Cruise Log #29, Some More of La Paz
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February to March, 2006
Carnaval and Todos Santos
Updated March 10th
La Paz.
It had been Stan's turn to skipper when we arrived at the yard. Cecil the surveyor, looking for good
picture angles, made him drive
round in circles in the itsy bitsy space between rock jetties and a dock full of boats, one of which had
planted an anchor halfway out in the fairway. To top off the excitement, he had to back
SolMate in between two rock jetties to reach the sling. Thank goodness for line handlers on all four corners!
Those same line handlers made launching, nearly four weeks later, a piece of cake - good thing cuz it was my turn to skipper.
SolMate settled into the water like a big ole fat duck, sloshed around, rolled a little from side to
side as the supporting slings came off, creaked and groaned, then steadied, shook her tail feathers and paddled gently away.
Our only bit of excitement on the short trip back to Marina Palmira
was fighting the tricky currents at the fuel dock, but not so
exciting that we hit anything hard....
Whatever you thought would come true when dinghies fly
may now come to pass.
Carnaval La Paz, 2006
Carnaval 2006, on the beautiful new malacon that stretches
three miles along the waterfront from
Marina de La Paz to
Marina Palmira.
Parades, bands, food and hustlers for five solid days, plus more chicken fights. Each afternoon a two-mile section of the malecon was blocked from traffic and jam-packed with booths and peds. At least twenty bandstands were erected for rap, traditional, folklorico, country, rock and jazz, all of which revved up after dark and then battled it out on the airwaves until dawn. Also a bunch of performance stages were set up for exhibitors from dance studios and schools, comedians, and magicians.
Most floats had one of two themes, some displayed
a combination of both. Hula seemed to be
this year's
favorite dance of choice with the pre-teen set.
Each carnival day featured a new and improved reason for fireworks.
Bad humors were blown up in effigy the first night, then a big ole tower was blown up another night in
honor of the queen's coronation. Although there were many queens, the big blow was in honor of the
carnival queen who
reigned over all. Everyday a new assortment of kings and queens was crowned, the queen of kids, the
king of happiness, the queen of poetry, and the king and queen of babes. They all enjoyed their own coronations,
and presumably, their own fireworks.
Our big favorite of the whole mess was the food department. Who would guess? Gorditas, miniature sweet
breads straight out of ovens set up right on the malecon, breads flavored with anise, or hot peppers,
plus the ever-popular, ever-greasy churros, with the especially savory spin-off, churros stuffed with
cream or caramel or chocolate.
Every carnival seems to have its own trademark activity, New Orleans has its strings of beads, La Paz has confetti-filled eggs. As we mingled with the crowds lining the parade route, we noticed that many people brought eggs from home - not hard to make, poke a hole in an egg big enough to get the squishy part out, the confetti in, wrap it all in colored tissue to hold it all together and you're in business. Eggs were tossed from the floats to the crowd, from the crowd to the floats, up and down the street and confetti sprayed everywhere. We're still finding bright bits and pieces around the boat, tracked in via hair, clothes and shoes.
Confetti-filled eggs.
There were those hoodlums who couldn't resist covering real eggs with colored tissue to make them look like harmless confetti eggs and then tossing them at unsuspecting float drivers, dancers, or marchers with surprising results. Splat! Although the perps were chased half-heartedly, no one really seemed to mind the goo, and the rotten kids really didn't have very good aim.
Since returning to the marina, we've been madly wrapping up our dockside projects. We're going to leave the calm, protected slip, fresh running water, and limitless electricity on the 12th of March so we're sending Stan up the mast, hosing down everything in sight, and wearing out the power tools in a last flurry of dockside activity. But one day we gave ourselves a vacation.
Bus route south to Todos Santos.
Early one morning we wandered into the bus station and hopped on the next chariot heading for Todos Santos. The little we'd heard about the town intrigued us, so we had to see for ourselves. The settlement started as sugar plantations because of the abundant underground water supply, but as the water ran out, the American artists moved in. Now the village has the feel of Taos or Sedona and is jammed with galleries, artists, and - surfers. AND, so the story goes, Todos Santos is also the home of the original Hotel California (- what is a colita, anyway ?).
