No Comment . . .
Well, no, I guess I won’t. (See last comment on previous post). Now this blinking thing won’t let me write anything *after* the photos, but insists on popping the cursor back up in front of the photos.
Anyway, our last full day there I had booked a deep-sea fishing trip for Seamus. He LOVES fishing and wanted to try that. So out we went with Valentino. It was beautiful out there, and a perfect day as they all were. Valentino and his helper scanned the waves for activity and we did see some turtles on the way out. When he found a school of bonito he handed out the rods and let Seamus have a go. It was harder work than lake fishing I think, but Seamus managed to catch several bonito and get them into the boat and one mahi-mahi which got off the hook just as they were bringing it in. It had been a real fighter so I was kind of glad to see it get off.
We didn’t go for any of the big stuff, like swordfish as Seamus just isn’t filled out enough yet to have the weight to handle anything that size. Maybe someday.
After we fished for a couple hours we went in to one of the bays where they have some restaurants and a large area marked off for snorkeling. It’s better that way as some of the snorkeling areas aren’t marked so well and boats do wander in. A collision with a boat, or wrose, its propellor, wouldn’t add anything wonderful to your underwater sightseeing.
We got home mid-afternoon and spent the rest of the day swimming and on the beach. Neither one of us wanted to have to go home the next day, but life intrudes always on these idyllic breaks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5GwhMLgRWk&list=UUsIthqA8dWdIH7f9IFbXAIg&index=5&feature=plcp
I think I forgot to post about our after noon feeding the fish. I’ll post a video where we were feeding them and then I said we should walk out a bit further while the water was calmer, as it had been really rough and the undertow was fierce. I just said that and walked out a couple steps when a big wave and the undertow took me down hard and since I was trying to hold the camera up above the water, I darn near drowned trying to get on my feet again. Seamus had to haul me out, but he did get me out without the camera getting soaked, so that’s good. (Thank you Seamus!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCXBVLbI04I&list=UUsIthqA8dWdIH7f9IFbXAIg&index=1&feature=plpp_video
Seamus and his quatromoto
Granny loves lizards too
Famous Seamus and a banana split at Blue
Another beach
More beaches
Sr Ouraca on the roof at dawn
Seamus-the-Rasta and his BBQ ribs
The Rest of The Story
Bugger this site anyway!! I’m getting more and more annoyed with the way it’s behaving and my inability to get things placed where I want. Just finished this entry once and started to post photos and had to delete a photo and the whole post deleted and wasn’t saved anywhere I could find. So, here we go again.
After going for the trip with Lazaro, we had him drop us off in Crucecita again so we could finish our gift shopping. I took Seamus to the craft museum and store, since I figured he’d like to see the bugs, plants and rocks that they use for dye for the yarn they weave. He liked that. They have now started a mezcal tasting bar there too, with a lot of good, natually flavoured mezcals and I tried a few then settled on buying two bottles of the orange flavoured drink to bring home and give to my son and son-in-law. At the bar they have a bowl of fried crickets that you can snack on. I’d tried some on my first trip down and wanted Seamus to try some this time. He wasn’t really enthusiastic, but did try them. I don’t think he found them as bad as he’d feared, but I doubt he’ll be putting them into his daily diet either. They don’t taste bad, and are nice and crunchy, but I think could use a touch of salt.
Now I’ll post some random photos of neat stuff, then get on with the tale of the deep-sea fishing expedition.
I hadn't seen this shade before and I love it.
Bread basket - made from bread!
Big bird in the bush
Beautiful butterfly
Huatulco 2012 Day 4 and 5
Sleepy guy
We were up pretty late last night, so decided to sleep in this morning. Seamus didn’t want to get up at all!
After we did get up, we went with my favourite taxi driver to Sta Maria de Huatulco, a small town inland that I like to visit with my grandkids to give them a better idea of how ‘real’ Mexicans live. it’s a nice little town with another lovely church and a great cemetery, where I love to take pictures.
Church in Sta Maria
Tomb at the cemetery. Notice the non-Christian elements?
After that, Lazaro, the taxi driver, took us to his home for a glass of Agua de Melon, which is a drink they make from the juice of a cantaloupe. It’s really lovely and refreshing – and it was great that there was a level of trust and respect that allowed him to do that. The first year we just went to the town. The second year he drove us past his home and pointed it out, and this year he invited us in. I was most honoured.
Lazaro, his wife and grandchildren.
When we got home and went to the beach, Seamus decided to try a boogie board. Another new experience for him.
Boogie boarding
Next day, we swam, got henna tattoos and I was really surprised at how much I liked my tattoo. If I was braver I’d get it done for ‘real’! We went shopping to see if we could find the rest of the gifts for his mom, dad and brother. We did get his brother a belt, but were having a really hard time finding a buckle to go with it, but on the last day I found one at a beach vendor. Beautiful! A big silver buckle with inset mother-of-pearl, and in the centre this honking big scorpion set in amber resin. I haven’t got a picture of that, but I’m going to try and get one.
My tattoo
Seamus's tattoo. Looks like him first thing in the morning.
Huatulco 2012,
OK, I’ll start here with Day 3 – and as usual, you can click on any of the thumbnails to see a full-screen picture.
Seamus meeting the babies
This was the day that we went to the Iguana farm. Iguanas had been becoming scarce and were being protected by the government as they are good to eat and the leathery skin is used for clothing. The locals are allowed to still kill one at a time for food though. The farm is a local initiative for breeding iguanas, and then releasing them into the wild. Unfortunately the locals did not know much about breeding so after a few generations of iguanas they ended up having quite a few birth defects in the new babies as their breeding population was small. They have now realised their mistake and are releasing more of the adults and bringing in new adult breeding stock to enlarge the gene pool.
A breeding mommy
Moving the iguana eggs
Good for Friday night movies
Seamus feeding the big guys
Handsome fellow
After the Iguana farm we spent the rest of the day just limin’ on the beach. When you only have a week to see everything, you never have enough time for that.
Just limin'
That night there was the festival, Primo Viernes (First Friday – of Lent) in Sta Cruz, and Seamus and I went to that. That was good fun. There was a miday with rides, lots of booths selling things – everythin you could think of really – food and drink, and a rodeo with bull riding.
Seamus got a Rasta tam and some dreadlocks. Lookin good!
The bull riding was the funniest thing, since as rowel spurs, burrs under the saddle blanket and ropes around the testicles are no longer allowed, and the bulls know it, they would come flying out of the chute, buck their way across to the gate where they had been brought in, then stand there waiting to go home. There is no longer any “incentive” to keep bucking after the initial shot from the cattle prod that got them out of the chute.
After that there was a dance contest where the MC would pick a guy and girl at random from the audience and they would have to compete as a couple in various Latin dance routines. Shortly after that began I could feel a change in the crowd and I told Seamus we had to get out of there (the bandstand enclosure) right away. As we left there were about a dozen police entering so they must have felt the change too. Enormous amounts of alcohol were being consumed, and it was hot, and folks were starting to get rude and testy about things. We spent another hour or so at the midway, then went on home.
Seamus had been determined to get himself a coconut, which he finally did by throwing rocks at them until one fell, and he was persistent enough to crack it open with his pencil and other found objects. Unfortunately it was dry and tough inside so not too good to eat.
Coconut disappointment
Granny goes to Mexico 