In the swim - Picazon to Coronado II

Returning to live in Loreto means the beginning of a new season of anniversaries – this week it was the Second Annual Picazon Coronado Swim Crossing, (I posted on the inaugural event “Water, water everywhere . . .  Oct. 23, 2011).  Since last year’s event I have learned that there is a “cult” interest in this sort of open water swim competition, which is supported by the dramatic increase in participation in this year’s event.

Last year there were 26 swimmers who took part in the 5.5 km swim from La Picazon Restaurant across the channel to Coronado Island.  This year there were 132 swimmers and a correspondingly larger support crew including 36 kayaks escorting the swimmers, 5 pangas circulating between the shore and the island providing return transportation as well as several other official boats supervising safety and other concerns with such a large group.

I left Loreto Bay after 7:30 in the morning to drive to the event, understanding that the swim was to begin at 8:30.  By 8:00 I was getting close to La Picazon restaurant, which is about 8 km north of town but, due to the limited parking available along the primitive road, I was stopped behind several other cars about half a mile away so I just pulled off the road into a space between cacti and walked from there.

Upon arriving at La Picazon I realized that the swim had already started at 8:00, half an hour earlier than had been publicized and I could just make out the kayaks and some of the closest swimmers already a couple of hundred yards from shore.  Along with more swimmers there were more friends, family and supporters than last year and I joined about 50 observers on the beach under shade tents to enjoy the view.

While the conditions for last year’s swim were almost dead calm, this year there was a strong 20 knot breeze from the northeast and strong swells of 3-5 feet making for a much more challenging open water experience.  There were other changes from last year, several fluorescent flag buoys had been placed across the channel marking the course and as I mentioned before many more kayaks in the water supporting the swimmers.

It was expected that the fastest swimmers would finish the crossing in about an hour and a half and the rest would finish within an hour or so of that time.  About 11:30 the first panga full of swimmers arrived back on shore from Coronado and several of these open fishing boats continued to shuttle back and forth for over an hour bring the participants back.

As a “determined” non-swimmer myself, I remain in awe of the stamina and determination (let alone buoyancy!) that is required to complete such a challenging open water distance swim, and this year again, I was struck by the age range – from 11 to over 70 years, and over half of the swimmers were women.  But one of the big differences this year was the surprisingly small number from in and around Loreto itself, with more than half of the swimmers from the Mainland, mainly around Mexico City, another 20% from La Paz and other places in the Baja, a smaller number from the US, and two participants came from as far away as Venezuela and Easter Island – an indication of the popularity of this endurance sport drawing people to Loreto from those distances!  As the word-of-mouth and popularity of this event grows, it is bringing more people to visit our chosen paradise and spreads the good word about Loreto further and further!

However, combining the windy rough conditions and over a hundred more swimmers than last year, made managing the event much more challenging for the organizing volunteers.  An example I found out about after the event was that one swimmer had not been accounted for arriving at Coronado, which caused an extensive search for her to be launched, which had almost escalated to a full air/sea operation when she was finally located, safe and sound, on an isolated beach on the far side of the Island – a thankfully happy ending that highlights the inherent risks involved in this sport.

Talking to people before and during the event, and given the almost fivefold increase from the first year’s participation, I can see this continuing to grow and attract people to Loreto from even further afield (awash?) in the years to come.  With the initial success of the first two years now history, there is a great opportunity for this to become a signature event for this area – highlighting the natural beauty of the area and the pristine environment we are so lucky to live within.   

After enjoying some of Picazon’s delicious food (a fresh shrimp wrap, yumm!) from the abbreviated menu they had prepared for the over 200 people in attendance, and chatting with a number of friends and familiar faces from town and Loreto Bay, I had to leave by early afternoon, before the awards ceremony began with the presentation of medals and acknowledgements, in part to compose these words for your enjoyment.

