It's Getting Warmer on the Sea of Cortez

Picture courtesy of okckayak.com

My mom said in a recent email, "I guess you're making Los Barriles your new residence".  This is true, but soon enough, the wind will die off, and we will be on our way.  Until then, we are kiting our brains out.  The past week has been an amazing, grand-finale in the wind department.  Nearly 4 days in a row of 20+ knot winds, leading to some very sore knees.

The temperatures are starting to rise in the Sea of Cortez as well as on land.  With the change of seasons, we've noticed a lot more sea life, including lots of big turtles.  One of those turtles met my kiteboard yesterday. Good thing he wasn't skinny dipping. I'm still not sure who faired worse, the turtle or my kiteboard, which lost a fin and sustained a pretty nasty ding.  Poor turtle. Poor kiteboard.

Gastronomic Adventures in Los Barriles, Baja

Benign and delicious torta

As I've mentioned in a previous post, one of our pastimes is stuffing our faces with yummy food and drink.  A few weeks ago, we decided to try a nearby lunch stand. We expected to order a burrito, or possibly a torta.  It seemed that almost everyone there, and those that had just left, had ordered a mysterious yet delicious looking soup. We asked, "¿que tipo?". The answer, "menudo". Scott had a vague memory about menudo having a reputation as a hang-over remedy.  We didn't have a hangover, but we still ordered some of the soup and a carne asada torta (beef sammy). I was admittedly excited for the soup because it was filled with hominy and something else that we couldn't quite make out.  When it arrived, I dug into the soup, only to realize menudo is, according to Wikipedia, "tripe, honeycomb and 'librillo' stomach beef meat along with the beef feet and tendons".  I didn't need Wikipedia to realize what I was eating had some sort of histologic/physiologic resemblance to intestines.  I couldn't do it.  I didn't eat one piece of it.  I always thought I was an adventurous eater, but this was too much.   Scott had to take over.  He made a valiant effort, eating about a third of the bowl. His conclusion: menudo may or may not be a hang-over remedy, but you'd have to be drunk to even consider eating it.

Looks delicious doesn't it?  Just don't look too closely.

Plan The Plan's Planny Plan Part III

Before I began composing this post, I had a look at our planny plans from the last couple of years. I found a few interesting things.  In our first planny plan, we had envisioned visiting Thailand and Vietnam in 2011, after our travels in New Zealand.  This, of course, didn't happen due to the timing of our departure from New Zealand and the weather patterns in SE Asia.  Similarly, in our second planny plan, I had mentioned the possibility of sticking around north America until 2012 if weather patterns weren't favorable.  As suspected, our recent research on weather patterns near the equator has affected our latest planny plan.

We have decided to stick around Baja until October. Despite a small tinge of sadness about not heading into the great unknown of mainland Mexico and beyond, we are very excited about hitting all the places in Baja that we missed over the past few months.  Winter, spring, summer, and fall in Baja!  The real challenge will be securing 2 more 6-month visitor visas.  My research suggests that we will be able to get unlimited 6-month visitor visas, BUT we must leave the country and come back in each time.  That means, we will need to hit the USA border on or before May 1st, as well as on or before November 1st.  Simple?  I hope so.

We still intend to drive the Pan American highway all the way through South America.  I won't even try to suggest a timeline though.

Yet Another Fish Story

by Scott
     
As Heather previously noted, I severely jinxed myself by claiming to be the Domino's of fish tacos. For the first 32 days in Los Barriles, I didn't make a single delivery. That changed yesterday, but not without yet another fish story.

It's very frustrating when you can see feeding fish, but can't get them to take your bait. I went through half the lures in my box before finding one that worked. I caught a slender, hard-fighting fish that no one was able to identify. Nonetheless, after over a month without fresh fish tacos, it was gonna get cooked.

Fishing with a dolphin on a glassy, calm morning

I paddled to the shore, and started cleaning the fish at the water's edge. Luke, a fellow struggling fisherman, paddled up to see what I'd caught. I'd just finished cutting the fillets and had already hucked the carcass out to sea. Thinking he might be able to identify the fish for me, I waded out into the shallow water to retrieve the body. Bad idea. Luke couldn't identify the fish, and while my back was turned, a seagull flew off with one of my fillets!

Finally a fish

It was a pretty big chunk of meat for a seagull, so it only flew a bit offshore before landing in the water. I had Luke guard the remaining fillet while I gave chase on my paddle board. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I figured something would come to me.

Fortunately, I had some assistance. Another seagull flew in to get his share. This caused the original thief to fly further out to sea. Since it was still shallow, I was able to reach down and pick up rocks off the sea floor. I heaved a couple rocks at the seagull, and it flew back towards shore, but still didn't give up my fillet. Then, a pelican started harassing the seagull. I threw another rock and both birds took off, leaving my fillet in the shallow water. Success!

We still don't know what kind of fish it is, but tonight, we're having fish tacos. I'm sure they'll be all the more delicious for the struggle.  

Link to January Pictures