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.
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