SAILING CAMELOT

By now we’re the last boat left in La Mona, and my supplies of fresh vegetables and some other staples are dwindling. We move to the anchorage in front of the village of Bahia de Los Angeles, just a little over 30 minutes away.

Another pretty place! When I say pretty I don’t mean touristic, no palm trees swaying or shimmering swimming pools here… It’s more of a primitive prettiness. The colorful buildings, the improbable landmarks, the four-lane highway running through the village while every other road is basically a dirt path, huge skulls and partial skeleton of whales displayed as yard ornaments, everything gives this place a very singular flavor. This is a true, small Mexican beach town.

Bahia de Los Angeles - The Village

On our first foray into the village we go to the Town Hall/Police Station to obtain a permit to offload our trash. For boaters, accumulating trash along the way, it’s always a great relief to find a place to properly dispose of it. For the paltry sum of 30 Pesos (less than $3) we purchase the right to get rid of our garbage for a whole month. Yippeee! To celebrate we have lunch at Guillermo’s, a small restaurant on the beach. Great food, if a little on the expensive side, but our waiter is a total comedian.
Ishmael also speaks Italian, so he makes fun of us in three languages. Nicest guy, really.

The second trip ashore is devoted to grocery shopping. About three blocks from the beach we find our store, surprisingly well stocked and (not surprisingly) more expensive than average – given that everything has to be trucked down here. We’re basically in the middle of nowhere and here’s a place that has everything you need and Diet Cokes, too!

We load a shopping cart to the max and at check-out I ask the very nice cashier if she could please call for a taxi.  “There is no taxi service in the village”, she tells me. Oh, no! I’m about to ask her if we can borrow the shopping cart, picturing a slow and melting death for myself -walking three blocks in this torrid heat-, while she rattles a quick series of orders to her husband. After bagging our hefty purchases, she beams and motions us towards the exit, where a middle aged gentleman is waiting to take us to our destination. I give her my best Mexican blessings, gratitude and thanks blurting out of my mouth. These people saved me from certain death! Tom is grinning, like he just knew all along that some kind soul would step in to help us. Does he have psychic powers I know nothing about???

We load out bags in the bed of an old and battered pick-up truck, littered with remains of construction materials; mortar, bricks, gravel and tools are swept aside to make room for Tom. Yes, while I travel in comfort, Tom rides with the load, the grin never leaving his face. Looks like he’s having fun!

Our kind savior’s name is Mareno (it means Of The Sea, he explains). He’s in his sixties, a fisherman, builder, jack of all trades, I guess – whatever it takes to bring food to his family. We get to the beach in less than five minutes and quickly unload our groceries. We profusely thank Mareno for his kindness, Tom offers him a small tip for his trouble, but he refuses, embarrassed, saying “ No, I’m OK, I have plenty of work, thank you”. “Let me at least buy you a cerveza” Tom insists, finally managing to convince this gentle man to accept the small tip. Smiles and friendly greeting over, we load up our dinghy and make our way back to Camelot. It’s a hell of a chore to transfer multiple bags plus three flats of Diet Coke (72 cans in total!) from dinghy to boat; by the time we’re done we’re dizzy with dehydration and completely drenched in sweat. But it’s done! After putting away the perishables in the fridge we both take a dive in the cooling waters of the Bay. The rest we’ll tackle later…

Partial skeleton of a whale

Enormous skull!

This is one of the vertebrae. They are often used as seats.

With provisioning completed, now all we have to do is relax and enjoy. We take a couple more trips to shore, to visit the Internet Café and to take a good last look around and take a few more pictures, making sure we didn’t miss anything.

Sunday is spent swimming with the Whale Sharks again, as they are just hanging out close to our boat. There are three of them; the biggest is the most curious, ogling Tom at an angle as they swim together.

My fearless husband, swimming with the Whale Shark

This fish was more than twice Tom's size

One of the small ones decides to come rub himself against the dinghy, almost sending me swimming. Apart from their intimidating size, these animals are as docile and calm as an old household dog. Despite that, I still retain a healthy respect that makes me keep my distance…

The Big Kid

This guy was scratching its head against my dinghy as I was taking picures. An invitation maybe?

Mouth wide open to feed. And here I was thinking he was smiling at me...

For some reason, this guy liked to hang around Camelot, right under a solar panel.

Today – Monday- is our last day in town.  We visit the village one last time, stopping at the Internet Café to get our cyber fix. We won’t have another chance for months, better take advantage…

Tomorrow -Tue 23^rd – we’ll leave to go explore the Island scattered between the Baja Peninsula and the Mainland.

We’ll be quiet again for a while, but you can bet we’ll be having fun!