Whales & Bike

From time to time, we spot whale spouts on the horizon as we sit at the beach.  When this happens, only someone with a good set of binoculars can see the whales jumping or tail slapping.

But on Feb 21st we saw an amazing sight as we walked the beach.  2 humpback whales (a mom and baby) came close to shore.  We first spotted them about 400 metres out and then as they travelled north along our bay, the 2 whales came in to about 100 metres from our beach.  Great view as they jumped out of the water, then Mother slapped her huge side fin 10 times.  The fin was long, thin and white.  You could really hear the slaps.  Amazing sight!  The baby was slapping it's tail.  Unfortunately we were just out on our morning walk on the beach and didn't have a camera with us!!!


 The following day, we hiked a trail in the hills to the east of a town called El Monteon.  We heard birds making loud noises in the bush -- at first I thought they might be parrots.  But then the 2 birds became curious about us and flew down close to see us. They are called blacked-throated magpie jays.  According to details I read of the birds, the body of the bird measures 8 inches while the tail is 13.5 inches.   A picture of the bird can be seen at this link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenblumin/2354754615/


One thing we find in Mexico is that it seems the local people are not good at maintaining things, such as simple repairs to keep things in good running order. One example is the water pump that services the campground. The owner just makes it work and we wonder how it keeps running. It really needs replacing with a newer and bigger pump but that requires a lot of dinero. Tough to do in the slow economy in Mexico this year, especially at Savage RV Campground.

The manager's son, Ruben Jr., has a bike and rode it around when we got here in December. I didn't see him riding it lately and asked about it. He said that a tire was flat and the brakes didn't work. I told him to bring the bike over and I would take a look at it. Sure enough the tire sidewall was ripped, so it needed a new tire. The brake levers and cables were toast but the other brake parts were OK. I took the tire off the rim only to find that the rim was busted too. Oh, and the cable and controls for gear changing were missing too. So we piled the whole thing into the car and set off to La Penita to the bike repair shop. The tech said he would have it ready by 5 PM so we went back to the campground forthe afternoon.

When we returned at 5 PM, the bike was ready. A whole new rear rim and tire as well as the new brake levers and cables were installed on the bike. Somehow we missed out on the gear changing controls. Lost in the translation, I guess.

The bill?

The full rear rim, all spoked, with the hub, was 180 pesos, the new tire 110 pesos, and the brake parts 75. The total was 365 pesos...just a little over Cdn $30, including labour and no taxes. Ruben is one happy boy now, even if the bike is stuck in only one gear.

Feb 4th

Our daughter and her husband flew into Puerto Vallarta for a week's vacation from Feb 4th to Feb 11th.  We brought them up for a day to visit to Lo De Marcos.  Unfortunately the water was down to 67F so it was too cool to swim in the ocean or boogie board that week.We dropped down to visit around PV 3 other days and took advantage of the pool at the Westin Hotel where they were staying.  Here a few photos from their visit.

Laura & Bill at the rocky point in Lo De Marcos

Laura and Bev under a bougianvallea tree

The view of Banderas Bay from Laura & Bill's 10th floor room

Enjoying the Westin pool.

visiting the river market in Puerto Vallarta

The walk to Playa Venados

While walking to Playa Venados , we came across a new bird we had never seen before. There are so many varieties of exotic birds here.

Russet crowned motmot

After the mile and half trek, we stopped to enjoy a lunch of fish tacos on the beach.

Mike, Mavis, Vic and Bev at Playa Venados

On our way back, Vic and Mike took a path through the jungle and were lucky to spot an armadillo.

sample food cost

Friends and family have asked about food in Mexico.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are inexpensive here and much tastier as the local produce is not picked until ripe.  Yesterday we bought all of the following at the local "fruteria" for a total of $36 pesos (about $3 Canadian):

9 oranges
2 large red grapefruit
5 limes
2 bananas
1 apple
1 onion
2 plum tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 jicama

Medium sized shrimp from the local seafood vendor cost $180 pesos (about $15) which provides enough shrimp for 5 meals for the 2 of us.  We purchased a kilo of durado (mahi mahi) for $100 pesos (about $8.50 Canadian)

Eggs are weighed to determine the price.  8 eggs usually cost us between 8 and 9 pesos (less than 80cents Canadian).

The next time we purchase meat from the butcher (carniceria), I will post the costs.  We usually purchase chicken, pork and ground beef, then freeze it in one meal portions.

An exciting day

Yesterday (Friday Feb 11th) started out normally and we went into Puerto Vallarta to meet up with daughter Laura and her husband Bill. This was there final day in town and we went for a late brunch at Mr. Cream in the Marina complex. Good food but not that exciting.

We dropped Laura & Bill at the airport and headed back to Lo de Marcos. No excitement yet.

We spent a couple of hours on the beach after getting home. No excitement, just waves as usual, but not any boogie-board waves.

We arrived back to the park to find that a colt had just been born on the other side of the wall surrounding the park. We all crowded up to the wall and watch the proceedings. Now this was exciting...at least for us. The colt was born about 5:30 PM and our pics were within a few minutes of the birth.

Here is bunch of pics to show the story of a colt struggling to come to terms with its new environment.

Minutes after birth.

Still wrapped in placenta and the umbilical is attached.

Struggling to rise for the first time.

After a futile attempt, it is time for a rest.

Encouragement from mom.

Ass over tea-kettle after trying to stand up.

Mom whispers in its ear "Get up, people are watching".

Still to tired but the umbilical has broken away and the colt is free.

Try try try.

And again.

And again.

Mom and colt rest up.

Another try...in vain.

The light is now fading at about 7:00 PM, about an hour and half into this colts short life. It doesn't look like the colt will get up anytime soon so we went inside for dinner. About 10:00 PM, I checked to see how things were going. The colt was still on the ground and the mare was standing nearby. The temperature would drop to less than 11C overnight and I was not sure the colt would make it through the night.

Next morning the colt is up and walking.

Colt with the mare being walked to the stable.

NOW ISN'T THAT EXCITING!!!!

More beautiful birds

It has been cooler here (23C) so we are doing more walking and biking than swimming this winter.  Recently we hiked  a dirt road heading up and over a hill to a small beach about 1 1/2 miles from our RV park.  Along the way we spotted some birds we hadn't seen before.

 Gold Cheeked Woodpecker (Female)

Masked Tityra

The parakeets you could hear in the trees but you had to stand quietly and watch through the binoculars for a few minutes to detect them moving among the leaves of the tree.

Orange fronted parakeet

Orange fronted parakeets