Animal Life... on Land

Just a few words about what we have seen along the way. Mostly we have seen the marine critters everywhere and have mentioned the whales, dolphins, rays, turtles and various fish. There is another branch of animal that we encounter each time we disembark. Of these we have mentioned the iguanas in Colimia, the crocidile in Tencatita, the snake in the pool at Barra de Navidad, the tons of birds everywhere and, I think, made mention of some of the dogs and cats along the way. We went to the islands of Espiritu Santo, Partida and San Francisco recently and I started noticing the lizards a bit more. These guys range in size from the very small (about the size of your pinky finger) to nearly a small cat. On other Sea of Cortez trips I have seen larger ones (on Isla Esteban for example) but this time variety has caught my attention. The colors are more subtle than I have managed to capture yet but this should give you some idea of their differing markings. I am not completely sure but somewhere must be a field guide book to help me start to understand these residents of the Islas!!


One animal I do not have a picture of is the goat that surprised Patty and Hank on Espiritu Santo when they went ashore... that was a definite "spot"!! I had heard that there were goats there but had never had anyone personally verify their existence.


I will have to try to get more pictures of these guys as we move north this next three weeks.

My, How Time Flies!!!

Gads... where does the time go sometimes!! We have landed again in La Paz after a great adventure from Mazatlán to Muertos to La Paz to the islands north of here and back to La Paz!! We had a plan to get straight to La Paz initially but some engine problems made us divert to the anchorage at Los Muertos. After we had fixed the problem we were so enchanted by the anchorage that we just stayed for a couple of extra days. As it happened Patty had gone off to play with friends while Sandy and I brought Faith across from Mazatlán so we had time to kick back in yet another great place. When we did get to La Paz another friend, Hank (who had been with us on the Ha-Ha), came for another turn in the sunshine. We went north for a week to show him Isla Espiritu Santo, Isla Partida, Isla San Francisco and the anchorage at Everisto. This was all a hoot-and-a-half, as they say. We had made a number of appointments for our return in La Paz so had to get back to keep them and get Hank off to the airport so we didn’t have as much time as we could have but the experience has made Sandy a veteran of the area now. When the next set of guests get here in a week or so we will be ready to leave La Paz with a fresh bunch of supplies, a surveyed boat, new glasses, dental work and a variety of other required improvements.

A small aside here too. I was walking down the street a couple of days ago when the incredible bakery smell crossed my path. I pulled an immediate turn to starboard and found myself in a small shop with baked goods, fruit juices and coffee. I selected a bread with a locally grown (available on in La Paz) prune and a freshly squeezed juice. When I had finished (after chatting with some fellow cruisers and such) the lady behind the counter asked if I liked La Paz. “Very much,” I replied. Then she told me that there was a legend about the prunes in the bread I had eaten. Interested at that point I then learned that anyone who eats the plum or prune that comes from the Magote (where these are grown) is destined to not leave La Paz. Well then, it’s a good thing I like La Paz!!! So, for the moment we are doing a bunch of boat work and getting things ready for the final section of the adventure before San Carlos. We are actually in a marina so things are pretty cushy for the moment while we work our way through boat projects and cleaning the now very dirty Faith. More on the adventures later but now off to work on “things”.