Caleta Lobos

"Paper Boat" one of La Paz's sculptures.

Both Greg and I were really starting to miss the quiet and solitude we had enjoyed while out on the islands. We had been waiting two weeks for a priority mail package which still hadn’t arrived; we were beginning to wonder if it ever would arrive (I know - priority and Mexico is an oxymoron). We had seen enough of La Paz for a while and decided to make the short trip to one of the nearby coves just NE of La Paz and wait there.

We loaded up with fresh fruits and vegetables at the newly formed once-a-week organic market, restocked the wine and tequila inventory and pulled anchor.

We prepared to sail but the wind was under 5 knots so we had to endure the diesel noise for the 8 miles to Caleta Lobos.

Looking over the lagoon and mangroves at Caleta Lobos.

We had spent one night here on our way into La Paz and had to share with five other boats. This time there is only one other sailboat, a beautiful Morgan 50 named Relax from Victoria.

What a wonderful difference - just the sound of the wind, the birds and some sea lions a ways off on a rocky outcropping. It was 85 deg. and calm when we arrived - unusually warm for January in Baja. Just enough breeze to be comfortable in the shade. The first night a strong coromuel wind blew all night; the boat didn’t rock much but the wind roared. The next night was dead calm.

We have had bee encounters of the weird kind. We were sitting in the cockpit at La Paz and I noticed that we were surrounded by a swarm of bees - hundreds of them. They didn’t enter the boat and eventually the wind carried the swarm away. In Caleta Lobos we were visited by bees again. This time they invited themselves inside. I had an empty  

All the activity wore him out!

maple syrup bottle on the counter along with a container that had overly ripe banana pulp in it. The bees were happily sucking up syrup, eating banana bits and licking the last of the pancake batter from a bowl. They didn’t bother us but it was very strange to have bees everywhere. I tossed some out of the hatches, and rescued a few that discovered that they couldn’t swim, while I removed the tempting dishes. Cinnamon, who loves to catch and eat flies, was quick to snag a bee and I was worried that I would have a cat with a swollen lip, but once the bee hit the deck he lost interest.  I am not one to wash up dishes quickly, so it’s a good thing that I like bees (wasps and hornets are another matter - I’ve already been bitten once). So BEE SENSITIVE people beware if you visit.





Island at entrance to Caleta Lobos.



We dinghied around Caleta Lobos and watched the tropical fish through the incredibly

View of coral from dignhy.

 clear water; no need to snorkel. Huge coral heads were abundant and we made a note  where not to anchor in the future. We saw a school of fish pass under us and couldn’t decide whether they were young Wahoo or some type of bill fish. There were several pelicans, a cormorant and some gulls on the island at the entrance to the cove. There were crabs of the most brilliant red and yellow scurrying around. 



View of sea urchin & fish (upper left).



We hiked from the beach to the cell tower located on the ridge between Lobos and Balandra. There wasn’t any little sign showing mileage and difficulty so I was more optimistic about this hike. The folks from Relax had done it in the afternoon of the day before, so how hard could it be? Most of the hike is actually on a road, of sorts, that is used to service the tower. Except for the rocky drainage that we had to walk thru to get to the road and the washouts in the road, it wasn’t bad - except for the 80 deg temp and being high noon. 

I came across one cactus in bloom (plants bloom due to ideal conditions or when they are very stressed - this one was a goner). The view over Balandra was beautiful. We saw evidence of several species of mammals but not the animals themselves and the only birds we saw were two egrets fishing in the lagoon at the base of the hills.



Viewing Puerto Balandra from the ridge. 





We were planning to head back to La Paz to check on the mail again but flexible is my middle name now. Greg mentioned that the tide was perfect for visiting the pearl farm in Bahia San Gabriel on Isla Espiritu Santo and that’s all it took. In nothin’ flat the sails were up and we were on our way.

A glorious day; 15 knot winds and in about two hours we were there.  We decided to try the Ensenada de la Dispensa (big name for a tiny, shallow cove) just below San Gabriel. We anchored in 12 feet over a sandy bottom; we were the only boat. We arrived early enough in the afternoon to take a walk along the beach which had very unusual volcanic rock. We came upon a large tangle of ghost net which Greg helped me move above the high tide mark.

The next morning we set off on our next adventure. The abandoned pearl farm is at the end of the lagoon that is colonized by the Magnificent Frigatebird. The lagoon does not look completely natural because it was augmented with some rectangular stones to maintain depth. We had been told that we could dinghy thru the channels but the mangroves are trying to take over. We anchored by a very convenient rock wall and walked around. The ground, the typical volcanic rock mixed with coral and shells, was littered with broken sea urchin shells left by the gulls and fish skeletons left by the great blue herons (which nest peacefully with the frigates) and unfortunately some human trash.

A lot of labor went into dressing the stones and building the alternating channels that were feed by the tides. There was no sign of any oysters (darn!) but a porcupine fish was cruising around. Several low stone walls running parallel to the channels run up the hill beyond the lagoon. Their purpose eluded us.

We spent some time watching the narrow channel from the lagoon, bordered by mangroves and the rock wall, and fish started to venture out.  A two-foot long silver tubesnout fish which we continually see (I have found several skeletons but have been unable to id it) was joined by several foot-long fish of two species that were subtle but beautifully colored. Greg started grumbling about not bringing his fishing pole.



After dining on tequila cilantro shrimp for lunch, while we listened to a pair of ospreys call as they flew overhead, we headed back to La Paz. This time we motored while we made water.

While staying in Caleta Lobos the fellow from Relax told us that he liked to collect scallops. According to him the south wall of Caleta Partida is covered in them. Later he made a point to stop by and warn us about red tide. On the way back to La Paz we passed through some areas where the water looked like blood was billowing up from the depths. Vast areas were the color of sangria. It was obviously a “red tide” but was it toxic? We debated whether or not it was safe to make water. Finally I figured that the organic toxin must be a fairly large molecule and would be filtered out by the 5 micron water maker filter. If not - there won’t be any more blogs.

Once we got to La Paz I did some research and the info obtained was inconclusive. This is a good website on the subject if you are interested: http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=14899.