Baja Paradise 09

Saludos de los Barriles. The weather here has been very weird the last few weeks, still a lot of wind which has prevented me from kayaking but I guess the alternative of snow and rain is much worse so I don't complain. The fisherman are none too happy either. Our painter from last year, Rogelio, came by for a visit. He said that he had no work for three months and hopes for it to pick up with the coming fishing season. Gringo tourism is really down here as it is in many places so the locals are really hurting. About a week ago we took a ride over to La Ribera where they are building a new marina and hope that it will soon be a booming tourist trap. It didn't appear that much construction ... read more

Hola..............Mike's only question is " Who says a flatlander can't catch a fish in the Baja?" He is very proud of his white fish that he caught on Thursday. He went out with Bert, a great guy here in the park. They fished just down the way off the beach here in a deep hole about 300 feet . Bert had all the equipment and he was sure that they would have luck and they did. The guys got back, skinned and cleaned it and that is what we had for dinner! Fish tacos! Very scrumptious too. Can't get much fresher than that. Lots of dorado (aka mahimahi--sp???) is being caught in the last few weeks so we have plenty of that in our freezer now too! Oh, and I got a new refrigerator with a ... read more

It has been awhile since I last entered a blog but things are still going well for us here. Bob and Joyce were here for about a week and we tried to "acclimate" them with cultural experiences so as to immerse them with an authentic "feel" for the Baja. They will be entering a "guest blog" here soon to relate their experiences. Before they got here, we were able to get our "gate" work finished up. Arturo stepped up the work when he realized that just "being in the park" for six hours did not net him six hours of wages when he only worked three! He got another job and he must have realized that the gringos talk and he was working a LOT faster. We are also the talk of the park as we ... read more

Monday we travelled to La Paz about 70 Miles north of here to attend the Carnaval which is a long awaited event each year for residents of the city. It marks the celebration occurring right before the season of Lent which begins tomorrow. This year the celebration of dance, music, food and costume began the 19th and closes on the 24 of February. Eight residents from Costa Brava hit the road early yesterday and stayed in a colonial style hotel just about 3 blocks from the event site. Although the hotel was not a luxury hotel by US standards, it was comfortable, clean, quiet and quaint. We learned that people here begin preparing for this fiesta months before the actual event. It was obvious when we saw the creations in the parades! Not only is there ... read more

Not much new to report here. The big "drama" in the park is the structure being built on the front that is made out of steel. Everyone is up in arms b/c of the welding that is going on which poses a huge fire danger to the palapas. First the structure was way too high so they had to lower it. In the process of lowering the trusses, more welding along with more sparks. The owners on either side of this are very nervous as are most of the folks because it is so dry. One spark combined w/ the propane gas everyone uses, and this park could be history. Add to that low water pressure, no fire trucks or fire station.........now, remember where we are. Just a couple of weeks ago there was a fire ... read more