Returning to La Picazon reminded me why this is one of my favorite places here, not just because of the spectacular beauty of the location, miles from the next closest habitation, and the Sea of Cortez just a few feet from the open air dining and the view of Ilsa Coranado in the distance, not just because of the delicious ocean-fresh seafood they serve during the long indulgent afternoons I have spent there – but, in addition to that – the warm and genuine hospitality of Imelda and Alejandro the charming proprietors of this special spot!  I truly believe no visit to Loreto is complete without a meal to celebrate at La Picazon!

Sharing a beautiful day on the Beach with over 200 visitors, some travelling thousands of kilometers for the chance to spend a few days here, is a great way to remind myself of how fortunate I am to be able to be “Living Loreto”!

(P.S. If you are amphibious and feel like adding the Picazon Coronado Swim to your bucket list, visit the website www.picazoncoronado.com and bookmark it to watch for information on next year’s swim!)         

And so Season Five begins!

Greetings to all my loyal Readers, thank you for returning to these pages for my take on Living Loreto!  I confess that I have actually been back here in Loreto for a couple of weeks, unpacking, getting settled again in my home and taking care of some typical maintenance issues after the long hot summer.

While there are a few hardy souls amongst the ex-pat Homeowners who live here year-round, most of the winter season residents have yet to arrive here and so Loreto Bay feels strangely unpopulated, except of course for the various employees and staff that work here.  And there has been considerable good work going on since I left here in May.

The most obvious change that has taken place during the summer is the stone paving on the east side of the Paseo, (or main street) through the Founders Neighborhood of our community.  These stone pathways had been substantially finished throughout most of the first phase of Loreto Bay for several years, except for the one side of the Paseo and this work to complete the sidewalk was to be funded under the Infrastructure Special Assessment that our Homeowners Association voted for at our last series of AGMs.  Work had already begun earlier in the year on paving sidewalks through most of Agua Viva, the second phase of the Development.

Also, as part of the paving project, street lighting has been incorporated with “cute” knee-high light standards to focus the light on the pavement and reduce the amount of light pollution.  I understand that we are just waiting for a final inspection before the lights can be connected to a meter and start lighting our main street – an important development in both safety and beautifying the community.

 

 

In addition to the paving being done in Agua Viva, work is also well underway there on the second Community Pool, which is being fast-tracked under the same Infrastructure program, as a result of a special no interest loan by a number of AV Homeowners.  So in many ways work has continued here in Loreto Bay through the hot summer months and I am sure that the returning Homeowners will all appreciate each of the improvements that have been made to the development since they were last here.

Aside from these man-made improvements, Mother Nature has also been busy here in the Baja during the last month – I am of course referring to the abnormal amount of rain that has fallen here recently.  Early in September there were several major rainfalls resulting from Tropical Storms affecting the surrounding areas with total accumulations of over a foot!  The second week I was here two other Tropical Storms in the area resulted in another 4 inches of rain over 3 or 4 days.  For a semi-arid climate that is the norm here these sorts of accumulations are very unusual and this is the most rain to fall here since hurricane Jimena over 3 years ago.

My first impressions of the impact of the rain began shortly after I passed through the border at Tijuana to begin my drive south to Loreto (a thankfully uneventful crossing, for those of you who remember the story of the secondary inspection that I was caught in about a year ago, entering Mexico with the usual “full load”).  While the climate and typography of northern Baja is very different than here in the south, even so, I was struck by the unusual greenness of the countryside that far north.  The impact of the rain became more noticeable the further south I drove, the rolling hills, studded with cacti, now are also carpeted with lush green grasses and normally leafless trees, standing gaunt with dry branches were now covered in fresh green foliage. 

After an early crossing by 7:30 at Tijuana, I had one of the smoothest trips south in the 8 years I have been travelling Mexico 1.  I prefer to do most of the travelling on Sundays, as there is less traffic than other days, and since the Sunday I travelled from TJ to Guerrero Negro happened to be Independence Day, there was even less traffic than normal.  Although I did see marching bands in Ensenada and a huge market with mucho caballeros in Mission San Vincente a little further south.  There were also two multi-kilometer construction zones, one south of Ensenada and another further south on the second day, but nothing serious and the road has benefitted from the completion of some of the big projects that have been underway for several years.

