No Hay Peces en el Océano.

Very short post because the title says it all. We went fishing on windy seas. Over large swells. No hay peces en el océano.

The out of focus spot bottom left is a whale breaching.

Even my photos speak volumes. However, we did see six whales breaching and numerous sea turtles. Oh, and one lone dolphin. Look at my photos and imagine those beautiful mammals all around us!

It's a fluke I even got this shot. Yes, a whale tail.

Eye candy for Caroline.

Big Sail Boat, Marching and Christopher’s Market

We should try to rent this one.

This time of year, the cruisers are out in force moving down south or stopping and making Barra their winter port. We had a visit from another large vessel, this time a sailboat named "Eos". The boat is the largest private sailboat in the world. (Measured from bow to stern. If measured by deck length, it would be second largest.) We watched it motor out of the bay. Hope they are as happy as we are!

Sunday evening Huitzil, a local gentleman, brought Jill and Barry some sea turtle babies to release. Huitzil finds the egg nests, collects the eggs and takes them home where they hatch. Then he releases them when it is dark. It is a lot of work, but he feels that many more survive that way.  I would agree. The traffic on the beach and the fact that animals like to eat the eggs all add to the lower survival rate. Hatching and releasing allows the babies to have a greater chance of survival. We had to go to dinner before dark, so we let Jill and Barry have the fun of setting this nest free!

Cuff and Link getting ready for the big swim.

On Saturday, January 21, millions of people gathered across the world to march to protect women's rights and other causes including immigration reform, health care reform, protection of the natural environment, LGBTQ rights, racial justice, freedom of religion, and workers' rights. The rallies were aimed at Donald Trump, the recently inaugurated President of the United States, and especially at his statements and positions regarded as anti-women/anti-minority. Women in Melaque held a march which drew over 200 participants. Linda attended and showed her support. I rode my bike and took a few pictures.

Pink everywhere!

Yesterday, Daren and Marcy joined us for a bus ride into Manzanillo to visit the Oaxacan Market that sets up at the Soriana Department store during January. We purchased tickets on the Primera Plus bus and rode in comfort to just across the street from the event. Once again Linda did a great job leading us through the complex Spanish-speaking Mexican world. 

While on the bus, we stopped in Santiago to let two gringos off. As they were getting ready to leave, they informed us that our information was all wrong. They said that the Premier Plus bus would only go to its bus stop and let people off. They said we had paid for a ticket to Old Town Manzanillo and therefore, we would have to go there, depart, and then take a local bus back to the Oaxacan market.

Oxacan Market

Linda had researched this trip and was told by several people who'd just done the trip that if we purchased the ticket to Old Town, we could get off the bus somewhere across from the market and walk to it. She explained that to the gringos and the man looked at her and laughed, then in a condescending voice said "Good luck with that!" and he exited the bus.

Knowing she had not misinterpreted the information about this bus ride, Linda then talked to the bus driver, a fellow employee, and a young Mexican woman who was attempting to do the same thing as we were.  They said that we could get off the bus at the Soriana with no problems. They said they would stop and signal us when we arrived. Which they did.

Just the right fit!

If we had listened to the gringos, we would have added and hour to our trip. As it was, Linda saved us a huge amount of time and effort.

The market was just opening when we arrived so we had the run of the place. It was fun to look around, but we were a bit disappointed.  The selection owasafts were not anything like in year's past. It only took us an hour to look it over. We purchased nothing.

Next we shopped in the Soriana for a bit and bought a couple things.

Linda led Marcy to the Flexi shoe store. Daren and I sat in the air conditioned comfort, on a big red couch, as the ladies tried on evey shoe in the store. Linda had success, but Marcy came away empty handed. It wasn't that she didn't give it a hell of a try though.

By then we were hungry and needed to get some food. We walked back down the street to a place called El Fogon where we had a great meal.

Linda led us home and we collapsed in the comfort of our casas. It was another fun day.

A Big Boat

This little beauty has been anchored in the bay for the past few days. It is called "Rising Sun" and is the 11th largest yacht in the world.  No, you won't see us standing on its deck.

