Northern Meeting of Southern Friends

Our Site at Lake Wenatchee.

Melaque, Mexico is a small farming/fishing community south of PV and north of Manzanillo. This town has been our winter retreat for 25 years. We started spending 2 weeks over Christmas vacation. The stays were extended to over three months after our retirement. Many posts to this blog took place in this quaint little hideaway.

Traveling south also allowed us to meet many people we now consider friends. We are part of their lives while in Melaque, but when winter passes we go our separate ways until the next migration south. 

Lake Wenatchee views.

Over the past spring one of our friends put together a gathering for all the folks connected by this winter community.  Annie and Mac invited anyone who wanted to join the gathering, to meet at their farm in Ferndale WA, for three days of food and fun. All they had to do was show up with their tent or RV and they were welcome to join the fun and get reacquainted with all their winter friends.

To join the group Linda and I loaded up the camper and made our way west on I-90 to George, WA where we then took Highway 28 northwest through Wenatchee, Leavenworth, and on to Lake Wenatchee State Park where we stayed the night. The drive was good and we only had traffic coming into Leavenworth which made our day very nice.

Once we were all set up for the evening, we walked some trails and enjoyed a nice dinner. We were tired so we went to bed just after sundown.

Our drive the next day took us over Stevens Pass on Highway 2 dropping down to follow the  Skykonish River. The smaller highway was narrow and very curvy. We took our time and only had one seat-grabbing moment. We connected with I5 North at Everett and proceeded to our destination in Ferndale.

When we arrived at the farm, Mac pointed us around the back of the old barn and we found a spot to level the camper and settle in for our visit.

Over the next few days, the group of Melaque friends grew. At one point I estimated our group of people who got to know one another via Melaque to be about 35. With friends and families the total was over fifty guests.

Everyone mingled around the farm setting and found out what was happening in each other's lives beyond Mexico.  Food was in abundance and the entire group explored culinary delights at each meal. Annmarie and Mack were wonderful hosts. None of this would have happened without their hard work.

The Melaque Mob!

Wednesday morning Linda and I quietly packed up, said goodbyes and headed down the road.  We had a couple state parks in mind for our night stay, but no reservations. The drive was all freeway. We hit some traffic slowdowns but in most respects, it was an easy drive. At 2:30 PM we drove into Wanapum Dam State Park where we spent the final night of our adventure.

Annie and Mac's home.

The next morning we got up and drove the rest of the way home. We did have a minor problem at one of the final rest areas we stopped at. Our passenger side window rolled down but refused to roll back up into the closed position. Linda was forced to ride with the window open which was a bit noisy, but she was comfortable with the wind blowing on her the final miles home.

PS  As Linda and I greeted the numerous Melaque friends, the folks with RVs were very interested in our truck and camper.  They inquired about our travels and asked how many times we used the camper.  I looked back in the blog and found that I have documented taking 335 trips in our rig. A trip can be overnight, or multiple nights. These numbers come from the posts I make in the blog only. They don't represent the number of nights we have stayed in the camper. I thought this was a fun little fact to share.

Wanapum Dam State Park.

Explorandor - Día Uno

Over the past five weeks we have gotten into our daily life patterns and have acclimatized to the temperatures. It is time to change things up a little and go out and see more of Mexico.

Linda got an email from our friends Jill and Barry. They had set up a trip with a small group of four couples to travel to and explore the area around Oaxaca City and invited us to join their party.

Ruth hands out our boarding passes for the day.

Oaxaca City is located inland and south in the lower part of Mexico. To get there we had to take a van to the Manzanillo airport and fly Aeromexico to Mexico City where we transferred to a plane that flew for two hours south into the high country landing at the Oaxaca International Airport. This journey started at 8:00 am and we landed in our new destination at about 4:00 pm. This included a three hour lay over in Mexico City.

This long first day started a bit bumpy. Our tour company picked us up at our casa and rendevoused at Jill and Barry's home to load into a van for the airport. Just as we arrived at the meeting point, a group of Villa Orbregon taxis pulled in and blocked our van. The taxi drivers were not going to let a van from the airport pick up passengers in their territory.  This is not unusal. Taxis from the local towns around Manzanillo Airport can not pick up passengers at the airport proper, because the airport drivers won't allow them this option. There was much chatter and hand waving, but finally Ruth, the owner of Mex-Eco Tours, said it was not worth the delay and loaded us into three taxes.

Popocatepetl and Iztacciuatl
two volcanos from our plane.

The rest of our travel was uneventful and our Aeromexico flight landed (after a pretty turbulent entry) at the Mexico City Airport where we connected with one of the guides, Noel, and another Mex-Eco tour group from Puerta Vallarta. Noel lead us on to our plane that took us to our final destination for the day Oaxaca City.

At this point we met our van driver, Eladio, and our daily tour guide, Rosario. 

Our hotel, Hotel Marques del Valle, in Oaxaca’s historic centre was a wonderful home base for our stay and exploration. It was located on the main jardin for the historic center of the city. 

Our  hotel from the plaza.

She looks pretty good after a full day of travel.

Cathedral of Oaxaca, north side of zocalo.

Our hotel lobby at check-in.

Another view of the Cathedral.