But by far the most surprising – dare I say shocking – sight on my drive south was standing water in ditches and ponds by the side of the road and, for the first time in my experience of driving this highway for over 8 years, there was water in 4 or 5 Vados, which are dips in the road where dry stream beds can flood across the highway during rains.  I remember the surprise I felt the first time I crested a small hill and descended the other side into . . . WATER!

Perfectly reasonable under the circumstances, I knew there had been a lot of rain and these Vados were one way the road had been designed to deal with occasional flood conditions, but in my many trips back and forth over this road there had never been enough rain to have covered the road at these low points - so that I had to rethink the connection between the existence of these Vados and the possibility that some of them could now actually being flooded with water.

Another effect of this much precipitation is the presence of butterflies and moths – millions of them!  For a couple of weeks after the initial rains earlier in the month I read reports from here about “clouds” of delicate yellow butterflies in and around Loreto.  Although I noticed that there were still a few in existence when I was driving back a few weeks ago, within days of the recent rains I started noticing a new influx of these delicate creatures that seem to spring from nowhere. 

On the topic of seasonal creatures, for the past several years, when I have returned here around the end of September, I have seen a spectacular type of large brownish/black moth, some of them with over 6” wingspans.  In the past, at this time of year, these dramatic, but harmless moths occasionally found their way inside my house where they might hang around for a few days before eventually escaping, otherwise I would find them deceased on the floor.

However, this year, I expect because of the amount of rains we’ve had, these black moths are everywhere in large numbers, including inside my house.  Over the past couple of weeks I have become somewhat used to sharing my space with several of these specimens.  Most of the time they will cling immobile to the walls or ceiling, occasionally fluttering about the room, and sometimes colliding (apparently harmlessly) with a ceiling fan, but one morning in particular was memorable.  When I went into the kitchen I happened to look up into the brick cupola in the ceiling and counted over two dozen large black moths clustered there!  In spite of feeling like I was in some Hitchcockian thriller, I managed to go about my normal morning routine, although I had the feeling I was being watched!

On my frequent visits to town, restocking the kitchen and getting back into the local routine of “hunting and gathering” I have noticed a few small changes in the business life of Loreto – but my main impression is how it feels quieter than a typical day during the height of the Season.  Talking to a few shop owners they tell me that it has been a slow summer and they are looking forward to the influx of winter residents who will arrive with the cooler weather later this month.

And so begins a new season here in Loreto, with the freshly invigorated surroundings lush and green from the rain, steady progress on the infrastructure of our community and the town ready to welcome back the ex-pats for another winter, all appears to be ready.  With the promise of more availability and choice in Airlift options this winter I am looking forward to the best Season so far in Loreto Bay and that is perhaps the best part of “Living Loreto”!         

Departure Day 2012

My departure for the summer months from Loreto Bay seems to have “snuck” up on me this year – I had been planning on leaving before the end of May but when I recently sat down and started counting backwards from several fixed dates that I had to be in certain places by, I came to the rather surprising conclusion that “D (for Departure) Day” was going to be this coming Tuesday. 

In past years I have posted several Blogs about parts of my drive north to Canada, but my trip north this year is the beginning of a new adventure in lifestyle – when I leave Mexico this time I am travelling diagonally across almost the whole US to Ohio when I am picking up a new 32 foot travel trailer.  Then I will return west across the northern states to Montana where I will enter Canada in Alberta and return to Calgary with what I am calling my new “Summer Home”. 

While I have had considerable experience living the RV lifestyle, (for about 5 years before I retired from my marketing business, I travelled about 1/3 of the year in a 36 foot Motorhome mixing mainly business with some pleasure travel) I have not pulled a trailer this size before, so it will an exciting new experience. 

Starting this year, when I leave here for the summer months I will spend them living and travelling in my trailer and then, when it is time to return to Loreto in the Fall, I will store my “home away from home” just north of the border crossing at Tecate for the winter, where it will be awaiting me, ready for my next summer vacation.     

