As a young person, I learned about the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and I thought how exciting it would be to go there. It was a dream I held onto. The biggest challenge, however was learning to scuba dive. That is one challenge I wasn’t willing to chase at the time. I’ve not found enjoyment being underwater, in fact I barely put my face in the ocean, and then it’s only to snorkel (on the surface). Jumping the waves, boogie boarding, walking on the beach? Sure. But no surfing or swimming in the ocean for me. I let my dream of seeing the barrier reef simmer on the back burner, thinking of it only occasionally as the years sped by.

It’s been easier to enjoy the ocean since I moved to Baja Sur, because I’ve spent more time snorkeling, swimming in the waves, and I learned that I can dive under the waves to get out farther. Before I would only go out as far as I could and keep my feet on the bottom. Now I do more than jump the waves like I did as a kid. But a respectful fear of the ocean has always been with me.

Coming through the whole cancer treatment gave us both a pretty clear message: We have to live. Really live. Experiences are what we crave now. We have always been frugal, saved money, not spent much on travel, etc. Owning things has much less significance to us these days. Adventures have greater appeal. I don’t think I’ll be on my death bed talking about how I owned an iPad or a great closet full of clothes. No. I’ll be talking about the trips I’ve taken, the thrills and the risks I’ve had.

So let’s go to Belize. We’ve paid for the airplane trip, put a deposit on the hotel and some excursions offered by the hotel like cave tubing and zip lining in the Belize jungle. When I learned that Belize had the second largest barrier reef, my old dream came swimming back into my consciousness. It isn’t Australia’s barrier reef, but Ambergris Caye in Belize is known for diving and snorkeling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize_Barrier_Reef

I’m including this next link to an article about the wonderful sights and activities in store for us.

http://www.thisisinsider.com/ambergris-caye-best-destination-in-central-america-2016-7

This will be a trip of a lifetime so I must face my fears. Why would one go all the way to this famous dive paradise and not dive? Greg is all in. He’s a water man already and has been most of his life. We have done a fair amount of fishing together in a 16′ aluminum boat of our own when we lived in the Pacific Northwest. Since moving here, he’s drawn into the sea to surf almost everyday, and he loves to snorkel, diving down while holding his breath. He has reminded me many times of all the things I miss by staying on the surface.

Apparently now, as I approach my 72nd birthday, is the time to learn how to scuba dive. I’m nervous, but like I said, “I want to live before I die.” Some girls go swimming; real girls go scuba diving.

Our longtime young friend, Michele, recently took up free diving/spear fishing in Cabo San Lucas, so we asked her if she knew anyone in Cabo who could give us scuba lessons to become certified. We’re in luck. She knows Benoit, who owns The Ocean Tiger’s Dive House, a hostel in Cabo. He is a member of PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors). He has all the skills and the equipment and he partners with Cabo Diver so he can get us out into the open ocean.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/mx/ocean-tigers-dive-house-cabo-san-lucas2.html

After a week of thinking about this leap into scuba diving, I decided to reach out to Benoit. I set us up for the open ocean diving class, and we decided to do it in three days. First day is watching an information video (4 hours long) and then doing skills in the pool. We spent 11 hours the first day immersing ourselves into this new activity. Lots to learn. Second day is the first real ocean diving. Third day is another couple dives in the ocean proving you can do all the skills.

It took me 15 minutes to get into my wet suit. It was still wet from rinsing it out from the last person who used it, making it even more difficult. I was a sweaty mess by the time I pulled it all the way on. Greg had to help me (a lot). Next we got fitted with our BCD (buoyancy control device) and our fins. Off we go to the Cabo Diver boat in the Cabo marina. Am I nervous?  You bet. But I’m going to do this.

The boat trip out for our first dive was crazy. There are a bazillion boats in Cabo. Some are filled with drunken tourists (many of them, in fact) and others bring thrill seekers who want to snorkel, jump from the rocks, and scuba dive.

