Click on a photo to enlarge it.
Just as we were having our breakfast on Monday morning, a very large RV got stuck in the sand right behind us! So,
good neighbours as we are, we got out and went to help. We ended up digging under his tyres and putting our plastic
mats, from inside Winnie, underneath. Fortunately, someone else had a four wheel drive and pulled him out. But without
our mats it would have taken a lot longer. The problem was that all the sand right behind us was now all churned up
so there was no way we could reverse out anymore. So we knew we would have to find a different way out.
It was quite cold and windy, so we couldn't get our canoe out. We're beginning to think that Tecolote beach is always
cold and windy! But at least we went for a walk along the beach and said hello to the German couple that we´d met last
time we were here who recommended a great chicken place to get a very cheap roasted half chicken and chips in La Paz
where we went for lunch the next day. We were heading for San Carlos on the West coast but after a checkpoint, where
one of the army guys rummaged through Kirstens knickers whilst "supposedly" checking Winnie!, it was getting too late
for us to get that far. So we found a different RV park in Cuidad Constitucion where we dry camped for the night.
We got woken up early by a cock crowing and then couldn't get back to sleep again! We wanted to drive to San Carlos
but we got our petrol problem again - the valve cut off to say that the tank was full but we had less than half a tank.
So we found a garage and 4 mechanics spent an hour on the problem and it only cost us $10 !! (including tips) Whether
they have managed to cure the problem, we won't find out for another 3 months, as we seem to get the problem in 3 month
intervals! But at least we could fill our tank up!
So we finally got to San Carlos and were so impressed that we turned around and drove back to Cuidad for a second night!!
Mind you, we nearly didn't make it, as Kirsten drove on the wrong side of the road thinking it was a dual carriageway.
Helen kept telling her to move over to the right and Kirsten kept saying "Yeah, yeah, in a minute!" The people behind us
just thought we were stupid Americans!
We spent the next four nights at Puerto Lopez Meteos at Bahia Magdalena, next to an airstrip used by the flying doctors
who hold surgeries every month and flew in the weekend we were there. There is lots of whale watching to be done here.
And we literally had a whale of a time! As soon as we got parked up, we could see lots of grey whales swimming past. We
saw four whales breaching but unfortunately, couldn´t get them on video. Kirsten tried and ended up not even seeing three
breaching! When it got a bit cooler, we sat in Winnie with the binoculars and watched them. We had a perfect spot! We
could even hear them blowing through their blow holes throughout the night!
The next morning we took the canoe out for 2 hours and got even closer to the whales. We saw them sky hopping - where they
come vertically out of the water just up to their eyes so they can have a look, before going vertically back down into the
water. It's a kind of "up periscope" for grey whales! Just as we were coming back to shore a boat came along side and we
got told that we weren't allowed to canoe here. There are no signs up, but they probably think we should pay $60 per person
for a whale watching tour. Anyway, it didn't matter because we were on our way back and we just spoke German to them and
pretended we didn't understand!
Kayaking amongst the grey whales.
The next day we went out for a boat ride with one of our neighbours - Barry, a very fit 62 year old from Florida - who
had a small panga with an outboard motor. At one point we got so close to the whales that we could hardly get out of the
way fast enough. We´d come across some whales mating - the mating ritual involves 2 males and 1 female (probably to make
sure it works as they only get to mate once a year!) and a lot of rolling around in the water! They were obviously too
busy to think about us in a small panga! Kirsten thought they were going to hit us with their huge fins and you can hear
the panic in her voice on the video (along with a lot of heavy breathing!)
After about an hour of watching the whales, we carried on further and went to one of the large islands nearby and parked
the boat up. We walked over the dunes to the other side and then we set off down the sandy beach which went for miles and
miles without seeing any other footprints and there wasn't a soul in sight. Not a living soul at any rate! We actually
found a dead body whilst searching for whale bones for Barry. The body was already part skeleton but it was difficult to
say how long it had been there. One thing was for sure - it hadn't been reported otherwise it wouldn't still be there!
We thought the body might have been the skipper of a shipwrecked boat from San Francisco that was about 200 yards away.
We decided we would report it when we returned and carried on looking for whale bones. Barry ended up carrying a large
vertebrae all the way back to the boat and Kirsten carried a rib bone for him. She also collected some huge shells which
were still intact - another sign that this part of the island is rarely visited. We walked for nearly 4 hours and on the
way back we saw more whales breaching. What a day!
Adventure day with Barry.
We invited Barry over later and had quesadillas with salad and cheesecake to follow. He'd been to the doctors surgery at
the airstrip, already full of small planes, to report the body and the next day he went with 9 people including the police,
2 forensic people and a sort of coroner from La Paz to show them where the body was. It took 5 hours to get there and
recover the body. Meanwhile, we went out in our canoe again. We didn´t want to go too far, but the tide and the wind were
against us on the way back and we had a real problem getting back. We had to pull up to a beach and walked along for a
while, pulling the canoe alongside in the water to give our arms a rest. Then we got the rudder out and managed to get back
4 hours later - exhausted!