However, since this trip will take me the better part of two weeks and cover almost 8,000 km, I do not think I will be posting a “return trip” Blog this year and I expect that this will be the last post of this, the fourth season of Living Loreto. 

I will confess that I write that last sentence with some degree of relief!  While I understand and appreciate the many benefits I receive from writing this Blog (including a better appreciation of the many aspects of living here that I enjoy, and enjoy writing about) after another season of writing over 30 posts I admit that I am looking forward to not having to come up with a Blog topic every week, although I have found the actual writing process has become somewhat easier with practice.

I will also take this opportunity to thank YOU for reading this Blog, whether you are a regular weekly visitor, or an occasional “binge reader” who only checks in from time to time, but reads back through the archives to catch up on the postings since their last visit.  In fact, I take considerable pride in the fact that my readership has grown steadily over the four seasons I have been writing “Living Loreto” and I am grateful for all of the over 75,000 hits that the Blog has accumulated during that time.

As I am preparing to leave here for the summer months - trying to remember what seems like a thousand details around closing up my house and what I need to take with me (usually too much) - I am struck by the changes at this time of year in my community.  While there are still some people arriving for a visit, or others who are here year-round returning from a trip north, the main direction of travel at this time of year is north.  The numbers of people in the ”Village” are dropping from week to week and, as usual, the exodus accelerates the later into the season, and the warmer it gets –we’re hitting 90 most days now and while it is still comfortable, the humidity is increasing.

Having said that, each year there are more “hardy souls” who choose to live here year-round, in addition to the core group of ex-pats who run businesses here – not to mention, of course the resident Mexicans, for whom this has been home forever.  As I have been saying good bye to people this past week, there is a sort of melancholy atmosphere, particularly among those who are staying for the summer, in part because so much of the attraction to this place comes from the sense of community we share with others who live here.

I also look back at this past year as the most significant so far in Loreto Bay’s almost ten year history.  While, as I have mentioned before, limited air service and half the number of available seats compared to last winter has had an impact, particularly among the short term visitors. Otherwise there have been a number of major accomplishments here in Loreto Bay over this past winter.  In no particular order, the first Food & Wine Festival added to the growing list of signature events like the Paella Competition that keeps our social calendars full, and the addition of the many new stores and services that have opened on the Paseo this winter have made big contributions to our lifestyle and sense of community here. 

Another important development has been the addition of several new restaurants which have given us convenient options without having to drive the highway after an “enjoyable” evening out.  No doubt I could add many more highlights to that list, but all you need do is look back through the archives at the top of the page and find my detailed stories from the past year about those and many others.        

So it is with mixed emotions that I leave my home and community for another summer, sorry to be leaving some of the closest friends I have ever had, excited about new adventures ahead as I embark on the next chapter of my life as a “Trailer Park Boy”, and looking forward to what next season will bring, as we as a community continue to build on the many positives from this past season.  Mixed emotions and constant change, these are just two of the many things that shape the experience of “Living Loreto”.

P.S.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the overwhelming response I have received following my recent post “In Memoriam” about my Mother Alison.  From both friends and readers whom I have never met or heard from before – I have been touched by the many kind and thoughtful messages I have received and it pleases me a great deal to know that my late Mother’s experiences touched so many of you, thank you all!

Cal Jet Air's Innaugural Flight to Loreto

Cal Jet Air few into Loreto for its inaugural flight on April 21, 2012.  It was an exciting event with more activity at our new International terminal than I have seen for many years. 

The press was there to interview the Secretary of Tourism, George Wozniak from Cal Jet Air, and Management from the Villa Del Palmar Resort who is sponsoring this flight into Loreto.  

Cal Jet Air is flying a Boeing 737-400 for this route, which has 12 first class seats priced at $699 return, and 138 economy seats priced at $499 return from LAX.  There are many specials if you are a Villa Del Palmar member, or wish to try their new Loreto Resort for a week all inclusive vacation.  Non members can book by calling 866 226 4173 or visiting their website at www.caljetair.com   Ask them about last minute specials as low as $299 return and companion fares.

