Mexico

After 12 days and 1,000km, Sharon and I arrived in La Paz the day before Valentines Day. It´s only been 2 weeks, but already feels much longer. It´s tiring being on the move so often. We´ve been making our way down relatively quickly with the exception of our 6 night stay in San Ignacio where we found the perfect place to settle down and rest. We were fortunate to find accomodation at a place I stayed before. And instead of a yurt, we stayed in a huge tent with real beds and electricity. It was like camping but with comforts. Our favorite accommodation so far. San Ignacio was also the place where we knew we´d encounter our trip´s first highlights and wow were they something. San Ignacio is a popular jumping off point for whale watching. We wasted no time and on our 2nd day we made plans to go see them. It had to be the best whale watching experience I ever had. Not only were they there in huge numbers, mostly mothers and their babies (the lagoon is warm and the perfect place for giving birth and resting before making their return journey up the California coast), but seeing them up close and like never before. We got great views of heads, tails, incredible splashes as they came high out of the water and we were even incredibly fortunate when a massive adult came right up to the boat and allowed all of us to touch it! I feared that with all of us leaning over the side of the boat we would tip over if the whale itself didn´t keep it´s body pressed up against our boat practically holding us up. Though these whales are known for being friendly it never crossed my mind that I would actually be able to touch and ´pet´such a creature, but I did and it was absolutely amazing. I´d describe it as being soft, slick, rubber like. The whale even seemed to have a sense of humor as well that while we were all leaning over touching it it gave us a face full from its blow hole. So funny!! I don´t know where else in the world you can have such a close encounter. What a moment! The following day, we were off to see ancient cave paintings of Santa Martha in the Sierra de la Francisco. We met a couple at the B&B, Pam & Steve who were also on their way there and allowed us to ride in the back of their pick up to go see them. Not only was the 2-hour ride their incredibly gorgeous and scenic, but the 1.5 hour hike to the caves was good training for more serious hiking to occur in the Copper Canyon. The paintings were impressive and the pictures we took turned out really well. Seeing them certainly left all of us with so many questions. When? How? Who? Our spanish speaking guide who lives on a nearby, yet extremly remote ranch said he sees only a few tourists coming to see them. There are numerous paintings throughout the area some easier to get to then others. The rest of our time in San Ignacio was spent meeting lots of kind and interesting people, going for a kayak ride on the resevoir, and taking in the sights of the small yet lovely and peaceful town. We then left for Loreto with, Pat, a marine biologist from San Francisco with whom we spent a couple days together just hanging out taking in what the town had to offer before he had to head back home. Just one of many great people I expect to meet along the way. Tomorrow we go to Todos Santos which is not far from Cabo San Lucas for a few days then we return to La Paz to catch the ferry to the mainland for Copper Canyon. The next major leg of our trip. Will try and post pictures just as soon as I´m able. Have fabulous shots to share of the whales. Hasta luego!