2/24/17,
“The Whales”
La Paz, Baja
California Sur, Mexico
Long before
we had met, long before Instagram was even invented, growing up as children in
different countries, Roberto and I had the same dream: to see every World
Heritage Site in our country. Until recently,
though, it was only a dream, for both of us.
Then, five years ago, on a summer night at Mammoth Caves National Park
in Kentucky, after perhaps a little too much bourbon, I decided that I would
make that dream a reality. “I’m going to
visit every World Heritage Site and state in the country before I turn 30,” I
announced. My family seemed
skeptical.
It was a lofty ambition, but
that was just the beginning. Those were
but the first two Goals I set for myself, of the Seventeen. That was when I sat out to see the
world. Of those first two, only Hawaii
remains, both the state itself and the two WHS there, which I will visit
immediately before I turn 30, by design.
The other fifteen, they are on track. As for Roberto, and his childhood dream of visiting every WHS in Mexico,
I am pleased to report that, by visiting the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino
this morning that allowed him to finish that task.
I am right behind him in claiming “Mexico
Complete”, but I still need to claim the Protected Areas of the Gulf of
California. All that requires is setting
foot on the beach here at La Paz. It was
our unique friendship that allowed us to succeed in this ambitious task. When me met on Instagram a year and a half
ago, we had each only been to about half of the WHS in Mexico. Together, we joined our skills and resources,
and we made it happen. We couldn't have
done it without each other. When we step
on the beach together tomorrow, it will be my turn for triumph, as today was
his, but the credit belongs to us both.
While La Paz may not be as impressive of a dateline as Buenos Aires or
Lima or Doha or Giza, I am sure that my reader will now agree that this smoking
of my 2014 Christmas Pipe marks a moment as significant as anything that
happened at those locations, and will agree more so once I have recounted the
events since I last wrote.
After I closed
last night, I had great difficulty in publishing my entry due to slow Wi-Fi at
the hotel. Eventually, I used Roberto’s
cell signal as a hotspot and was able to finish publishing. We then went out to dinner. We went to the top-rated restaurant on
TripAdvisor, a seafood place called Mario’s Restaurant. The service was terrible but the food
amazing. I got a mixed seafood platter
with two kinds of fish, shrimp, and lobster, while Roberto and Elias each got a
mixed land and sea grill. I had some rum
with my dinner, while they drank beer.
It was coconut cream pie for dessert.
We were in a mood to celebrate, and it was a feast worthy of the
occasion. If my reader will recall, we
had spent all day yesterday driving from Cabo to the rock paintings, and we
were, indeed, very fortunate to have been able to see them after everything
that had transpired at sea.
After dinner,
we stopped to pick up some rum for the room, so that our celebrations could
continue. When we got back to the room,
I proffered a three-pack of Hoyo de Monterrey cigars that I had gotten at the
airport. (As a point of correction, the
two previous references to Hoyo de Monterrey cigars this trip were actually H.
Upmann cigar, and I’m not sure how I made that mistake.) Elias was thrilled to be smoking a Cuban, and
I was glad that my friends were enjoying the cigars as much as I was. We drank and smoked and were merry. In a bit of irony, I finished my cigars but
not the rum, while Roberto and Elias finished their rum but not their
cigars. Instead, they saved the cigars
for the morning. I did not finish the
rum in the morning.
After we woke up, we
went to the lobby for the breakfast buffet, which was sparse and lukewarm, but
it did the trick. I had chicharrones,
nachos with cheese, huevos rancheros, and two pancakes, along with coffee. It was very disappointing. The coffee was the best part. We then headed out the lagoon, called Laguna
Ojo de Liebre. I had no idea what would
await us there, but this was our only activity for the day, so we would make it
work.
The entrance to the lagoon was
just outside of town, but it was a long gravel road to the lagoon itself,
longer than the dirt road to the caves but not as steep, and I lit up my Caoba
for the drive. Soon enough, we are
Laguna Ojo de Liebre, and, even before we pulled into the parking lot, I could
see the splashes of whales coming to the surface off in the distance. I knew at that moment that a ceremonial
picture from the lagoon was all we needed to claim it as a WHS, especially
since the inscription photo was taken from the shore, but we would do one
better. We found out we could take rent
seats on a skiff for 90-minute whale-watching tours of the lagoon to better see
the whales.