Cal Jet is getting good support from all Loreto residents and this is a welcome alternative to the limited Alaska Airlines flights.  My friend Mike Cook has a home near the airport and was on the inaugural flight.   He was all smiles and enjoying the festivities and beverages provided by the Villa Group who were there to greet and welcome the first flight. 

Loreto Bay homeowner and Villa Del Palmar member, Michael MacQuarrie, was able to get a very good companion fare for only $100 when he booked and flew a week ago.  Michael had the unpleasant experience of not receiving his luggage with the flight, but was a very good sport about it.  This incident created a situation where Cal Jet, its provider Xtra Airways, and the Villa Group had to work together to find a solution and retrieve the luggage.  They did and it all worked out.  Michael was very supportive and thanks to him, hopefully Cal Jet will be able to act much quicker in the future when this happens.  Lost luggage is always possible and customer service is very important. 

Robert Dennard is a flight attendant, among many other duties with Cal Jet, and he was instrumental in helping Michael retrieve his luggage.  Robert is shown here with Jim Hallett, another Loreto Bay homeowner who was delighted with the service and addition of Cal Jet as another alternative to get to Loreto.  Jim was able to sneak away for a week and work in paradise because of the Cal Jet.

Everyone was very pleased with the flight crew and said they were very friendly and entertaining.  The flight included cheese burgers in economy and drink service.  It is a very short flight, comfortable clean plane and thoroughly enjoyable way to start or end your trip.   The flight leaves every Saturday from LAX at noon and arrives in Loreto at 3 pm with the time change.  It turns around immediately and leaves at 4:15 and arrives into LAX Terminal 2 at 5:15 p.m.   It shares this terminal with Virgin Airlines and Air China, and is a much faster immigration and customs clearance area than Bradley International. 

It is very important that we all support Cal Jet Air in order that they are successful this summer.  All airlines require guarantees to come to Loreto.  When Cal Jet does well with this route then the other airlines may seriously look at Loreto as a destination route in the fall when we really need more flights.   Competition is good! 

Thank you to the Villa Group for making this happen!  For more information on their special packages and resort visit www.villadelpalmarloreto.com    or call 866 209 0726 from US or 855 440 5990 from Canada. 

As always, it is great to be in Loreto and living la vida loca  See you soon!

Miss Nellie

Watch this space for a Guest Blog

This week I am going to be featuring a Guest Blog from Nellie, my friend and Blog Mentor.  Some of you are readers of her original Blog about life in the early years of the Loreto Bay Development - www.whereintheworldisnellie.blogspot.com which she published for three years until the end of 2009 when I started this Living Loreto Blog.

I apologise that her posting isn't available yet, but it will be posted here the next time you visit, please come back and read Nellie's posting on the commencement of the new Cal Jet Air service to Loreto from LAX that I announced was coming a few weeks ago.

And thank you for following Living Loreto, I will be making a new post again next Sunday,

Adios,

Drew

In Memoriam

This week Living Loreto lost one of its most loyal readers - in fact I can say with certainty that she read my first posting in November of '08 and never missed one until last weekend.  My mother Alison passed away last Saturday at the fine age of 96 and her life ended with the gentle grace with which she had lived.

Alison loved Loreto, I happy to say that she visited me there twice.  She was our first visitor, along with my wife's Mother, at Christmas 2005, within a month of us taking possession of our home when there were only a couple of neighbours surrounding us in the first homes to be completed in the development.

Some of the highlights of that first visit was one of my first trips to San Javier, a sightseeing trip to Puerto Escondido spending time on the beach and around the pool at the Inn at Loreto Bay.  There were restaurant dinners in town and even the wedding of two friends from Calgary, on their first stay in their new home, the first Homeowners wedding to be celebrated in Loreto Bay!

