Espiritu Santo Natural Marine Park

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After a 4.5-hour flight, we left the minus temperature and snow in Calgary behind to arrive in La Paz with a temperature of 30-degree C. A departure delay and then arrival delays, resulted in us arriving in La Paz just in time for dinner so provisioning “Rukba”, a 41’ Beneteau, had to wait until the morning. The crew went into town to buy provisions while I had the chart briefing and boat orientation. As soon as the provisions were on board, we would be off, I thought. Not So!

Apparently, they were unable to buy alcohol until 2pm as it was election day. The crew threatened mutiny if there was no beer nor wine onboard, so we delayed our departure until 3pm after the beer was in the cooler and the wine cellar was stocked.

After a short sail we anchored in Puerto Balandra. The famous mushroom rock “El Hongo”, which had collapsed due to years of erosion and tourists climbing on the rock, has been raised and reinforced. I am often amazed at the lengths environmentalists will go to preserve the status quo instead of allowing nature to take its course.

After a couple of days exploring the islands of Espirito Santo, Partida, and Isla San Francisco we anchored in the well-protected bay of San Evaristo, a quiet little fishing village. Lupes Sierra and Maggie Mae are the charming patrons of a beach-front restaurant where we enjoyed grilled yellow fin tuna and fish stew. Brad bought freshly caught fish which he grilled on the boat’s BBQ the next night.

On the return sail to La Paz, we explored Amortajada, a mangrove lagoon home to herons and snowy white egrets, by kayaks then motored around Los Islote famous for its sea lion rookery that has grown to over 700 sealions.

The winds were mostly favorable, and the trip was punctuated by snorkeling on the coral and kayaking along the white sandy beaches. Pelicans and frigate birds were in abundance, and we also spotted, dolphins, a whale breaching, flying rays, and turtles.

Rubka has been returned to Dream Yacht Charters and we are now relaxing at a Paraiso del Mar, a beach-front resort in La Paz. I’m already planning our next sailing trip.

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Photos

El Hongo
Mushroom rock restored to its former glory

San Evaristo
A well-protected anchorage and fishing village