It was wonderful being back in La Paz, my first real trip since moving back three years ago. Great to see a few old friends, and nice to be recognized around town (everyone wanted to know where Nefarious was of course). As well as revisiting many of my favorite places, we did plenty of things I never got around to doing when I lived there like driving out to the cactus sanctuary (more interesting than it sounds like) near the old mining “ghost town” of El Triumfo. We even visited the piano museum with it’s delightfully odd potential-vampire host.
Of course I got almost no work done!
Most things were the same, but I was surprised to see a massive development — a full subdivision with about a hundred homes and two skyscrapers — has been built on the sand bar across from the Malecon… The first serious hurricane is going to wash the whole thing away, and apparently it’s built very cheaply and is already falling apart before people have even moved in. Not sure if they’re having trouble selling them… I guess real estate down there is really hurting because with the low prices in the States due to the decimated economy, the deals are Stateside. My old house there seems to have been deserted and has been entirely taken over by the plant nursery next door who are now using the property for storage.
Caitlin with a sea lion swimming under her:
We rented a car while we were there and being back in Canada it sure strikes me how much more I enjoy driving in Mexico — people are much more intelligent drivers. I think having looser rules as far as stop signs and such goes forces people to think.
We ate a ton of tacos. I think I’m still stuffed.
Is it racist to say that I have an issue with Chinese tourists? People don’t seem to think it’s wrong to comment on the “ugly American” stereotype, but really, the Americans were polite if a bit dopey, but the Chinese tourists were without exception loud, obnoxious, rude, and unappreciative of what they were experiencing… Very unpleasant to be around.
Anyway… Zillions of pictures from Mexico follow (seriously, bandwidth hog after the break) — general pictures from La Paz, El Triumfo, and San Antonio, at the beaches of Tecolote and Ballandra, around Isla Espiritu Santo (where we got lucky and saw not only dozens of dolphins, but several grey whales as well), snorkeling at the sea lion colony, and more.
14 Comments
I have often wondered; how safe is it to swim with sea lions? Something the size of a VW beetle can be rather unpredictable, I would think… but after meeting a wild dolphin off the coast of San Diego, I am wondering if they’re just as friendly?
it looks beautiful..what an amazing trip..
Sea lions in this context are safe to swim with… As long as you don’t mess with them they’re not motivated to fight.
I’m told that they can however get a little ‘amorous’ though. Thankfully I am still not fat enough to turn them on.
J, the seals were small, like, human sized and smaller. So they weren’t scary in the least. Not to mention that they are around humans everyday and aren’t nervous about it, they seemed to enjoy the attention!
How are you finding the new camera Shannon? I bought myself the same one with my boxing day money, but haven’t had a chance to use it for any of it’s real intended uses yet. To be honest, I’m a little scared.
The camera is great — very sturdy. The premium to buy a camera that’s solidly waterproof as well as shock and dust proof has been totally worth it.
In 2005 we swam with huge sea lions and they were great with everyone. We knew not to get too close.
It’s nice seeing the beach where Clive and I went on our first “date”!
It looks like you made some wonderful new memories there. How lucky for you! :)
what about the ring’s story? ;) had luck?
“is it racist…”
ships didn’t fall off the globe once they got past the horizon.
Empirical data.
My Kraut family are all parsimonious cheapskates. All krauts are parsimonious cheapskates.
I have a chinese friend who told me its very crowded and hectic in chinese cities, and that to make do in day to day life(shopping etc) you pretty much HAVE to be loud, pushy and obnoxious or youre the one who gets pushed out of the way. She returned to China to visit family after living in the U.S. for 10 years or so and found it difficult to manage there after being acclimated to living here.
Beautiful photos!
Aside from the scenery and you two looking so precious together my favourite pictures were the Turkey Vulture and the Sandy Parrot fish Carcass, not something I see every day here in BC. (Well the vultures I do in the summertime! hehe).
Happy New Year!
I love the sand in picture four *swoon*
I’m so happy you got to share your love of mexico with someone as appreciative of it as you.
The book seems to be coming along- looks great!
The thought of Mexican drivers being more intelligent had also ocurred to me. I live in Mexico City and the drivers are terrible, you see people running through red lights all the time and doing all sorts of things that would get you a ticket in 10 seconds in any other country. But what’s astonishing is how rarely you see any actual car crashes. I think people are so used to other drivers being stupid, that they’re a lot more alert and ready to swerve out of the way of danger in a fraction of a second, whereas driving amongst “civilized” drivers becomes such an automatic and predictable process that people lose the ability to react effectively to perilous situations.
That’s my theory, at least.
I’m so happy for you two. congrats on the engagement. being married to someone you truly connect with is an amazing experience. my husband is the light of my world. I wish you both only the very best.
One Trackback/Pingback
[...] that I like very much and that I think warrant further explanation. They were already posted on Zen, but I will provide the [...]
Post a Comment