On her second visit in February of 2009, accompanied by my sister Janice and her husband Tom, she marvelled at how much had changed in the four years since her first visit.  What had been a small cluster of completed houses, surrounded by the dust and confusion of construction had literally blossomed into a beautifully landscaped oasis with almost 400 homes connected by winding pathways and populated by hundreds of Homeowners and Visitors.  A vision that was held by a few hardy pioneers had turned into a real community that was continuing to evolve.

The scantily furnished house that we had just moved into for her first visit had become a comfortable home and almost all surrounding construction had been completed, so that the peaceful days were not interrupted by the noise and dust that had been part of the environment for the first few years.  As exciting as that first Christmas had been, it was gratifying to be able to show her what the (almost) finished community looked like - what had started out as our dream had become something even better in reality.

On her second visit I was now a "resident" and now able to show her "my" town of Loreto, taking her to my favorite places and introducing her to my growing circle of friends who live there; as opposed to the "tourist" I still was on her first visit.  Another big difference was the growth of the plants and trees
in the gardens and courtyard -but even more impressive was the growing landscaping bordering the homes and pathways stretching for acres around us.


I know that some of Mother's strongest impressions of Loreto were from the skies above.  I remember walking from my house down to the beach with her at sunset one evening when there was some high cloud cover and the entire sky was pastel pink from the light cast by the sun setting behind the mountains.  It felt like we were standing inside a giant Conch shell, bathed in a pink mother of pearl glow.  She could never get over the night sky in Loreto as well.  She had never seen so many stars so close before, so much so that it was almost frightening to her - if it hadn't been so breathtakingly beautiful!

I remember taking her whale watching to Magdelena Bay on that second trip - this was a 93 year old woman out on an open panga boat on a windy day chasing whales and watching the mothers play with their babies just feet from our boat - with a smile on her face as she was sprayed with seawater.

With all the memories of my Mother's visits to Loreto, what stands out most to me is that, having been there, she understood why I loved it so much, and why I wanted so much to call it my home.  Even more importantly it was OK with her that I have spent most of the past five years thousands of kilometers away - as long as when I wasn't in Loreto, I was spending time with her in Calgary.

So I am dedicating this Blog to my Mother Alison, my first, and always most loyal reader - I phoned her on Skype every Sunday morning, right after I published that week's posting, and usually we talked about what I had written, but I tried to keep some of the story back so she could read it fresh, which she did every week when that call was over. 

I won't be making that call this Sunday, so I am dedicating this Blog posting to her memory -

Via con Dios, Alison

 

Visit to El Juncalito

Although this Blog is titled “Living Loreto”, when the opportunity presents, I like to write about some of the locations and lifestyles in the areas surrounding Loreto and Loreto Bay.  One of those opportunities occurred this past week, when I was invited to join some friends in EL Juncalito, a small beach settlement 10 km south of Loreto Bay, between here and the marina at Puerto Escondido.

Juncalito is located on a beautiful bay with a crescent beach and was originally was home to a small fishing community.  Decades ago, Gringos travelling in RVs and Trailers started to settle around the beach, renting space from the local Mexicans who lived in the community.  Like many large areas in Mexico, surrounding Juncalito is Ejido land.

I do not claim expertise in the legal nuances of Mexican Real Estate law, but for the purposes of this story, Ejido land is a form of communal property available to local residents who can trace their heritage back to that location.  A qualified Mexican citizen can occupy Ejido land but they do not hold individual title to the land.  However, in this case they are able to rent pads on that land to foreigners to park their trailers on long term leases, which is how this area has developed into a community that combines Mexicans and ex-pats.

Over the years many of these trailers and fifth-wheels have been surrounded by and built into thatched roof pergolas shading outdoor patios and living areas some even have bricked additions.  With no local electricity lines these homes run on solar charged batteries, most with a generator back up, and they use bottled propane for appliances.  Water is piped to the home sites and, typical here in Mexico, stored in roof cisterns as a reservoir and to add pressure.  Sewage is handled through septic fields or holding tanks.

