Headed North

Tomorrow we head back home after a fun time in Mexico learning about the Baja peninsula. We are headed back to Seattle to recover and prepare for our next trip. And to see Seamus. Ain't life grand?!

Lunch at Ensenada Muertos

On our trip to Ensenada de Muertos for lunch, I did get a few photos of the scene. I can easily see why someone would choose to be here. The view is amazing.

A Last Look at Todos Santos

Here's one of the shops on Calle Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla not far from the Los Adobes restaurant. A check on Google Earth shows that the Tropic of Cancer runs just about exactly through this shop.

A Few Birds to Enjoy

Another drive to Ensenada de Muerta for lunch and Restaurant 1535. Along the way we met a few of our feathered friends and I thought I'd share a few photos. The first, the Brown Pelican, was at the boat ramp near the restaurant.

Another Visit to Todo Santos

It cooled off a bit so we decided to make another visit to Todo Santos. It turns out that the Tropic of Cancer runs right through town. In fact, we parked only a few meters away from the line according to Google Earth.

Cookng Lesson

We enjoyed a delightful evening with Bernardo and Hilda as they taught us to cook some very tasty dishes. Here you see Bernardo stirring the chilled avocado in preparation to putting it in the fridge.

B&W Retrospective

Seems like a good time to revisit some recent photos and explore them in monochrome. A few of the images from our trip north of town benefit from the conversion. This bush is just putting on it's wet-season clothes. The clouds, the photogenic star of the day, brings drama to this seasonal event.

Cactus Wren

Under a bush near the road we found a Cactus Wren rummaging in the litter for a bit to eat.

Along the Coastline

North of La Paz, along the Sea of Cortez, is a bare coastline filled with life. The Great Gray Heron is surveying for his lunch.

Magnificent Frigatebird

On a drive up the coast headed north from La Paz, we found a many Magnificent Frigatebirds circling along the shore. These pirates of the air are fascinating.

Piano Museum

Oddly enough, in this small mining town of El Triumfo, there is a museum that has collected a variety of pianos and organs that were used here abouts.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

There is a small church in the small town of El Triumfo, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Hooded Oreole

During an outing to El Triumfo, we found some Hooded Oreoles busy with their lives. Out by the main road through the town, there was bug filled broken light that was clearly popular with local population.

Dancing in the Streets

As is the case in many places in the world, people in La Paz solicit money in the streets at stop lights. Sometimes they juggle, sometimes they sing. This morning we saw them dancing what seems to be traditional dance in the street for money.

A Ride into the Mountains

We took a ride out of La Paz into the mountains to meet a new friend with our housesitting friend, Deborah. It is surprising how green the land becomes as the altitude increases. This is the region of fruit growers and our new friend, Renee, is among them.

Along the Malecon

The world of house sitting is an interesting one. A house sitter we "met" online a few years ago, Deborah, we've now met in real live while she is also house sitting in La Paz. We've enjoyed several outings together including a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant. After our meal, we had a pleasant walk along the Malecon and participated in a Friday evening perambulation by the sea.

Jardin Velasco

A common resident of the parks in La Paz are the White Winged Doves. This one we found Jardin Velasco.

Cathedral of Our Lady of La Paz

The cathedral is modest affair. Certainly compared to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, this is an unimposing facility.

Ensenada Muerta

Ensenada Muerta (Dead Cove) is an interesting little place. There's a boat ramp, a section of sandy beach on one side and a bar/restaurant on the other.

Driving Over the Mountain

To get from the La Paz to the beach on the road we chose required driving over the mountains. This provided us with an impressive show in the sky with the clouds taking on beautiful shapes.

The Turkey Vulture

On a ride in a different direction out of town toward the coast, we came across a collection of Turkey Vultures waiting near a very smelly (probably fish) dinner.

Driving North of La Paz

Hurricane John is lurking of the west coast of Baja and is bringing in some clouds. We learned this afternoon that towns farther west of us have had power outages due to wind but so far, no rain.

With the clouds comes a reduction in the oppressive heat and a more interesting sky for photos.

Todos Santos

Todos Santos is a lively small town on the Pacific side of the peninsula. Apparently home to the (most likely "a") Hotel California.

Northern Crested Caracara

Not far outside the "bustling" center of San Pedro, we found this handsome fellow sitting atop one the multitude of cardon cactus lining the roadway. This is the Northern Crested Caracara.

San Pedro

We headed west and south toward Todos Santos and along the way we passed through the village of San Pedro. Out beside the road we found this fellow roasting a few goats for the restaurant at the roadside.

Museo de La Ballena

We choose to head over the Museo de La Ballena to learn about whales. Naturally, we assumed it would be air conditioned. Naturally, we were wrong.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

As the heat continues, we thought it'd be smart to visit a nice cool church to take some photos. Well it was nice to visit this church but it was far from cool. You will notice in some of the photos that you see fans. Of course they are off today since there is no service in progress.

Along the Coast to Playa Tecolote

On yet another hot, clear afternoon, we took a drive along the Sea of Cortez to the small seaside resort of Tecolote. Along the way we saw a diverse range of habitats. Above is a look back toward La Paz.

A Bit of Breakfast

Yesterday we decided to rent a car for the duration and our first outing was to have breakfast at nice restaurant in El Centro. The best freshly squeezed orange juice ever.

The Pacific Coast

Our drive from San Jose del Cabo to La Paz took us along the Pacific coast line before heading east to La Paz. We stopped for lunch at a small resort call Cerritos Surf Town.