Puerto Lobos

We had a very bumpy and heart attack inducing drive up to Puerto Lobos last Tuesday. We drove by many different farmers fields. The blueish tint of the desert mountains in the distance almost made me feel as if I was home in Canada. I was very excited to be heading on a little adventure away from Kino. It did not take us the 4 hours to get there like we had expected because there was a new superhighway. This was a nice relief after the small teases of smooth pavement that were almost always followed by a huge ass pot h***. I thought I’d seen pot holes before. But no…these were like dutch ovens and witch’s cauldrons in size. Not just them simple soup pot size holes.  The little corolla took them well. The superhighway lasted longer than 5 minutes, and we got to Puerto Lobos listening to the Suburbs album by Arcade Fire.

We arrived before sunset and went on a little tour of the town before trying to meet up with Dr. Ed and the class. Abram, is thus far, a very informative and excellent tour guide. Specifically with places to eat. We drove around the 3 minute town which has no electricity and a beautiful beautiful atmosphere. It is built around an Estero/Lagoon with the ocean on all sides. We bought some beer at the Tecate shop, one for everyone to have when we got to camp. Some drunken friends were acquired at the beer stand. They reeked of cigarettes and other smoking substances.  Several minutes prior, we had witnessed one of our new acquaintances take a fat spill on his bicycle. Something I always enjoy.

We made our way towards the campsite, which was several km’s out of town. It was perfect timing because Ed met us on the road in the Prescott College van filled with his lovely students. They were heading snorkeling at the lighthouse in town and it was a definite “yes” to join in. The sun was starting its decent and it was spectacular to see the desert mountains while swimming in the water. I saw a school of needlefish and some sunstars with more than 30 arms. They are called Heliaster’s. When you find one you’re supposed to gently rip it off its substrate and hold it up yelling “HELIASTER”. It’s fun.

I am being called to go play some sunset volleyball…hold that thought. Slowly getting better at it…also hit up Jorge’s for delicious scallop, a Bohemia obscura, and girl talk with Danny.

After the lovely snorky – some buds and I ventured to a hot dog stand for some tube steaks that came highly recommended. They came with – get this – guacamole, beans, cheese, fried onions, fried chili’s, and of course hot sauce. We scarfed them down as we gazed over the estero, which was slowly being rampaged with big ass trucks. Abram called them monster trucks. Apparently every year at Semana Santa these big ass trucks drive through the mud in the estero at low tide and tear s*** up. It’s pretty awesome. I got distracted by the sunset and we stopped on a hill while heading back to camp to get a good view. The pinkish yellow hue of the sky went for a full 180 of horizon. It was spectacular.

Our camp was on a beach that stretched as far as the eye could see. To the left, big powerful sandstone cliffs and the same view to the right but it reached to Puerto Lobos. I did not see this until the almost-full moon came out and lit up the scene like the lantern she is. Dinner was made and eaten around the fire with the class of goofballs. One by one people faded to bed. I was to bright eyed to sleep so my friend Zeke and I went venturing down the moonlit beach. We found a crevice in the cliffs and climbed into it following a trail through what I imagined to have been a rich valley with a lush flowing river. Sandstone is hard to

climb, especially in flipflops, but we scaled up a pretty good slope and laid and watch the stars and the moon rise over the cliff in front of us.  After my buns could no longer bear to be on a cactus we slid down and followed the sound of the waves back to the beach. It was oddly quiet in that crevice – dead sound. (photo of the camp kitchen courtesy of Zeke Smith).

I almost felt like going to sleep but on the way back to camp we stumbled upon a really cool little cave in the cliffs and we climbed in hunting spiders and examining al the billions of rocks that haphazardly make up these sandstone cliffs. We talked about recurring dreams we’ve had and what they might mean. It was then time for bed. And despite the fact I was very frightened of the scorpion/spider animal that I had been warned about I kindof fell asleep for maybe a total of an hour. I slept right on the beach and the energy of the waves, the brightness of the moon, and the blow of the wind was a lot for a girl who has slept inside her whole life to handle. I threw my big blanket over my face and cocooned myself in my sleeping bag. I was thankful when morning came, and groggy as can be I crawled over to the propane stove and got myself a cup of coffee. (Scorpion Spider photo courtesy of Anya Fayfer).