The thrills of diving are numerous. The ocean is another world, rich with beauty and filled with creatures I’ve only seen in photos. Learning to be a scuba diver is hard for me. I did  well after the first 12 minutes of flailing around trying to get down. I did everything wrong. Did I apply anything I learned the day before? No. Instead I started hyperventllating and lost control of my body and mind. Benoit is looking at me like, “What are you doing? This isn’t what you learned.”

Finally, I settled into it and found myself at the bottom seeing the sights you can’t see from a boat. No photos there, as we are spending a lot of time performing our tricks (skills) and reality is we are too distracted with being in the water with a heavy tank on our backs and all this stuff on. Controlling our breathing and our bodies to make them get to that weightless place gliding in the water is enough for now.

We got to experience rays jumping in between dives. Always a thrill to see.

My second dive of the day was pretty much a disaster. I was tired already and really had experienced all I wanted for one day, but the plan was to make two dives. I probably should have opted out and taken more time for all this fun. But I went back in at the appointed time, and while I’d done pretty darn good during the first dive, I lost control of myself and began breathing in really deep and exhaling with the same vigor. Not the kind of breathing necessary to perform a dive, that’s for sure. What a disappointment I was to myself.

 

People learn at different rates. Greg had the advantage of being comfortable in the water, having been a surfer since he was a kid. He’s more of a dare devil in the first place. No fear. That’s him. Me? I resemble a chicken sometimes.  We have another day coming where I can redeem myself. Oh my! Two more dives and I have to prove I can do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue skies make for a joyful heart. Last evening’s walk made for a satisfying way to end the last day of June.

 

 

El Pescadero where we live has farmland. Basil, poblano peppers, watermelon, and sometimes sage and rosemary grow all over our neighborhood. Sometimes the basil perfume mixes with that of the ocean and I know I’ve died and gone to heaven.

The plant below is called Bad Woman (Mala Mujer). It gets its name from the nasty stinging hairs on its leaves. It is beautiful, but I don’t want to experience those stinging hairs. It is a perennial and blooms mostly May-July, mostly in the southern part of the Baja peninsula, especially in the Cape region.

 

Before the day ends, I snap a few photos in my backyard.

As we begin our morning of July 1st, the moon is still out.

 

 

Bustin’ at the seams this morning with joy.

Later the car will get a much-needed bath, I’ll practice the ukulele, sit in my hammock chair, and read. Sacred Sunday! My wish for you is that you enjoy yourself wherever you are and whatever you do.

The desert is coming alive. Summer is here for sure and I’m using my house fans already. We had such a cold winter. Well, at least it was cold to those who live here full time. I love the lazy, quiet summer, even with the humidity and heat. It’s like taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Sweet, sweet summer.

Couple days ago we went to La Paz to run errands. Stopped at the Bravo Market for bacon (for Greg) and bones (for our dog). I can barely stand the smell of the meat, so I wandered around looking at all the fruit and veggies while Greg waited his turn. In the various juice stands they must make a least 20 different types of fresh fruit and vegetable drinks. More my speed.

After our errands and shopping, we headed out of town toward the pretty beaches–Balandra Bay, and Tecolote Beach. Stunning views. Big city, desert and water and mountains all in one day.

So many shades of blue. It was pretty quiet where I took these photos, but not too far away people were speeding around in jet skies and you could hear the screams of delight from young kids. I prefer the quiet lapping of the water on the shore, but to each her own.

Today’s walk in the neighborhood was fun. Isabela and I have a couple different walks in the hills around where we live. She loves to chase rabbits and she is always stopping to smell something. It’s what dogs do. They have such a sense of smell.

The following is from

 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/dogs-sense-of-smell.html

It says, “For one thing, they possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, compared to about six million in us. And the part of a dog’sbrain that is devoted to analyzing smellsis, proportionally speaking, 40 times greater than ours. Dogs‘ noses also function quite differently than our own.”

That is an interesting site if you are interested in dogs, and who isn’t?

We saw lots of things today, but I only took a few photos. The desert is alive with flowers this time of year.

Oh, and a dead rattlesnake. Poor guy. Isn’t he beautiful? Call me crazy, but I like snakes, though I have a healthy fear of this kind.

