Baja, here we are.  Mainland Mexico has great food, high end resorts, and rain forests, but the Baja has beautiful water, majestic mountains, and in the bigger towns you can get great food as well.

Marina de La Paz does a great job hosting cruisers that anchor out.  For 15 pesos ($1) we tied up our dinghy, could fill up water jugs and put trash in their dumpster at the marina. For another $1 each we took a hot shower.  The Marina also hosts the cruisers club where we checked out movies, got a cup of coffee, exchanged books and bought t-shirts.

All the Mexican towns we’ve visited have many interesting sculptures along the water front. Some are beautiful and other’s make you scratch your head and wonder.

At least artists don’t have to search for a gallery, there is plenty of room along the coast.

I’m so surprised at how many places are still in business since the 1990′s.  I totally forgot about La Fuente for Ice Cream and slushies. After walking through town I remembered the square that had the best street tacos and the hike to the supermarket.  It’s crazy how the human brain can store away a tiny little memory and have it surface when the eyes see a familiar place.

A couple walking along the waterfront had this little puppy that attracted the attention of 6 kids.   Ohh, isn’t it so cute?

,

After two days of restaurant tacos and the hike to the supermarket, we joined Yolo in search of the Mercado.  The Central Mercado is the center of activity in a Mexican town.  The building is mostly just a warehouse roof, with a few walls here and there.  Inside are rows of stalls.  Courtney, her daughter Presley, Genny, and I took a stroll through to see what the mercado had to offer.

When we came upon the fruit juice and cup stand we had to stop to refresh ourselves before shopping.  For about $1.20 each, the ladies mixed up a blender of fresh squeezed oranges and strawberries for us and topped off our cups until the pitcher was empty.  At first I was going to pass, but I’m so glad to have had this treat.

The stalls across the way sold fish, meat (including pig heads), and cheeses.

In another aisle you could buy flowers.

But we came here to fill our carts with produce. Fifteen years ago at this very stand, Becky from DC came to visit and we filled our bags with fruits before heading out to the islands. At that time we spent $15 for six big bags of produce, today it cost $30 to fill both of my rolling carts.  Maybe a little more expensive, but still a great deal.

Wait a minute, who can come to the market without picking up a crown or communion gown, maybe a t-shirt.  We did pick up a lime squeezer at the housewares stall.

We’ve become addicted to Carnitas.  That’s seasoned and slow roasted pork served with tortillas, salsas and a few other condiments. I usually buy a Kilo to go which will provide our family at least 3 meals with left overs for a few more days.  Using our limited Spanish we found that there is a market three blocks up and two over, or was that two up and three over.  Hmm, after asking directions at every street corner we got something like go that way for a few blocks and then go a few more in another direction.  The good news is that we found Mercado Bravo!  By now lunch snacks were in order.  Mercados can be counted on for the Best lunch stands in town.

Back on Makai, we put away our produce, cut up the ripest and sweetest to be eaten right away and stashed the rest for tomorrow.

The carnitas were to die for.  I would have gotten a picture of the beautiful plate of tacos we made, but they were eaten before I could get the camera out.

One more delicacy is the Pacifico Ballena. Ballena means whale in Spanish, this chica beer is just short of a liter but there are bigger ones.  We’ll have to try those next.

Now that our bellies and refrigerators are full it’s time to go out to the islands.  There are many beautiful anchorages to choose from, but with only a few days until we want to be in Loreto, we had to make our choices count.  This is Caleta Partida where Isla Partida and Espiritu Santo islands are separated by a small cut in the sand bar.

Topaz enjoyed her first shore leave since the little corner of sand she played on in Paradise Village.  She loves to romp in the water and pounce on little fish.

The Hobie got some use.  Mexico never seems to have wind coming from the right direction and intensity, but you can count on windy afternoons in the anchorage.  The Yolos and Makai’s each took the Hobie out for a spin in the afternoon breeze.  In the end we went into the warm shallow water to bask in the beauty of the desert meeting the sea.

What a contrast from the Bahamas.  We sure do miss all of our friends but have been blessed with new ones.

In this little bay the pelicans go crazy on the bait fish.  All around us they were dive bombing into the water after their dinner.  There were dozens of them falling out of the sky on the little fish in the bay.

The next day everyone piled onto Makai for a short trip to the top of the island and then a one mile dinghy ride to Isla Islote to swim with the sea lions.

While this whole area is part of the park system, Islote is also protected from fishing. When you enter the water the sergeant majors greet visitors.  This must be their job in the ocean because they do the same at every tourist snorkel spot we’ve been to.

A couple of dozen seals lay basking and barking in the sun on the warm rocks. Occasionally one barks the wrong way at another and there’s a little scuffle.  Then the tourists get a little to close to the island and a male swims along the perimeter to warn the visitors to keep their distance.

Their sleek bodies shoot through the water with ease.

Habituated from all the visitors they have no problem checking us out as we check them out.

[ylwm_vimeo height="400" width="600" portrait="false" byline="false"]126687582[/ylwm_vimeo]

 

We wore plenty of neoprene but the chilly water had the kids scurrying back to the dinghy to warm up in the sun.

We saw all kinds of sea creatures as well.

It was hard to concentrate on any one creature because the seals would steal the show.

A fair number of green eels were swimming freely and sticking their heads out to see what is going on.

Then out of the corner of my eye someone would come check me out.

We also saw the Hawkfish which was so easy to hunt at Isabela.  We made a deal not to shoot these guys because they aren’t much of a challenge even though they did provide a delicious meaty meal.

Back at our anchorage the Hobie sailed us around.  A dorado shot past Roy fishing on the stern, through the anchorage, and back out to deep water.  Roy was so excited that he grabbed Matt and jumped in the dinghy to troll around the anchorage.  No luck, but a nice try.

Like most everyday, we had a blast! There was beach time, rock climbing, fishing, sailing and swimming.

Matt and Courtney sailed the Hobie back to Caleta Partida while we brought the kids, and Roy trolled.  Fish On! always makes Roy happy.  He caught a Bonita/Skip Jack.  It’s part of the tuna family, but not very tasty, so he went back to the sea.

 

 

The starting dosage of Clomid is 50 cialis 25mg mg. REQUIREMENTS:Height: 5.10″-6.2″Age: Late teens into late twenties.Suit Size: 40 (This is standard size for male models, this size may vary depending on client) cialis de prescription Character or “Real People” modeling This is also known as commercial modeling. But, men cheap levitra prescription now have a better reason to increase or regularly have caffeine generated beverages such as sports drinks, teas, coffees etc. Tribulus terrestris viagra no prescription overnight is a flowering plant native to southern Europe, southern Asia, throughout Africa, and in northern Australia.