I can't even fathom the costs involved, but then again we are not in the 1%.

All Terrain Vehicle Trip

Ride like the wind! I gotta ride! Here, hold my beer!

Through the waters of Arroyo Seco.

We all gathered at Ray's place for an ATV ride into the jungle today.  Nine intrepid riders of all skill levels gathered around our guide as he explained where we were heading for our day's adventure.  We mounted our trusty steeds and motored off through the streets of Melaque, onto the beach sands, passed through the barrio of Barra and up Arroyo Seco, deep into the plantations and jungle that surround our area.

What a blast we had. We churned through sand, climbed rock trails, splashed through the flowing river and wound along jungle trails. At the end of the ride, we hiked to a beautiful waterfall where we frolicked and swam.

It was Linda's first time on an ATV and she drove it like she had been on them all her life. I loved the fact that she had such a good time. 

I highly recommend adventuring out into the jungle in this fashion; it was a blast!

Jill speeds along in her color coordinated outfit.

Art splashes on up the cool river.

Bo and Jo lead Larry and Iris up toward the waterfall.

Linda gasses her ATV up a sandy hill.

Jo and Bo contemplate the tail ahead.

Barry riding sweep.

Our guide for the day, Ray.

Bug in her bandana and helmet.

The hike up to the waterfall.

Lots of big rocks needed maneuvering.

Art, Linda, and Ray made it to the falls. Well worth the hike!

Linda and Ray enjoy the end of the trail. 

Sliding down over the rocks on the descent.

We had to do some hard down-climbing on the way back.

OOPS!

Larry sunk it in a bit!

LIFT!

DRINK!

Resting during the rescue.

Back at it. She gave me that look.

We didn't feed a single buzzard today!

Our gang. From left: Larry and Iris, Barry (background), Jill
Linda, Bo and Jo, Art.

Friday, Friday, Friday!

Linda, Sarah, and Iris, goofing in the back of the van.

High tides at Pedro's.

Iris and Sarah contemplate that first margarita.

It's all about the mix.

From left: Sarah, Linda, Jill, Liz, Iris and John.
Background: Maggie, Claudia, and Barry

Thinking and Smiling

This morning we took an hour and streamed the final address to America from President Obama. That man is a great orator, he is inspiring and able to move you to look for the right path to follow into the upcoming new year and the next four years for America. I supported most all he has done for our country, I will miss him and his leadership.

Today I logged into our bank account and checked to see if there was a hard earned payment deposited there. Low and behold, as I scanned the screen, I found the deposit from the US Social Security  Administration. My first Social Security check arrived and was deposited into our account! Linda and I smiled, high fived, and then I quickly transferred it from our checking account to a savings account.

It was a bittersweet morning around the casa.

Iris Arrived

The newest member of the Las Palmas entourage arrived. Irisin got into town and she brought a friend from Edison with her. Now we have Iris and Sarah to goof around with once in a while.

I used my camera to capture the sunset last night. The pelicans were fishing and so I was able to catch them as they searched for dinner.

Hanging Out

Yes, that is all we are doing. Hanging out. All is well and the weather is perfect. I am posting so that I can tell Jacquie and Grant, we miss them.

I also want to mention two of our other friends Julia and Rob so that they can flip us the bird. They follow our posts and get upset because they can't join us. Just rubbing it in I guess.

Photo confessions: I took this picture along with several other photos from the same spot on the beach. Using Picasa, I put my usual contrast filter on it. Then I went into Photoshop Elements and opened the sunset photo in the background and found a photo that had the three skim boarders on it.

I removed everything on the skim boarder layer except the three boys and moved their features on top of the sunset in the center position. Then I cleaned a bunch of swimmers out of the sunset layer and flattened the image. When this was finished I took the photo into Picasa again and did a final filter for the color intensity.

When the photo was posted on Instagram it came out very color heavy. On Facebook, it looked much different. I'm not suer how this will look, but I'll give it a try.