After some back and forth, I
agreed to go along, knowing that I would be bored after about the first 10
minutes of whale-watching. It would be a
bit of wait before we could get on a skiff, so we headed out to the pier so
that Roberto and I could finish our cigars.
When we stepped onto the pier, I shook Roberto’s hand and congratulated
him on having now visited every WHS in Mexico.
On the pier, we met two people who said that they had biked here from
Portland and Vancouver Island and were stopping here on their way to Cabo. I thought that that was mildly interesting,
until I realized that they were actually bicycling, not riding
motorcycles. At that point, I was fascinated. I couldn’t believe it. We chatted with them until the skiff came.
We got on the skiff, along with a large
family who took up the other rows. As
predicted, it was impressive for about the first 10 minutes, and then I was
ready to go back to shore. We saw the
whales far closer than I imagined, and there were far more whales than I
expected to see. We even got to pet the
whales as they came right up to the skiff.
That was a new experience to be sure.
About halfway through, I was starving, the meager breakfast having worn
off, and I really wanted to go back to shore, but I would have to wait out the allotted
time, which came soon enough.
I got some
chips at the office, and then we went back to the car to get more cigars and
for Elias to retrieve his cigar from last night. Our lighters were running out at this point,
and it was windy, so it was no easy task.
Fortunately, my torch had one last burst in it, and I lit up a Vegas
Robaina Canada Exclusivo and lit up Elias’s in turn with my cigar. We then went to take our ceremonial picture
at a spot that looked as similar to the inscription photo as I could find. For me, it was 33 down, 1 to go. It would be a long drive to La Paz, but that
was all that remained. There and back
again, just like Bilbo did, just like Frodo and Sam did, that’s what we needed
to do. We went back down the gravel path
towards Guerrero Negro, and we marveled at the salt flats, which we had not
noticed on the drive in to the lagoon.
Before long, we were back in town, and we got souvenirs and tacos, along
with snacks for the road. I also treated
us all to a new disposable lighter each, and we filled up with gas. It would be a long drive back to La Paz, and
we wanted to make sure were ready for it.
I could recount that journey in great detail, but my pipe is done, and
the hour is late (4 AM), so I will be brief.
I lit up a Graycliff to get started, and I read a lot more of “Lord of
the Rings” throughout the drive. When we
got to the military checkpoint, we finally figured out how to quickly get
through the checkpoint. We just told the
truth. Elias was a guide, Roberto was a
professor, and I was an American tourist.
That was about as unsuspicious as a lot could pass through Baja, and
they waved us right through.
We stopped
in San Ignacio so that I could get souvenirs from the rock paintings. I asked how much the keyring was in pesos,
using Spanish, but apparently my Spanish was good enough that the shop clerk
started a conversation with me in Spanish.
I had trouble keeping up, but she never switched back to English. I was surprised my Spanish was still that
good. I then got some date ice cream, since
dates seemed to be a big thing there, and we got some beers for the car. Then it was back on the road.
I lit up my Ser Jacopo to go with my beer, hobbit-style,
and got back to my reading. The road
goes ever on, I noted, and so it did.
After the pipe, it was a Camacho, then a Nub. At this point, it was not much past 7 PM, but
it was pitch black outside, and the stars were clearly visible. At the next checkpoint, we repeated our
speech from the previous checkpoint, and, actually, the soldiers had remembered
us from the way up yesterday, so they sped us right through. We stopped in Loreto for dinner at 8 PM. Elias had asked what I wanted, and I said
Mexican food, specifying, “enchiladas y quesadillas.”
I looked up the top-rated restaurant on
TripAdvisor, and that’s where we went, a restaurant called Mi Loreto. They had enchiladas and quesadillas, so that’s
what I got, along with nachos for us to share as an appetizer. Lemon-flavored sparkling water was my only
drink. The meal was delicious, and we
were all well-fed before we got back on the road. After dinner, it was still almost five hours
to La Paz, and I knew we would not arrive at the hotel before 2 AM, which meant
even a 4 AM bedtime seemed unlikely. I
lit up a Fuente, and, after the cigar, had some dessert I had picked up at a
convenience store earlier. I then rested
unevenly until we reached La Paz.
We
were cheered by the city lights that we saw at 2 AM. We made it to the hotel, and the check-in
process was lighting fast. We went to
our room and settled in. It was now
pressing on 3 AM. I then went outside to
the balcony, in view of the coast, where I sat down, lit up my 2014 Christmas
Pipe, and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close, so that I can
publish and get some sleep.
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