Friday, March 22- La Paz

We docked at La Paz on schedule at 7 AM.  I watched the whole process; I wondered why the crew was nowhere near the anchor and then realized that it was because we were tying up at the dock.  La Paz is beautiful; it’s a favorite vacation spot for many Mexicans.  They let down the gangplank so we were free to wander on and off when we wanted, sliding the magnet in the slot for our room number on a chart to indicate whether we were offshore or aboard.  

Securing the ship.  My room was on the 3rd foredeck and this was on the deck just beneath me.

Early-morning view of La Paz

I had a great cardio workout after breakfast, listening to The Grateful Dead and ZZ Top while my fellow passengers got out mats and did mellow yoga stretches and poses.  After that I went onto the city, supplied with a coupon for free ice cream from Fuentes, a shop right across the street.  I had pistachio ice cream and it was fantastic; a different texture than what I’m used to.  It was thicker and stuck together in giant globs.  I’m sure that whatever made it so good wasn’t healthy.  I didn’t ask.  From there I walked around and, in addition to local businesses, found an Applebee’s, Burger King (closed) and Sears.

Daytime View

Chinese restaurant menu- in Spanish

Mexico is a popular place for US citizens to travel for dental work.

This is an area with a whale shark preserve nearby.  We had two options.  One was to actually swim with the sharks, which wasn’t as dangerous as it sounded because they eat plankton, but they’re still bigger than we are!  Because I’d sworn off cold water unless tropical fish are involved, I chose the boat option.

You have been warned.

No whale shark pictures but a nice day out on the water!

I didn’t get great pictures; occasionally a tail or dorsal fin of a whale shark would breach but never when my camera was aimed at them!  Only two people went in- the 75-year old woman and her granddaughter- and they reported that the seas were rough enough that it was hard to navigate towards the whale sharks.  They did get good views with their snorkels and masks.  One highlight was actually bird-related.  Sarah, ever the guide even though we were on a boat piloted by locals and a guide who had the appropriate permits, spotted a buoy with a pelican, a double-crested cormorant and-yes!- a blue-footed booby.  I DID get a good picture of them.  At one point we passed a skiff with police types and had to hold up our arms with the paper bracelets we’d been given indicating that we had permits to be there.  The message on the bracelet was from a nonprofit called 28^th Parallel exhorting us to vote for a tax benefiting the whale sharks.  (I deciphered the Spanish and Sarah confirmed it.)

We’d left late for that trip (the number of boats in the protected area is strictly controlled) and I asked JP, the Expedition Leader, if I’d be able to make the trip to the Serpentarium scheduled for 3:15.  He apologized and said that he hadn’t realized I was scheduled for the 12:30 whale shark trip (his spreadsheet program had left my name off the list and he’d had to add it manually after I pointed it out) or he wouldn’t have scheduled me for the Serpentarium.  As we pulled into the dock, though, I saw the bus to the Serpentarium.  Ah, the joys of small ships.  I ran upstairs to my stateroom, switched out a few things and got onto the bus. 

I was VERY glad I made it.  First of all, it was far enough out that you needed a bus. I couldn’t have wandered over on my own.  Second, it was really interesting.  The plants alone were beautiful but they had an assortment of small animals that were being rehabilitated before being sent back into the wild.  It was staffed entirely by volunteers.  At one point I was surprised to realize that the Spanish a guide was speaking to a nearby group was so easy to understand- then I realized that it was because he was speaking French with a strong Spanish accent.  I spoke briefly with the group and yes, they were from France.  There was a presentation in English by a young man who brought out a few animals and talked about them; most were endemic to the area.  The only one we were allowed to handle was the tarantula although we were allowed to pet a few of the snakes. 

Five-toed worm

Food for the snakes available for sale.  The currency is actually Mexican pesos and is about $US 3 per rat.  I didn't buy one.

The aviary

Not a picture of my hand, but I did hold this tarantula- nice little creature.

Just after dinner they showed the slideshow from pictures the crew had taken during the week.  Sarah put this one together; she said she had over 900 pictures submitted!   They used to do this just before you settled your bill and determined a tip (they are NOT automatic) and I figured the effect was to hit us up while we were feeling sentimental after a few drinks and a slideshow, but they’d moved the accounting to a period earlier in the day this time.  I still left a nice tip.  Shots of Chambord were available at the bar.  No, thanks- I learned my lesson with the margarita!