We have spent the past few days in La Paz, Baja California Sur. This is a very nice city on the Sea of Cortez that features a 3.5 mile malecon (walkway, 30 foot wide tiled sidewalk) along the beach. Many cruisers make it just this far and settle in for months because the city is so friendly and pleasant. Last night we had burgers gilled on the engine of a ’56 Chevy (propane grill installed) and listened to oldies while dining in a pretty outdoor patio setting. Very nice. Today lunch was fish tacos and cokes for $2. The Coca Cola is “Hecho en Mexico” (made in Mexico) and is the stuff that was in the bottles in the US when we were kids. Original recipe before the sugar substitutes took over. And don’t tell me about your Classic Coke. Not the same.
We were fortunate enough to be in La Paz for the celebration of “Revolution Day” November 20. Do not confuse this with Cinco de Mayo which is the anniversary of the 1862 victory over the French or September 16 which is Independence Day and celebrates the beginning of the 1821 War of Independence from Spain. This is “Revolution Day” and celebrates the anniversary of the 1910 Mexican Revolution of Pancho Villa and Emilio Zapata, and it involves a very large parade. At the beginning of the parade I called it the Parade of 10,000 Students because one after another we saw legions of Jr High and Sr High School marching cheerleading squads. Schools from all over Baja Sur were on hand all dressed in Red, White and Green. Hundreds of cheerleaders, gymnasts, soccer players (with balls), basketball players (in uniform), boxing teams, etc. The best part was that each school was preceded by a pickup truck with a very large generator and a speaker system that would have made the Rolling Stones envious. Big speakers filling the entire truck bed. Loud Mexican music was the theme. My thought was that we had finally found the source of all those boom box, low riders in the US. Following the schools were the youth league sports teams, wrestlers, boxers, tae kwon do kids, and even military wannabes. Then we got the full military treatment. Army, Navy, Marines (walking navy actually), and, finally, the caballeros who looked like the groups from the Rose Parade. Parade took over two hours to pass the reviewing stands. Very impressive and lots of fun. Make you proud to be Mexican.
Tomorrow we’re off to Espirtu Santo for several days of anchoring out, snorkeling, relaxing, and sun. No more internet for at least a week as we wander around the Sea of Cortez and get ready for out trip across the Sea to mainland Mexico. After a few days in a marina to clean up and re-provision we are happy to move along to some of the picturesque anchorages we had heard about in the Sea of Cortez. We will not actually venture very far from La Paz (60 miles) on this trip because our plans call for us to return here next spring to explore much further north in the Sea. Right now the weather is cooling and the winter winds are picking up daily.
We spent Thanksgiving week in three different, peaceful bays on the islands of Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida that had acres of turquoise blue water, white sand beaches and few other boats. Very much like the Virgin Islands except we had to supply our own rum bar. We did. Thanksgiving day was kielbasa and beans but the setting made it worthwhile. Rough seas from the wrong direction forced us out of that bay the next morning and required a 30 mile sail in heavy winds to a safer spot, Punta Evarista. We dropped anchor again in a much more protected bay. Evarista is listed as a town in the Cortez side of Baja, but when we went ashore for a walk we found only one dog and no people. There were a number of shacks and homes along the dirt streets but the absence of people made it feel a lot like a Clint Eastwood movie.
. 
Weather reports were beginning to show some strong winds ahead so we decided to jump quickly towards Mazatlan. Mazatlan is on the Mexican mainland so we would be leaving behind the desert landscape of the Baja (picture attached, a little like sailing in the Grand Canyon) for the more tropical and humid landscape to the east. The crossing was a 48 hour sail, and our foresight in moving out quickly was rewarded. We got a terrific sail (although a little tiring) while boats just two days behind us were pretty well battered by high winds and large, short, mixed swells for their crossing. We arrived off the beaches of Mazatlan at about 7 AM in very calm seas. As the sun rose over the city we were surprised by a humpback whale that surfaced and then sounded, tail in the air, within 100 feet of the boat.
Mazatlan is a lovely stopover and much nicer than we had been led to expect. We have really enjoyed exploring this city (pop. 380,000) for the past 4 days. Goofy advertising seems to be the rule so we got a quick picture of Andrea with Senor Frog. The marketplace is huge (butchers, vegetables, bakeries, clothing, souvenirs), the beach walk (malecon) is beautiful and the city has some historic buildings and squares to explore. We have hiked to the top of the second tallest lighthouse in the world (#1 is Gibraltar), participated in the release of 1500 turtles on the beach (the eggs were collected and incubated at the aquarium to protect the species), watched the fireworks that signal the beginning of the Christmas Season, and dined in one of the prettiest outdoor café areas you can imagine (sort of a smaller, rural version of dinner in St Mark’s Square). The square was well lit for Christmas and the 70 degree temperatures at 10PM were ideal. Today we even got to watch the Mazatlan marathon (for which Andrea got me up at 6 AM). We are enjoying Mazatlan very much.
I have attached a picture of Andrea in the monument to the “pulmonia”. These are the golf cart like taxicabs that run all around Mazatlan. They are the signature item of the tourist business and were invented by an enterprising Mazatlan businessman almost 40 years ago.
Next stops: San Blas (anchorage), Chacala (anchorage) and Puerto Vallarta
Hasta mañana
No comments:
Post a Comment