Mexico

We all had an early start leaving for the airport in the dark then checking in for our flight back to LA while waiting to board we took the opportunity for a group photo.

The only group photo of the trip.

The flight to LA was the reverse of the trip down with a stop in Lorreto on the way. We landed in LA and collected our luggage I said a quick goodbye to the others as I had a different flight to them. I was going to Kansas City via Saltlake City and they were to Springfield via dallas. I got stopped at the final security check and searched I only just mannaged to make the flight in time.
The flight leg to saltlake city was smooth and I then changed planes for the short hop to Kansass city.

The view from Salt Lake City airport.

The steward on the plane made a comment about my fins as we boarded so once we were settled I asked how he recognised them as freediving fins. We had a good conversation and it turned out he was a retired SAT diver and also freedived. I arrived late in the evening around 9.30pm and was it cold I still had on the same clothes I was wearing in Baja. My friends Traffton and Kerrie live nearby in Lees Summit and met me at the airport and I spent the night at their place. I had also met them 2 years previously in Honduras so we sat up for a while catching up over some rum and beer.then off to bed for some much needed sleep. Pinky was driving up in the morning to pick me up and take me back to Springfield to spend the week with the rest of the group. I was also going to catch up with the rest of the group from Honduras that I hadnt seen so far.

Today we had a sleep in and then headed into town for some shopping. I bought a few T'shirts and postcards and some hand made local kids toys, a couple of bottles of the local Tequila and walked the full length of the beach front.We discovered the best mural on a wall on the beach front.

Wall Mural in La Paz.

We ate lunch in a local bar then got on the bus back to Pichalingue Bay. The rest of the afternoon was spent packing then relaxing at the pool. We went back to the restraunt on the beach for our last dinner of the trip and watched the sunset over the bay one last time.

Sunset over Pichalingue Bay

This was to be our last day diving so Pinky and I left early for El bajo in a Panga While the rest of the group followed in the bigger boat. The plan was for us to get in early before all the others arrived to give us a better chance at some good fish. I was told my Panga drivers name was Joe Louis only to discover his name was Jose Louise and he spoke no english at all and as I dont speak Spanish I got a bit worried but with hand signals we worked it out. He turned out to be a realy good Pangeroo and was never far away but never so close as to scare the fish and was always ready with a drink or food for us.

Jose Louise.

Pinky is doing the camera thing with me spearfishing, we are to pick up Jeff later after he has hed a chance to see the Hammer Heads as he missed them the other day.
Well all went to plan and I managed a nice wahoo of 50lb after working the edge of the bait schools for a while. The trick was to spend as much time in mid water as possible and wait for the wahoo to get within range which is easier said than done.

Wahoo at El Bajo.

Waiting Mid Water on El Bajo.

We Picked up Jeff and headed to one of the nearby Islands for the rest of the afternoon so Jeff could spearfish in the shallower water. I managed to get a nice Mexican Hog Fish before the afternoon was out unfortunately Jeff had no luck.

Mexican Hog fish.

Me and Jeff

We had just got out of the water and I had turned off the camera when a Sailfish cruised past with its sail out of the water before lighting up and bolting off into the blue. It was the perfect end to the days diving I only wish I had a photo of it. We enjoyed the ride back in the Panga drinking soft drink and relaxing. There was congratulations all round on catching such good fish when we returned and the fish was divided up between all the hotel staff they were most grateful. We spent the rest of the afternoon around the pool with the others going over the days events. Tommorow we were heading into town to do some souvenier shopping before our flight back to LA the following day.

I finally had a good nights sleep after the combination of cocktails, dramamine and hanging my towels over the curtains.
I woke feeling realy rested.
We spent the morning diving with Whale Sharks in the bay but the visibility was not too good and the jelly fish were savage. We used a lot of vinegar on a lot of arms and legs that morning.

After lunch we dived at Whale Island and a small bay nearby we picked up Chocolate clams from the bottom and ate them with tabasco sauce on the way back to the dock.

Chocolate Clam

Whale Island in background.

I have spent the past few days checking out the fish and taking pics so I got the spearfishing gear out today and got a nice Pargo for dinner. Juanita at the hotel cooked it up for me with some salsa it was wonderful.Tomorrow is going to be a big day, we are going to spend the day on EL Bajo spearfishing. I want to try and get a wahoo and a tuna if I can.

I need sleep I walked arround half the night then watched TV in spanish not that I understood what was going on. We dived the
El Bajo sea mount today and saw the schooling Hammerhead Sharks they were totaly awsome. They were all around 10ft long and swimming at about 90ft they were rather timid which was a surprise to me. Most of the time I encounter sharks they are anything but timid. There were some huge Dog Snapper on the edges of the drop off and schools of Mac Tuna swimming over the top with the odd Wahoo screaming through feeding on the masses of bait fish.

Bait fish in the blue water around El Bajo.

Tuna on El Bajo.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool over a couple of Pacifico's then had dinner at the restraunt on the beach. Pinky gave me some dramamine saying it should help me sleep but I backed it up with a couple of cocktails at the bar for good measure. The food at this place is just brilliant and cheap it's cost about $10 for food and drinks each night. The service is great as well and the 10 minute walk back to the hotel is just what you need after such a big meal.