only to find we were in the cowboy heart of Mexico. There were more butcher shops with hanging carcasses, boot shops and hardware stores than I have seen anywhere. Ken was sorely tempted to buy some crocodile or ostrich skin boots for his next Stampede but as that may be years away even he was able to fight the temptation (so far). We went to the large fruiteria on the highway on the way back and enjoyed buying fresh pineapples, bananas and papayas.
We spent another day going to Tepic (by the time we waited for bus connections the “going” part of the day was longer than the “being there” part. We had gone to see the Huichol Indians who wear their traditional costumes and set up in the market selling their beautiful beadwork and embroidery. It was a very Mexican city of 400,000 people but as we have found people elsewhere in Mexico everyone was extremely nice and helpful we had an enjoyable day. The countryside inland from here has very lush hills with sugar cane appearing to be the main crop. Cattle and fruit are also in abundance.
We met Canadians who had been taking Spanish classes here so decided to stay a couple more days and take some lessons from a lovely young Mexican woman. This was more humbling than anything as we were quickly aware how little we know although she was very gracious, we will continue to work on it. Our 14th wedding anniversary dinner was spent at an intimate restaurant at a B&B overlooking the bay.
We will leave to go to La Cruz and Puerta Vallarta next which will be back to the “tourista” towns but hopefully will find more small Mexican places as we go south.
We had a few more days on Isabella and this time walked the other side of the island where we found the blue footed booby nesting area. This was amazing as some of them were already sitting on their nests but a large number were performing their incredible courtship rituals. The male bird would strut around and present the female with a stick. She would accept it and it seemed to let him know of her interest and the courtship continued. There seemed to be an equal number of males and females and they were already coupled so am not sure how much competition had occurred before our arrival.
We traded a couple of the t shirts I had brought back from Canada for a mahi mahi and we bought 2 lobsters for $15 from the seasonal fishermen.
We spent an evening where Ken and Kevin matched their knowledge of the Lord of the Rings series by challenging each other to play Ken’s “Trivial Pursuit Lord of the Rings” game which Amy and Rob had given him a number of years ago. No-one has previously dared to challenge him and Marcie and I were happy to read the questions. The game proved to be very time consuming and after several hours with no end in sight we declared a draw.
We had a great spinnaker day sail to San Blas after which they joined us for another “games night” this time played Pictionary and Balderdash so we could all be humiliated.
San Blas was a small very Mexican town which had a great town square which as all Mexican towns came to life after dark. We arrived in time to enjoy the Festival of the Migrating Birds; somehow every week presents a new excuse for a party.
Together we explored the town and the old ruins of the old church and fort.
We hired a boat to take us up the river to Toleva Springs on the “Jungle Cruise”. It was pretty amazing as we spotted many crocodiles ranging from about 15 inches to 6 feet. We had a great guide who also knew where all of the birds would be. Swimming in the springs was a treat as the water was fresh and we washed all of the salt from our pores. Also did a side trip where they breed and release more crocodiles—a little sobering considering our swim in the springs!!
San Blas’s biggest issue was the no see’ems which came out at sunset and proceeded to devour our ankles. We learned to bug proof the boat and wear socks in the evening.
After a few days we decided the bugs could feast on someone else and we headed to Chacala 20 miles south.
Had and easy sail and arrived into beautiful Chacala Bay.
This is a small sandy bay undiscovered by big North American hotel chains and has only a few small Mexican hotels and a yoga retreat. There are a lot of little restaurants with very Mexican food. A number of Canadians have discovered it and park their campers on the beach and others have purchased houses here to use during the winter months. It is definitely somewhere I would consider if I was in the position of finding a seasonal cottage. The swimming is great and we took the opportunity to clean our hull and the boat. A man from Oregon is developing a huge area on the point and is subdividing lots which apparently are going to be around $450,000 each so the flavor of this lovely bay will change. At least these will be beautiful homes set in the trees and not condos or American style huge hotels.
We took a trip into Las Varas, 6 miles away only to find we were in the cowboy heart of Mexico. There were more butcher shops with hanging carcasses, boot shops and hardware stores than I have seen anywhere. Ken was sorely tempted to buy some crocodile or ostrich skin boots for his next Stampede but as that may be years away even he was able to fight the temptation (so far). We went to the large fruiteria on the highway on the way back and enjoyed buying fresh pineapples, bananas and papayas.
We spent another day going to Tepic (by the time we waited for bus connections the “going” part of the day was longer than the “being there” part. We had gone to see the Huichol Indians who wear their traditional costumes and set up in the market selling their beautiful beadwork and embroidery. It was a very Mexican city of 400,000 people but as we have found people elsewhere in Mexico everyone was extremely nice and helpful we had an enjoyable day. The countryside inland from here has very lush hills with sugar cane appearing to be the main crop. Cattle and fruit are also in abundance.