 

The photo below is a neighbor’s place. He must pay for a lot of water.

Going to leave you with a photo of my favorite peak– Sierra de La Laguna:

These photos should show you some of the reasons I love my life here in Baja Sur. We live on the “right side” of the wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It all started when my dear friend Dori and her daughter, Lily and Lily’s girlfriend, Annabel came from the US to stay in their home nearby us for a week. They wanted to go to Cabo San Lucas and hike to the iconic arch. Dori said they had done this before, so I gladly accepted the invitation to go with them. I have hiked a lot in my life and think it’s fun. Just because I’m 71 doesn’t mean I can’t hike anymore, right? But I wore flip flops? Really? What the heck was I thinking?

I drove us to Lands End in Cabo by the marina and after parking and avoiding several annoying salesmen trying to get us to buy a boat trip, we got to the beach on foot. That’s where this hike was going to start. But it has been quite a few years since Dori had gone to the arch. The pathway she’s sure they took back then is fenced off.

 

No stopping us though, and we decided to follow the path up Mt. Solmar and see if we could drop down onto a trail to the beach where the arch is.

 

Doesn’t look like much of a trail, does it?

 

This wasn’t a problem for quite a long way, but we realized early on that this wasn’t going to be ending well. The beach is not in the direction we were going, and it got pretty steep without much of a trail. We sent the teen-age girls up alone to see if they could see a trail going down to the beach.

My flip flops made this a tenuous experience. Also, every time I reached for a rock as a hand-hold, there was a little cactus waiting to greet me. Oops. The views from where we were made it worth it though.

 

 

After the girls had gone higher and checked it out, we realized this wasn’t what we wanted to do and we started back down.

I definitely rue the day I didn’t wear my hiking boots or my tennis shoes at the very least. Without support and traction, I was not doing that well. I started to lose my footing at one point and reached out to hold onto a rock, but there was a cactus in that very spot, so in a split second I decided to jump, instead of fall. I landed on some loose rocks, jarring my knees and fell on my butt. Ouch. Not only was I trying to hike in these stupid shoes, I hadn’t had breakfast. It was about 11:30am at this point. The fall made me feel achy and woozy.

I would have kicked myself if that had been possible. Stupid me. At least I brought water along, but it was already half gone.

Turned out that we could see a better (level) path after we got down that headed in the direction we wanted. Dori remarked that she should have listened to her intuition in the first place, as it was pretty obvious that going up this rocky mountain wasn’t going to get us to the arch.

Taking this nice path made for a sweet adventure that ended with more splendid views, but we never made it to the arch. One would have to be a mountain goat to get down the rocks to the beach. Or be wearing better footwear. And maybe being a little younger would have helped me. At any rate, we decided to get back to the beach where we started.

 

We had the privilege to see lots of jumping rays as our finale.

 

We left the beach to the local children and headed to the restaurant to meet our spouses for lunch.

Maybe I’ve learned my lesson too.

Flip flops do not make good hiking footwear.

 

 

 

 

 

When I was a kid I thought the desert was ugly. Really? What was I thinking? Now I get so excited about how many species of cactus I see here in The Baja.

Cactus dreams are mine.

 

Cactus Sunrise

 

Cactus Sunset

 

The one on the right above is from an agave that puts out this last bit of fun before it dies. We used it for a Christmas tree last year and we like it so much we kept it in front (without the lights). The one on the left is a yucca.

Below are two agave “trees” that are coming out of a couple small agaves.

 

 

 

Speaking of lights, we took them from the agave bloom and put them around our cardons in the front. Pretty cool, huh? Cardon cactus (scientific name: Pachycereus pringlei) are native to northwestern Mexico in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur. (“Sur” means “South”)  It is the tallest cactus species known, with a record height of 63′ tall. It is similar, but not the same as, the saguaro cactus found in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona.

The ones below are on the side of my house. We have several cardon in our yard. They make great perches for the birds too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lately I have been painting little pictures of cardon. I was inspired by one of my photos to do this one:

 

Here’s the photo I used:

 

The ones below are growing into quite a clump, which is very common around here.

