Moto Adventures

Monday, February 16, 2009

Setting up camp on our overnight camping trip to Parisima and Commundu.



Overlooking La Parisma. An oasis of date palms and farms in the center of which is, of course, the mission.

Ken gets gas for the bike at an out of the way station.



The road (what road?) is a little washed out from the hurricane in October, it is probably the worst road he has had to double me over. I'm just glad I decided not to ride my bike!


An Orielle feeds on an orange at our camp.



The view down to the Sea of Cortez from the top of the climb on the mountian bikes, on our way to San Javier mission.



San Javier in the background, just to prove we really did make it.



Oh Crab!


Ever have that feeling someone is watching you?


Captian Ken kicks back.


Yellowtail tuna, caught and sushi that very same day.


Ken gets his first ride ever in a helicopter. Yes, he was excited.


Below, Ken had great of views of rattlesnake beach, the port of Escondido, and off in the distance Juncalito beach.


Juncalito beach


Getting the vegies ready to go with our goat.


The 3 cabritas on the fire.
Sitting around the fire with a belly full of good food.

Ken climbed a little higher than us on our hike up the chimney canyon.


Our campsite at Juncalito.


Isla de Carmen, off the coast of Juncalito in the Sea of Cortez.


Dolphins looking up at us.



Dolphins swimming under our zodiac.


More dolphins, they are way too cool!


Bouganvilla at a ranch we drove through on one of our bike rides.

Which way do we go?


Can you believe time is going so fast? Juncalito is about to be nothing but a memory for another year…again. We absolutely love it here with the Sea of Cortez at our doorstep and the Montanas de Gigantiga nestled all around us, it is no wonder we continue to come here year after year.

A few things have changed a bit since last year. The City of Loreto has started to charge the campers on the beach (we always wondered when that would happen), they pulled up onto the beach and asked each rig for 196 pesos, that’s about $18 Canadian per night. Yikes!!! From free to extravagant. However, here was the catch, if we paid the guy there on the spot we could pay for five nights and stay for 15, what a deal that works out to about $6 a night which is not a bad price and the stay on the beach is worth all of that. If we chose to go into Loreto to the office it would cost us the total 196 pesos per night, a much better deal on the beach. He gave us a receipt for our payment and said he would be back everyday and not to worry he would get to know who paid and we would not be bothered. Of course we were not bothered because he didn’t show up again for 2 weeks. Free beaches here in Mexico are getting harder and harder to find, we don’t begrudge the Mexicans free enterprise we just hope the money is going to the right people.

We have been very busy since we arrived here in Juncalito. The weather, some say, is warmer than usual but the nights are still down to around 8 C. We have been walking a nice little 40 minute loop every morning after the sun is up and has warmed the beach a little, we seem to pass everyone else coming back…there are a lot of early risers around here.

The waters have been pretty calm so I have been out in the kayak a few times including a little excursion to a little restaurant for tacos and ceviche, with Elaine and Linda. Ken and I have been out in the Zodiac a few times, one morning we happened upon a pod of dolphin which swam with us and did what seemed like a dance with boat a we skimmed along the water above them. I attempted to take a video with my camera but the sun was at the wrong angle and all that recorded was a great shot of the sun and cloud reflected off the water. On the same trip we spotted a blue whale and watch it for a while, the sea life in the Sea of Cortez is amazing.

The fishing has been so-so, Ken has not even bothered to get a fishing licence. Teresa and Avery, out fearless fisherpeople from California, have had few good catches and have fed the beach with Yellowtail Tuna a few times, not to mention the clams they have supplied for our Juncalito pizzas (clams halved and topped with chipolte hot sauce and cheese, cooked over an open fire, yummy). I brought the fixin’s for sushi with me this year so I made some for an happy hour and a few days later gave Linda and Teresa a lesson on Heather’s style of making sushi, right or wrong as it may be it is still too good when made with tuna caught that day. We are so spoiled!

Today we leave...north. I will have to add pictures later as time permits.