We met Canadians who had been taking Spanish classes here so decided to stay a couple more days and take some lessons from a lovely young Mexican woman. This was more humbling than anything as we were quickly aware how little we know although she was very gracious, we will continue to work on it. Our 14th wedding anniversary dinner was spent at an intimate restaurant at a B&B overlooking the bay.
We will leave to go to La Cruz and Puerta Vallarta next which will be back to the “tourista” towns but hopefully will find more small Mexican places as we go south.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Xmas in Mazatlan and our trip to Isla Isabella
After a good crossing from La Paz we arrived in Mazatlan. A bigger city than La Paz and more sprawled out. It has a rejuvenated “Old City” which is very charming with a town centre surrounded by cutesy restaurants and lots of night activity. This seems to be the norm in Mexico when all of the families come out for the evening. It is another very “cruiser friendly” port.
We tied up at Marina Mazatlan which was the first time alongside since San Diego so had the luxury of washing the boat down in fresh water and plugging into power .
We immediately got into the cruiser culture, biking on Sunday mornings to a local palapa for breakfast, sharing rides to get groceries and going out to dinner with fellow cruisers. Caught up with several boats we had not seen for some time. We found a single sideband radio one of the cruisers was selling and had him help us install it. We now hope we can get better radio weather reception, something which had been frustrating us and we had become aware that as we travel further away from civilization will be invaluable.
We joined up with Toni, Barry, Roland and Toni’s mum Laura who is visiting them from Mozambique. We had a Xmas eve dinner on the boat with them and spent time with them seeing around Mazatlan.
The marina was alive with festivities. A local orphanage has choreographed a performance of singing and dancing which they take to various places, including the marina to raise money for their care for the following year. They were delightful. Local cruisers caroled in the evening and then we had a pot luck Xmas dinner which was a lot of fun. Ken became the surrogate Poppa of some of the young girls (quite a few family cruising families were tied up with us) and had them all dancing and visiting us for the rest of our stay there. We had a movie night for the kids on our boat one night and ended up with seven of them watching Madagascar. New Years Eve was at a local restaurant where we had dinner dancing and a bonfire on the beach and fireworks to follow.
It was a great holiday season and although we missed our family we were able to talk on Skype to all except David who was having Xmas in the Philippines. Kristen headed to New Zealand via Australia and much to hers and Kyle’s relief Adelyn became the model baby on the plane. Of course my Mum is delighted to have them there for a month.
Finally the radio was installed and we set off with Barry and family to head off to Isla Isabella.
After a 90 mile night sail we ended at a small Island off the coast the next morning. This proved to be one of the highlights of our trip so far. This Island is a national park and is protected. Jacque Cousteau had done research here. It is totally covered with amazing bird life, iguanas and whales all around. It is probably the closest thing to the Galapagos I can imagine. Frigate birds, which have an amazing profile in the sky are everywhere.
We went for an incredible walk across the Island and one had to be careful not to step on the booby’s nests. The frigate birds are in the trees and you walk right up to them. The males have a bright red puffer sac under their beaks which they puff up when they want to impress females, they certainly impressed this one!! We found green, yellow and the elusive blue footed boobies. A cute bird in a cave we identified as a tropic-bird. We sat and watched a whale performance from the shore. Gave the star a perfect 10 score as he cavorted and breached. There were 3 others but they seemed more intent on feeding than entertaining. A large group of iguanas rest in an old half built building.
We went for a dive but the water was a bit stirred up so wasn’t as clear as we would have liked.
The next day we snorkeled and were rewarded with much clearer water and a pile of colourful tropical fish. Every dingy trip ended up with a whale chase. We would see them in the distance and take off trying to catch up with them which was successful as long as they were not on a hurried mission to wherever they were going. We took the kayak out and had some great explorations with it.
There were a small number of other cruisers there some local fishermen with pangas and some research students from the University of Guadelope. We finally felt as though we had really arrived at the place we had envisioned for ourselves when we set out on our voyage from Canada and are looking forward to discovering more exotic locales.
After a few days we headed back to Mazatlan to drop off Barry and Toni and we will then head back down the coast to San Blas, our next stop.
We had an enjoyable dinner with some Mexican friends of Barry and Toni’s for an evening before leaving Mazatlan so it was great to join a real Mexican family in their home. Hopefully as my Spanish improves we will immerse better with the local culture. The dinner was a celebration of Jacque from USA's birthday and Ari our host has a wonderful tenor voice and entertained us. As in all Mexican celebrations loud music is good and louder is better!!!Every coffee shop and restaurant has blaring music
I bought a kilo of large fresh shrimps for $7 to take back to the boat and a glass of fresh squeezed juice with the juice of 5 oranges for 80cents. I am writing this at an internet cafe which makes wonderful capucinos (they solved the frothy milk thing!!) but the TV is on some soap opera which is blaring to compete with the passing traffic.I have decided that the number of shoe stores relates directly to the condition of the sidewalks--I have gone over onto the side and pulled out the leather of 2 pairs of sandals so far which I need to get fixed.