Fishing With Gerardo

Sunrise over the water is always beautiful.

Five o'clock... I rolled out of bed and got my gear together for a day of fishing. There was a seat open on the boat, Hakuna Matata, with Captain Gerardo Kosonoy and I got an invite to get out on the water. 

We met at Barry Urquhart's house and Gerardo picked us up. By 7:10 AM we were motoring out of the Barra canals and into the Bahia de Navidad. The air was cool, almost cold, as we sped out across the water.

Setting out the five lines we fished.

Gerardo was heading out to an area where I have fished many times under his guidance. About three miles out of Barra, we set out five lures and slowed to about 9 knots. Our day of trolling had begun.

The four clients, Barry Urquhart, Jeff Cheek, Dave???? and myself flipped coins that set our seats in the catch chair. I was third in line so I sat up with Gerardo and chatted about fishing as we scanned the horizon for good signs. We look for birds, debris, long lines, and current lines. Over the years I have become very aware of these things to look for, all of which draw baitfish which in turn draw predator fish.

Fish on! A sailfish tries to shake the lure free.

Gerardo found a great current line that was full of debris and we started following it. All along this line were pieces of floating wood, seaweed, coconuts, paper, and plastic. Under each piece of flotsam was a teaming community of small fish, crabs, sea snakes, and other living organisms.

Since we were looking for the big fish, we pulled our lures through the current line in hopes that a predator would see the movement of these colorful lures, follow and attack.

The sailfish has given in and is ours.

At 10:10 AM we had a strike and a hookup. Jeff was the first chair so after Gerardo set the hook, he took over and the fight began. Behind the boat, a pointed head broke the surface. Jeff had a sailfish on his line. As he reeled it in we pulled in the other lines and Gerardo prepared to land it.

After about 30 minutes the fish was near the boat and we got our first look at its full length. Gerardo estimated it to be about 7 feet long and 65 pounds. This is considered a medium-sized fish. Jeff decided to keep it and our captain pulled it on board and administered the club. Gerardo calls his club the Priest and our friend John Sutherland calls his club Gramma's Hammer. Whatever you call it, it gets the job done.

With one fish in the boat, we continued on. Ahead Gerardo spotted a log and we pulled the lures past it hoping to get a hit. As we went by the water teemed with baitfish. Around the log were two huge turtles feeding off the growth along the wood skin.

Gerardo and Jeff with the prize.

We stopped alongside the island of life and proceeded to fish for live bait. As we caught the little baitfish, sharks started swimming around our lines. Soon we were catching sharks along with the small baitfish. Gerardo told us that sharks were good to eat, so we kept the next seven we caught. This was a very fun experience and something I had never done on the open ocean.

After a while, we pulled in the lines and set them up with hooks and then put on the live bate. We pulled this bait slower than we had pulled the lures. Gerardo headed us back along the current line and we motored on.

A little better photo of Jeff.

Gerardo cleans one of the seven sharks we caught.

Taking us home.

This photo is for Caroline.

Changes at the Banana Plantation

A restaurant here in Melaque called The Red Lobster, provides a day trip out to their banana plantation for the low price of 500 pesos per person. Included in the price, you receive a breakfast meal, transportation on a bus to the plantation, beer and soft drink beverages, a day in the water pools and a great dinner of BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken or baked fish. We have participated in this event for the past three years and have enjoyed ourselves each time.

This year they had added a second pool and provided more shade areas. It is a very fun and relaxing day. Follow this link to one of the other posts for comparison photos.

Another Day of Fishing

Jeff Cheek hooks the first dorado.

When we went fishing today the winds were from the southeast blowing west. Captain Gerardo Kosonoy told us that it was very unusual for this time of year. The weather has been hot and very humid, which is the norm for December, not January.

A nice young male goes in the cooler.

Captain Gerardo Kosonoy and Barry Urquhart. 

Captain Gerardo

We motored out from Barra and dropped our lures into the salt water, then started pulling. Within five minutes we had hooked our first Dorado. I grabbed the rod and set the hook and then passed the rig over to Jeff. He had drawn first fish and so he took the fighting chair and started cranking in the fish. The fish had grabbed the lure and ran for quite a distance. Jeff had his work cut out for him. He fought the Dorado to the boat and Gerry gaffed it on board. Our hopes were high for a good fishing day!

We trolled around the point off the shipwreck and then crossed over the bay heading west and to the area around Isla Iglesias. We had no hits and so we rounded the point and pull along the rocks heading to Playa El Tamarindo.  Captain Gerry decided to change things up and so he pulled out two lures that were baited with natural fish.

With the new bait behind us, we turned southwest and made our way out several miles off the coast. The wind was getting stronger but our boat could easily handle it. The second Dorado hit on one of the baited lures. Berry grabbed the rod and pulled the fish to the boat. Alongside the boat, we could see how beautiful these fish are. They are so colorful before they come out of the water. Gerry gaffed the fish and put it on ice.

We continued on, turned south and parallel the coastline. We had one good hit that shook a rod three times, but whatever it was didn’t hook up, so we trolled our way back into the Laguna.

Back at the shore the Captain fileted the two fish and fed a lonely pelican a hearty meal of fish parts. Two Dorado provides some very good filets and we divided our bounty between the three of us.

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