Thursday, January 27, 2011

Loreto life

Jan 19 to Jan 26 2011
A couple observations about life here. There are no local newspapers, no bus stop benches, no yellow pages  and essentially no radio/TV advertising. So they seem to rely on cars and trucks, driving up and down the street with big loudspeakers blaring their messages through out the neighborhoods. I find it rather annoying, (no real concept of noise pollution here) and it is especially prevalent right now because their major election is Feb 6th. But, I'm trying my best to accept it all.
mobile advertisement, and a political billboard in background



There is a store in town called ISSSTE, it is a government run, subsidized market that is supposed to help supply the poorer people with everyday/basic commodities. Anyone one can shop there, and I do. But they only have basics; toilet paper, rice, beans, flour, sugar, canned goods, soaps (and the best price in town for booze).

ISSSTE store

A "caravan" came into camp today. This is an escorted/guided group of RV'ers, apparently they feel better bunched up and traveling together. Very organized, they all had two way radios, and had to follow certain rules regarding order of entry and exit. It was quite a scene, definitely not my style, but at least they were brave enough to come here.

Went fishing, got skunked again, but got a fine photo of a pelican. These birds are so much fun to watch. They dive bomb their prey, sometimes from pretty high altitude, and smack the water hard, and about 90% of the time they come up with a fish.
Mexican Air Force

Had some excellent raw seafood in a local restaurant. A mixture of octopus, clams, shrimp and scallops, avocado, onions and cucumber, in lime-chili dressing. Sounds weird, but it was really tasty. And discovered a new favorite drink, clamato juice, chili sauce, lemon and beer; not sure what it was called. None of this stuff was on the menu, I was with a local who did all the ordering.

I've been looking at real estate off and on, and have been frustrated with what the gringo realtors are showing me. They only seem to show gringo type houses (250K and above). I'm more interested in a local flavor and blending in more in an integrated atmosphere (and way less money).


 Here is a place that I found, possibly do-able. About an 800 sq meters lot, 2 bedroom house, fully fenced with some decent trees; mangoes, lemons and oranges; on a paved street. $98K US.
















Went on a neat hike with a neighboring camper. Lots of canyons heading up into the heights of the Sierra Gigantes mountains. This place was called Tabor Canyon, accessed by a dirt road near Puerto Escondido. You hike (maybe more of a climb actually) up this canyon for about 1.5 miles, then it just gets too tough to go any further. Lots of bouldering is necessary, slow going and kind of a slot canyon feel. Some water still in the deeper pools, waterfall evidence and lots of palm trees. This would be even more spectacular during the summer (rainy season).

starting point for Tabor Canyon hike
about half way up the canyon floor