San Carlos

Im back in Guaymas- Colin and I had a wonderful week in San Carlos and now this afternoon we are taking the bus down to Mazatlan. Last weekend a big hurricane passed through Mazatlan and we saw some footage on the news that looked like lots of places were flooded. When we saw the storm on the tv, we were like oh shit where is that, and they were like Mazatlan is devastated, and we were like wait thats where we are going. Then we decided it was a good idea to follow the news more, plus it helps practice spanish. So yesterday we bought a newspaper and they had articals on the hurricane damage and it sounds like the road we are taking is not in such good condition, and the part of the trip just north of Mazatlan that is supposed to take and hour and a half is now taking 10 hours, so I guess there is a chance we are about to be on the bus for a very long time-- well it should be an interesting adventure. The long bus rides are crazy as we experienced before, but I feel like you get a good taste of Mexico getting out at 3 in the morning to pee behind some building with people handing you toilet paper to use if youre lucky and there are other people up all night making tacos for the hungry passengers. I just hope we can make it, and things arent in too bad of a condition. I guess thats what happens when you travel during hurricane season. At least after that we are headed inland to Guadalajara, so there shouldnt really be storms there. Well last week we got our fun in the sun, and it has been so hot that I just sweat like a crazy woman all day long, so some variety might be nice.
The last two days in San Carlos Colin and I splurged and we rented a double kayak. We rowed all around and there were little islands to explore with caves and arches you could go through and we spent some time in a private little cove and then the next day we went out to an island called honeymoon island that we had all to ourselves, except for all of the pelicans and gulls that were around us. It is fun to watch the pelicans fishing because they dive straight into the water and swoop up the fish in their giant pouches. We also ate some pinapple and mango and life was good! Except man are my arms sore-- Im not used to using them so much. We have been adventuring all over the place and it makes me realize that relaxing beach vacations can be very tiring too. There are these mountains in San Carlos called Tetakawi (or goat tits) that stick up and can be seen from everywhere. So one day Colin and I tried to climb up them-- we got up really early and headed out to avoid the heat of the day, but it was still so hot we were sweating from the start. We got really close to the goat tits, and there were giant cacti everywhere and the ocean was bright blue and it was really beautiful, but then to get to the top required some bushwacking which turned out to be kind of dangerous and the shrubs were thick, so we didnt make it all the way. But we hung out for a bit at a beach by there and then went back to our hotel for a siesta. I love siestas, they are really the way to go! We have been going on a lot of swims to get excersize as well and a few times we have made it out pretty far and then dolphins appeared and we got to swim around with them which was really fun.
San Carlos is so nice! The water is amazing and then on land there are huge mountains that look kind of like the ones in Boulder, except desert style with lots of cactus and not much else. The people have been great too. When we had our kayak overnight we had to find a way to get it from the beach back to our hotel and it turned out to be too heavy to carry so we weren{t sure what to do. We asked the guy who ran our hotel what he thought and he said he would give us a ride in his truck! Then the next morning we were faced with the same problem, but we were going downhill so we thought we might be able to carry it. We did for a few steps and then I heard a shout saying, Do you need help? I turned around and a man up the street was running to his truck and he came right over and drove our kayak back to the beach, so it turned out we never had to carry it anywhere. I love the friendliness! Oh yeah, another thing that impressed me... a house right by our hotel always has all of these dogs barking and we asked the guy who gave us a ride about that and he told us that is an old woman who has 22 dogs and 13 cats in her house. I thought that was crazy, and then he said she saved them all off of the street, and I thought that was pretty neat.
Well I guess thats all for now. Colin and I have been hiding out in the internet cafe for a little to avoid the heat of the day- its a scorcher today, but now Im getting hungry. Time to find some local comida. Oh yeah, one last thing, another bonus of having our hotel room with a kitchen was that we got to go tto the grocery store and cook our own Mexican food which was a treat becuase eating out all the time can get old, and sketchy. But so far no sickness for me!! Man do I love mexican food!!

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