My Spanish CD lessons continue—up to lesson 11 and now know how to ask lots of questions but not ready for too many answers. Ken got waylaid with the installation of the single sideband so after Toni and Barry leave will hopefully get back to it so I can converse with someone at my own level.
We hope all of you had a great Xmas and have a prosperous New Year—ours promises to be richer in activities than money!!!
We tied up at Marina Mazatlan which was the first time alongside since San Diego so had the luxury of washing the boat down in fresh water and plugging into power .
We immediately got into the cruiser culture, biking on Sunday mornings to a local palapa for breakfast, sharing rides to get groceries and going out to dinner with fellow cruisers. Caught up with several boats we had not seen for some time. We found a single sideband radio one of the cruisers was selling and had him help us install it. We now hope we can get better radio weather reception, something which had been frustrating us and we had become aware that as we travel further away from civilization will be invaluable.
We joined up with Toni, Barry, Roland and Toni’s mum Laura who is visiting them from Mozambique. We had a Xmas eve dinner on the boat with them and spent time with them seeing around Mazatlan.
The marina was alive with festivities. A local orphanage has choreographed a performance of singing and dancing which they take to various places, including the marina to raise money for their care for the following year. They were delightful. Local cruisers caroled in the evening and then we had a pot luck Xmas dinner which was a lot of fun. Ken became the surrogate Poppa of some of the young girls (quite a few family cruising families were tied up with us) and had them all dancing and visiting us for the rest of our stay there. We had a movie night for the kids on our boat one night and ended up with seven of them watching Madagascar. New Years Eve was at a local restaurant where we had dinner dancing and a bonfire on the beach and fireworks to follow.
It was a great holiday season and although we missed our family we were able to talk on Skype to all except David who was having Xmas in the Philippines. Kristen headed to New Zealand via Australia and much to hers and Kyle’s relief Adelyn became the model baby on the plane. Of course my Mum is delighted to have them there for a month.
Finally the radio was installed and we set off with Barry and family to head off to Isla Isabella.
After a 90 mile night sail we ended at a small Island off the coast the next morning. This proved to be one of the highlights of our trip so far. This Island is a national park and is protected. Jacque Cousteau had done research here. It is totally covered with amazing bird life, iguanas and whales all around. It is probably the closest thing to the Galapagos I can imagine. Frigate birds, which have an amazing profile in the sky are everywhere.
We went for an incredible walk across the Island and one had to be careful not to step on the booby’s nests. The frigate birds are in the trees and you walk right up to them. The males have a bright red puffer sac under their beaks which they puff up when they want to impress females, they certainly impressed this one!! We found green, yellow and the elusive blue footed boobies. A cute bird in a cave we identified as a tropic-bird. We sat and watched a whale performance from the shore. Gave the star a perfect 10 score as he cavorted and breached. There were 3 others but they seemed more intent on feeding than entertaining. A large group of iguanas rest in an old half built building.
We went for a dive but the water was a bit stirred up so wasn’t as clear as we would have liked.
The next day we snorkeled and were rewarded with much clearer water and a pile of colourful tropical fish. Every dingy trip ended up with a whale chase. We would see them in the distance and take off trying to catch up with them which was successful as long as they were not on a hurried mission to wherever they were going. We took the kayak out and had some great explorations with it.
There were a small number of other cruisers there some local fishermen with pangas and some research students from the University of Guadelope. We finally felt as though we had really arrived at the place we had envisioned for ourselves when we set out on our voyage from Canada and are looking forward to discovering more exotic locales.
After a few days we headed back to Mazatlan to drop off Barry and Toni and we will then head back down the coast to San Blas, our next stop.
We had an enjoyable dinner with some Mexican friends of Barry and Toni’s for an evening before leaving Mazatlan so it was great to join a real Mexican family in their home. Hopefully as my Spanish improves we will immerse better with the local culture. The dinner was a celebration of Jacque from USA's birthday and Ari our host has a wonderful tenor voice and entertained us. As in all Mexican celebrations loud music is good and louder is better!!!Every coffee shop and restaurant has blaring music
I bought a kilo of large fresh shrimps for $7 to take back to the boat and a glass of fresh squeezed juice with the juice of 5 oranges for 80cents. I am writing this at an internet cafe which makes wonderful capucinos (they solved the frothy milk thing!!) but the TV is on some soap opera which is blaring to compete with the passing traffic.I have decided that the number of shoe stores relates directly to the condition of the sidewalks--I have gone over onto the side and pulled out the leather of 2 pairs of sandals so far which I need to get fixed.
My Spanish CD lessons continue—up to lesson 11 and now know how to ask lots of questions but not ready for too many answers. Ken got waylaid with the installation of the single sideband so after Toni and Barry leave will hopefully get back to it so I can converse with someone at my own level.
We hope all of you had a great Xmas and have a prosperous New Year—ours promises to be richer in activities than money!!!
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