 

The first time we drove down The Baja, seeing the cactus was mesmerizing to us–the shapes, the sizes, colors, how they grow in such a desolate landscape. The varieties of cactus are endless, and I know only a fraction of what’s out there. The next few photos are from Cataviña on our drive on The Baja.

 

 

 

 

 

This last one in Cataviña is my favorite. It looks like a water color to me. Maybe I’ll attempt to paint this one.

Several of the cactus grow into funny shapes. We say they are “morphed.” I have no idea what causes this strange thing to happen to them. Diversity is everywhere. The one directly below is a pitaya that has morphed into this funny shape.

The next ones are morphed cardon.

 

Cactus are like people. Some of them are pricks and the next thing you know they blossom.

 

 

Here are some of my tries at painting these amazing plants.

 

The ones with the orange flowers are called tuna cactus. The ones with yellow blooms are nopales. I’ve had the paddles from them in salad. So yummy. You can eat the fruit too.

 

This gorgeous flowers above are growing on a pitaya, or organ pipe.

 

It always amazes me how cactus can grow in such rocky places.

Above is a cardon standing alone at Balandra Bay in La Paz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I no longer believe the desert is ugly. It’s full of the most crazy, cool cactus and critters. My life is full of cactus dreams.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A trip to Lopez Mateo in Magdalena Bay gave us more to love about the Baja. The experience was exactly what we wanted, with much more than whales to see. Magdalena Bay is on the Pacific side and after a peaceful morning with whales and dolphins, the boat dropped us off we had a short hike on the dunes to get to the ocean.

 

 

 

 

There are a family of coyotes who live on the dunes. There is no source of fresh water, so they rely on dew on the vegetation. I was surprised at how large they are. There must be a lot to eat.

 

We searched for treasures and found some. These are the largest sand dollars I’ve ever seen.

 

 

We made the trip with Carlos and Paula who own and operate the Todos Santos Surf Shop and Explora Baja. We’ve done the whale shark trip with them several times, but this is the first time for Mag Bay. It’s such an up close look at the gray whales. Our oldest son and his wife came from Florida to visit and we treated them to this side trip. It’s about a six hour drive, but Carlos drove and we had the comfort of a big van. The hotel we stayed in served delicious meals. The evening meal was lobster. Oh my! What a treat.

Our daughter-in-law loves to have her photo taken while she jumps for joy. What a delight.

 

Hearing the whales spout, seeing their tales, and being so close to these creatures gave us thrills.

 

 

 

The mangroves are something to see too. Lots of birds thrive here.

 

 

 

 

The sights and sounds of Magdalena Bay will be with us forever. We’ll definitely go again.

 

 

 

 

The sunrise from our hotel room balcony was beautiful.

 

Memories are made of this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t make this sign or put it in the public access by my house, but I am thrilled that someone did. Zona de Anidacion means Nesting Zone. But it is more than nesting that makes me so unhappy about people driving on the beach. What about the baby turtles as they hatch? It’s hard enough for them to make it to their ocean home going over all the footprints and beer cans and plastic bottles and other plastic crap that people leave on the beach.

Going over tire tracks is a major hurdle for these precious little ones. I’ve seen them as they fall into the rut and end up on their backs struggling to right themselves. It’s bad enough that some dogs dig up nests, and the birds eat the babies as they attempt to get to the sea and crabs eat the eggs in the nest. At least those last two I mentioned are nature at its finest.

But cars and trucks on the beach? Why? Because it’s Mexico and you can do anything you want and get away with it? No rules? You left your brain at home? You left your manners at home? You don’t care?

 

Yesterday I stopped a fisherman from driving his truck over a bunch of baby turtles. I went screaming and waving my arms in his path yelling, “No! No!” As he got closer I reached down and picked up one of the turtles and held it up for the fisherman to see. He got out of his truck and saw for himself all the turtles…must have been about 40 of them right there in front of him. Had I not stopped him, he would have driven over them in his full sized truck.

