Happy New Years from La Paz

It's been a BUSY past couple of weeks here in and around one of our favorite cities in Mexico.  First, friends from Seattle, Rich, Laura, and Zach came down for a Christmas visit.  Together we ventured forth to set a new record.....how many fun activities can we cram into a short 5 days, especially in such a laid back environment as La Paz???  Well, the Guiness Book may not be knocking down our hatches with the trophy, but we really had a great time trying!!!  First, we headed up to Los Islotes, a couple of islands that we explored back in May, and the home of a very active sea lion colony.

"OK, guys, what do we do for our next trick???"

This guy kept bumping the camera lens!

 The water was colder than before, but the critters were as feisty as ever.  We gave the ornery barking bulls a wide berth, while the females, juveniles, and teenagers had a great time playing with us.  Had a great hour or so in the water with them before heading back to La Paz.




The next day, a strong norther blew in for the next 6 days or so.  With winds up to 35 knots even in the marina, the port captain closed the port to boats leaving.  No worries there, we had no intention of fighting the 8 foot high buffaloes running out in the sea (the Sea of Cortez is notorious for short, steep, closely spaced waves affectionately known as buffaloes).  As weather guru Don Anderson said, "This norther is going to blow the skin off your Christmas rice pudding!!!

So, what to do????  Shopping in town for souvenirs and presents can only go so long.....  We decided to hire a guide service to head out for a day of horseback riding!!!  You heard that right, gang...the intrepid Bravo crew was heading out via yet another new mode of travel.  Figured it would lead to plenty of photo op's, if not opportunities for some new injuries!!!

After driving out to his enormous ranch (started by "el abuelo de mi abuelo", his grandfather's grandfather) the five of us saddled up with our weathered ranch owner/trusty guide, Rosario, and headed up a steep arroyo to the heights above the sea.  It was a great time for all of us (not sure if the beasts of burden would agree!!!)

Here's a ranch with it's priorities straight!!!

Not a lot of marbling on these "lil' doggies"...When you see what they have for grazing land, you can see why!

Adam having a short "come to Jesus session" with his mule, before Rosario strapped a spur on his Nike!!!

Moving out...."these critters are climbing up THAT???"  Yikes!

Views from the mesa above were spectacular.

Finally time to head back down the steep canyon...Rosario and his mule first, but the others weren't so sure!

All in all, it was a great ride, seeing country that most cruisers don't experience.  When we got back to the ranch, our guides prepared a tasty bbq with arracherra beef and cheese made on the ranch.  Zach set up a "slackline" between two trees, and all who wanted to gave it a go (including our guides).  A good time had by all, before making our way back to town.

We've continued to be busy with boat chores.  Minor sail repairs, varnishing, full boat waxing, tracing electrical gremlins, etc.  Had a fun new years party last night at the local cruiser's hangout, Club Cruceros.  The toast was made at midnight ZULU time (Greenwich Mean Time), which around here is 5pm local time!  Made it easy for all of the grey beards and their crews to get back to their boats before dark, if they wanted (the 'Bravo' team, though, as you'd hope, did stay out after dark!)

Well, that's it for this first blog post of 2012.  So as we enter another chapter in this journey, we'd like to wish all of you a very happy new year, filled with happiness, adventure, and discovery.  Central America, here we come!!!