Over the next week we stopped at a handful of now familiar anchorages like Puerto Escondido, Agua Verde, San Evaristo and Esprito Santos on our return trip, taking in all the beauty, charm and nature of this amazing place.
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| We spent two nights tucked into the small northern bay at Agua Verde in perfect, if a bit warm, conditions. |
The village is spread out between the Gigante mountain range and the protected bay and is a favourite destination for many cruisers. Fishermen in their pangas ply the surrounding waters, often leaving before dawn, coming back in during the day to drop their catch off in large ice filled coolers then heading out again for the rest of the day.
We dinghied to shore for a walk around ‘town’. While we sweated profusely in shorts and tee shirts with the heat radiating off the dusty paths, the locals were wearing jeans and sweaters. The 30 C temperatures were too hot to us but since they’re used to 45 C in their summer!
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| Feeding time and the gang's all here! |
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| This little boy was telling his pigs to get down or no food for them! |
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| This is a well maintained home. Most are cinder block construction. Very sturdy. Not a lot of lawn to water. |
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| The local hall |
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| The little yellow bulding behind the tent is the local tienda. It's the only grocery store in town and we were impressed with all it carried. |
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| Future shade. A big black water pipe runs on top of the ground to all houses in Agua Verde, fed by a natural spring up in the hills. |
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| The catholic church |
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| The little school and cement basket ball court. There's a bit of a playground as well with a couple of swings and a slide. |
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| Yes - there are a few gardens like this oasis someone has maintained around their house. The soil is so dusty that it must be hard to grow stuff. |
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| There are lots of goats that wander about Agua Verde. Last year we visited an elderly woman in her shelter/home and bought fresh goat cheese for next to nothing. |
We met up with Scott and Tanya from Kialoa while in San Evaristo for the night. The four of us had a wonderful meal out at Lupee’s Beachside Restaurant. The cinder block building had a covered veranda where plastic tables and chairs for 12 were mostly filled with gringos. We were all entertained by Garfield, the fluffy Siamese/tabby cross, huge gulls fighting over fish gills at the shoreline and a beautiful golden lab that wandered around the tables demanding to be petted. Preparation of our dinner was delayed when Lupee excused himself for a few minutes. Seems he had to back his truck and trailer down to the water’s edge to load his panga up for the night. When he returned he whipped up fresh ceviche for Jim, cheesy shrimp quesadillas for me, beef tacos for Scott and savoury fish tacos with rice and beans for Tanya. This was an expensive meal….cost per person, including tip and beverages was $11 CAD!
Throughout the week, the inviting waters were warm enough for swimming without a wetsuit and we took full advantage. The aqua coloured depths at anchor revealed schools of tropical fish and we often saw our anchor resting below us.
We had heard from other cruisers in Puerto Escondido that the whales were bountiful in the area and sure, enough, we found them swimming between Isla Danzante and Isla Carmen. None were close enough for photographs but we counted a dozen that day feeding, tail slapping and diving gracefully below the surface.
We also cruised by three big pods of porpoises who were intensely feeding. A few peeled off to play in our bow wave but most were happy to be chowing down on masses of small fish.
Throughout the week spotted many huge mobula rays about 4 feet across heaving themselves out of the water, flipping over and crashing down again. While anchored in the protected waters of Puerto Escondido I even spotted a tortoise coming up for air! Sea birds were plentiful – gulls, pelicans, frigates, least grebes, and the ever present turkey vultures.
After four days of motoring against light southerly winds, we arrived back in La Paz on Saturday, March 5. We’ll stay long enough to handle a few necessary boat jobs and preparations, get in a bit of socializing, and provision food for our journey up the outside of the Baja. We expect to leave within the week for Cabo San Lucas. The length of that trip depends entirely on the weather and it will dictate how fast we can make it to Ensenada then on to San Diego for a leisurely trip up the west coast of the US. Next blog will likely be once we reach Ensenada, the entry and exit port city just south of the Mexican / US border.
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| Our final stunning sunset from Espiritu Santos before returning to La Paz. |
Tricia and Jim Bowen
S/V Falcon VII
email: tandjbowen13@gmail.com
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