To his credit, he got right with it, picking up the babies and putting them closer to the water. Maybe that’s not the right thing to do either, but it’s better than driving all over them. He took photos with his phone and I offered to take his photo with the turtles. His smile with those little ones made my morning. We spent a lot more time watching the waves roll up and over them a few times before they finally made it out to swim. The fisherman never did continue driving, rather turned around and went off the beach.

I can’t help but think that if people who drive all over the beach would see this miracle hatching or females laying eggs, that they would stop taking their vehicles on the beach. Maybe that is too optimistic, but I’ve always been more of an optimist than a pessimist. Lack of knowledge about the impact their driving causes has to be one reason they don’t stop.

 

All those black dots are babies heading to the water.

 

These are the mother turtle tracks from coming up to nest and then going back to the water.

And in case you didn’t see my previous post, here is a mother turtle covering her nest. We came upon her early one morning. What a blessing to see this miracle.

I hope this short video of the babies heading to the water will buffer quickly for you.

I promise it is worth your time.

You miss many wonderful things driving on the beach. Here are some things I’ve come upon during my walks.

 

 

Just standing still for awhile to watch the waves, and turning toward the mountains and see the sunrise are two examples.

 

But it is more than that. The peaceful feelings, the wonder, or the magic won’t be yours as you roar down the beach in your vehicle.

Sunrise seen today as I walked on the beach.

 

Please don’t drive on the beach. The turtles need your help.

 

Two days in a row we came upon turtles laying eggs and then going back into the ocean. To say it was a thrill doesn’t quite capture the feeling. Such a blessing to witness this spectacle.

I’ve written extensively about the Olive Ridley turtles in a previous post, but I now can add these photos.

Look closely and you can see the motion of the sand as she covers her nest.

 

There were construction workers who are building houses on the beach. They  came down to view this too with their cell phones out snapping photos. We were all enthralled and excited.

 

 

 

They lay their eggs, cover the nests and go back into the ocean. What a blessing to witness this.

 

 

The bad news is that people drive on our beaches. It is illegal to do so, but it doesn’t stop them. Also, this morning we found four new nests and all of them had been dug up. There were 4 Runner tracks leading to each of them. Disgusting.

Turtles have enough trouble surviving without these creeps digging up the eggs. Ugh.

 

 

 

 

 

Once our clean up after Tropical Storm Lidia is complete, it’s business as usual. We’re working with Salvador at Baja Paperworks in La Paz to become citizens. After we meet with him we stop at the Bravo Market in La Paz to get Greg some bacon. I snap a few photos. Some better than others, but you get the idea.

Bones for Isabela too!

 

Pollo

 

We love the market with its vibrant colors and the rich smell of raw and cooked food. There are lots of choices when it comes to eating and there a lots of juice bars too. If you’ve never been to Bravo Market (on Bravo St.) you are missing some fun.

 

I wonder how you cook a goat head?

 

Ribs anyone?

 

Pretty as a Picture

 

 

 

On the way home from La Paz I get a photo looking through the truck windshield. Never mind the bugs on the windshield. Just enjoy the clouds and blue sky.

 

Which brings me to 14 September 2017

There has been a tremendous amount of turtle nesting activity on “our” beach in El Gavilan (south of Pedrito). It’s unfortunate that so many people choose to ignore the NO VEHICLES ON THE BEACH law. As if it isn’t hard enough for the little turtles to survive to adulthood. We mark the nests when we come across them on our morning walks. Thanks to the storm we have plenty of sticks with which to mark them!

 

Unfortunately, Lidia brought a lot of debris to the beach. Some of it is organic—tree branches, for example, and cactus. But those arroyos are full of garbage and it washed down too. Plastic is everywhere. A fair amount will be in the Pacific Ocean from this as well. So sad.

I remember how hard we worked to clean our beach after Hurricane Odile. Here we go again.

 

The ocean is still quite dirty. The green color in the water indicates this. These photos are from my walk this afternoon.

 

 

Look closely and see the green water in the photo before it turns blue. Green means it’s “dirty” water.

 

We are busy living their lives again, and tonight we are going to the new brewery in Todos Santos for their yummy fish and chips. Look for my blog post on the brewery soon!