There are also a few waterfront lots that are on Federal beach land that, due to their proximity to the shore, are governed by more rigorous Federal regulations, specifically – no permanent structures including concrete foundations.  In the case of one of my friend’s situations, they have a 35 foot fifth-wheel literally feet from the high water line with a outdoor patio/living area on an un-mortared brick floor, under a sheet metal half roof supported by several wood pillars which were set in the gravel beach in buried 50 gallon drums that were filled with concrete.  This “temporary” foundation provided a very substantial support for the structure, but could be removed, when necessary, without a trace.

Although I had driven through Juncalito several times in the past, and frequently I would see it from the highway as I approached Loreto Bay from the south, I had never known anyone who lived there before until recently, when a friend moved off his live-aboard boat and into an existing fifth-wheel.  He, in turn, introduced me to another “Juncalitoite” which resulted in an invitation to a “fish fry” earlier this week.  Following his simple directions I easily located his trailer/pergola and met his wife on their open air patio I described above.  A couple of other guests had arrived ahead of me and soon we were all chatting happily over drinks on the patio, enjoying the stunning water views, in fact, in this location, there was nothing BUT water views!

This crescent beach has been a fishing village for generations and now sport fishing has become the main activity.  There is a small church as well as the semi-permanent RVs, a cluster of transient RVs at the south end of the beach with no services, and the permanent homes of the Mexican “landlords” which are generally located further away from the water.  While I had initially assumed that this was because the proximity to the water made the small RV lots more desirable for lease, I gathered during my conversations that evening that another reason that the Mexicans generally live further from the water may also be due to risk of storm surge in the event of tropical storms or even hurricanes.

As the afternoon faded into the evening more people dropped in on my hosts, usually carrying some liquid refreshment (spiced rum & coke seemed to be the beverages of choice) and when there were eight to ten of us visiting around the patio it was time to start the fish fry.  On an outdoor propane burner, next to a pair of serious looking BBQ grills, oil was heated in a large sauce pan fitted with a matching strainer.  The freshly caught fish filets were dipped in an egg based batter and then coated with empanizado crumbs before being fried quickly to a tender golden brown.  Pan after pan of these filets were cooked, kept warm on the nearby grill, until a platter of perfectly cooked fish was ready to serve.  Accompanied by a big bowl of freshly made coleslaw, it made a delicious meal.

As I was sitting on this simple patio, hung with bird feeders that were attracting literally dozens of humming birds, gazing across a picturesque bay towards rocky offshore islands – mere feet from the high water mark, surrounded with new friends who made me feel welcome, sharing their food and stories, I knew I was experiencing another “Blog moment”.  But beyond the spectacular setting and good company I was struck by both the differences and similarities between this lifestyle and the one I am used to in Loreto Bay, just 10 km up the highway.

While the differences were apparent, these people lived a much simpler lifestyle in their RVs and Palapas, no cell phone service, adequate but limited electricity, basic plumbing and no broadcast TV or internet – except for a few who have started using HughesNet for satellite internet.  However, every one of them probably had as good (or better) water views as million dollar homes a few miles away.  The similarities were even more striking. 

These people love where they lived every bit as much as my friends and neighbors do up the highway –and they share many of the same frustrations that are part and parcel of living here in Mexico, as well as minor disputes and disagreements with neighbors. That evening I heard conversations about planned renovations and additions that – but for the type of home – were familiar topics in Loreto Bay among homeowners. 

However, as a Loreto Bay “outsider”, I sensed good natured rivalry in some of the comments directed toward the community where I lived, which didn’t surprise me.  I understand that our pastel hued community, bordered by lush fairways and gardens could be an easy “target”, particularly for people who have never spent an evening visiting in Loreto Bay, as I was doing in Juncalito.  I must also say that I have heard comments about Juncalito from people who live in Loreto Bay, that while different in nature, were very similar in tone to what I heard that evening. 

And so I realized that while there are many ways for Foreigners to live here, and that we can easily make assumptions (and poke fun at) those who have chosen a different path, we all have far more in common, in spite of whatever differences there may be, than it would appear from the way we may live – and that is a lesson I will remember, while “Living Loreto”.