Hola Amigos!
It has been a lovely week... the weather is thinking seriously of forgetting about all that winter wind and just settling down to some nice calm spring-like days. "Thinking" about it means that we still have windy days now and then, and some clouds, but we've really had a wonderful stretch of nice weather.
Just look at this view from La Palapa restaurant in Cabo Pulmo, where we went on Saturday to visit with friends Katie and Mel. (Yes, that is someone wading in the water). That is CALM water!
Katie and Ben attended grade school together in Bend, lo, many years ago, and he discovered last year that she has been coming down to Baja for years, spending her time in the "wilderness" at Los Frailes. This was our "good-bye" get together, as they left Sunday to return to Oregon. We don't get together very often, since it is a one hour drive over some serious wash-board roads from our house to Cabo Pulmo.
On our drive to Cabo Pulmo, we passed a truck hauling a trailer which was stopped beside the road. The trailer was hauling a small float plane, and they were tying it down a bit more securely. The wings were loaded on top of the pickup.
We asked Mel and Katie if they had seen this plane, and they said that they had. These fellows were filming giant Manta Rays at Cabo Pulmo. They'd fly over them, then the camera man, who was also a diver, would jump into the water and continue filming under water! Unfortunately, they had a little accident and the plane is a bit "skee-jawed" and is in need of repair. After our hour long lunch and visit, we saw them just a bit further down the road, again tying the plane down! (It is a very bumpy road!)
Ben wants you to know a little more about our favorite chef in town, Francisco (or Pancho) from El Barrilito. #1 He is a fantastic chef, and makes the most delicious scallop appetizers we've ever had. #2 He is a bullfighter!!! No kidding. He took a week off (his wife Nancy wouldn't let him do it for 2 weeks) to go to mainland Mexico (Jalisco, I think) and do some bull fighting. Well, he doesn't have a cape or swords, like a normal matador. He does Portuguese Bullfighting, which includes a team of men (forcados) who goad the bull (no capes, no swords, just a silly green hat on the first guy). These 8 to 10 men surround the bull's head, doing a procedure called a pega de cara or "face catch" and grab his tail, and basically subdue the bull (he can't see, so doesn't move...too much). Pancho showed us some pictures, and said that he was the first guy and wears the silly green hat! Good grief! Here is a LONG video of a Portuguese bull fight. The forcados are about 16 minutes into it. It takes two attempts, and then there is the fellow who hangs on to the tail! He is muy bravo!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQh8A4ez_Rc Or, here is a much shorter video with just the "Forcados" portion of the bull fight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRzPPThS_M0 and here is another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW56Yr6iZVo (this one is 7 minutes and somewhat violent, but has multiple attempts of Forcados doing a pega de cara!) Does this look like fun, or what???
The interesting part about Pancho doing this fun thing is that he has terrible eyesight! He says his team points him in the right direction, and he can "kind of" see the bull!!! Yikes! We were very happy that he was home, safe and sound. He said he had a few nasty bruises, and was a bit sore. I told him I hoped he was paid sufficiently for his troubles, and he said it's all volunteer!!! Oh my! No wonder Nancy wouldn't let him spend another week doing this! Here's the latest scallop appetizer he prepared: Scallops stuffed with shrimp, with cilantro sauce and hot chili sauce. Yummmmm.... We just ask him for a scallop appetizer....it is something different, and delicious, every time we visit!
And then Ben thought I needed the delicious flan at the end of the meal. I agreed!
On the home front, my green beans are producing (yea!) and the papaya tree will be producing for some time yet! We get about one a week off of this tree. And a banana tree has finally started blooming! We won't see those bananas until the end of summer. If we're lucky, they might be producing in October.
I take Sam and Zoey for walks on the beach several times a week, and they love it. Hard to believe that Sam could barely walk when we got back here in October. He loves his beach walks, as does Zoey.
Ryan has been painting our casa, and it is looking very nice. He is going to go visit and help a friend in San Diego for a while, so we will continue to have more than two colors for our house until he gets back to finish the job. We'll keep people guessing about our color scheme in the mean time!
I spotted some wildflowers blooming on our beach walk, and couldn't resist taking a photo. I don't know what they are, but I like them! Hope you do, too.
I have posted some more photos in the March 2014 Picasa album. I might even have captions on most of the photos by the time you take a peek.
We have company coming on Thursday... a niece from Oregon who has a brand new passport that needs a stamp in it! We're looking forward to her visit.
Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey
It has been a lovely week... the weather is thinking seriously of forgetting about all that winter wind and just settling down to some nice calm spring-like days. "Thinking" about it means that we still have windy days now and then, and some clouds, but we've really had a wonderful stretch of nice weather.
Just look at this view from La Palapa restaurant in Cabo Pulmo, where we went on Saturday to visit with friends Katie and Mel. (Yes, that is someone wading in the water). That is CALM water!
Katie and Ben attended grade school together in Bend, lo, many years ago, and he discovered last year that she has been coming down to Baja for years, spending her time in the "wilderness" at Los Frailes. This was our "good-bye" get together, as they left Sunday to return to Oregon. We don't get together very often, since it is a one hour drive over some serious wash-board roads from our house to Cabo Pulmo.
On our drive to Cabo Pulmo, we passed a truck hauling a trailer which was stopped beside the road. The trailer was hauling a small float plane, and they were tying it down a bit more securely. The wings were loaded on top of the pickup.
Ben wants you to know a little more about our favorite chef in town, Francisco (or Pancho) from El Barrilito. #1 He is a fantastic chef, and makes the most delicious scallop appetizers we've ever had. #2 He is a bullfighter!!! No kidding. He took a week off (his wife Nancy wouldn't let him do it for 2 weeks) to go to mainland Mexico (Jalisco, I think) and do some bull fighting. Well, he doesn't have a cape or swords, like a normal matador. He does Portuguese Bullfighting, which includes a team of men (forcados) who goad the bull (no capes, no swords, just a silly green hat on the first guy). These 8 to 10 men surround the bull's head, doing a procedure called a pega de cara or "face catch" and grab his tail, and basically subdue the bull (he can't see, so doesn't move...too much). Pancho showed us some pictures, and said that he was the first guy and wears the silly green hat! Good grief! Here is a LONG video of a Portuguese bull fight. The forcados are about 16 minutes into it. It takes two attempts, and then there is the fellow who hangs on to the tail! He is muy bravo!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQh8A4ez_Rc Or, here is a much shorter video with just the "Forcados" portion of the bull fight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRzPPThS_M0 and here is another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW56Yr6iZVo (this one is 7 minutes and somewhat violent, but has multiple attempts of Forcados doing a pega de cara!) Does this look like fun, or what???
On the home front, my green beans are producing (yea!) and the papaya tree will be producing for some time yet! We get about one a week off of this tree. And a banana tree has finally started blooming! We won't see those bananas until the end of summer. If we're lucky, they might be producing in October.
I take Sam and Zoey for walks on the beach several times a week, and they love it. Hard to believe that Sam could barely walk when we got back here in October. He loves his beach walks, as does Zoey.
Ryan has been painting our casa, and it is looking very nice. He is going to go visit and help a friend in San Diego for a while, so we will continue to have more than two colors for our house until he gets back to finish the job. We'll keep people guessing about our color scheme in the mean time!
I spotted some wildflowers blooming on our beach walk, and couldn't resist taking a photo. I don't know what they are, but I like them! Hope you do, too.
I have posted some more photos in the March 2014 Picasa album. I might even have captions on most of the photos by the time you take a peek.
We have company coming on Thursday... a niece from Oregon who has a brand new passport that needs a stamp in it! We're looking forward to her visit.
Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey
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