Iris Publishing	Baja Paddling Epic Day Three
The Beginning Day One Day Two Day Three Fish Camp Stiff arms Paddle away Conch Shells Sting Ray Osprey nest Rock Profile Day Four Day Five Day Six The End	There was a rare south-east breeze today as we started off. Roger said he hoped it wouldn't last more than a day or so. We paddled past a fish camp, where locals will live for weeks or even months to catch fish to sell. The huts are wood and palm fronds, like the palapas. The boats they use are called pongas, sort of a low, flat dory with a slightly higher bow. They are often painted a bright color, so when several are pulled up on shore I can't help but think of Van Gogh. We passed one man fishing from an inflatable. He'd spent the last two nights in the sail boat anchored just off of our camping spot. We had had to dodge him to poop in a crevice on wet sand, so there was just a little sense of embarrassment in facing him. He was an art professor on sabbatical from Eastern Oregon University doing research and painting. Rough duty! Greg ultimately got runner-up for the most improved paddler award. By the end of the trip these straight arms had relaxed, and he had big grins on his face. Lots of pelicans and frigate birds flew over our heads as we paddled across the quiet turquoise water. Because we were going around the north tip of the peninsula, we were protected from the south-east wind and the water was like glass. That day we saw lots of birds flying and perched on rocks - pelicans, gulls, and blue footed boobies. Jan paddles out to sea... or so it seemed on this beautifully calm and sunny morning. For lunch we pulled into a sandy cove, where the tide-pooling started. The water is clear and seems like low tide lasts forever. Apparently, there are usually just one low and one high tide a day because it takes so long for the lesser tides to travel up the Sea of Cortez that they don't make it. So, there is a long low tide and a long high tide, but the range isn't more than about two feet. These conch shells are very common on the beaches. They all have holes in the tops where they have been drilled to take out the meat of the animal by the fishermen who harvest them. A skeleton of a sting ray - found at the lunch site during day three. Our next camping site was in the Playa Escondida (hidden beach) We went snorkelling. The fish are very colorful and it was a thrill to see stone fish (which are poisonous) hanging on the edge of rocky reefs. I saw a long needle like fish, too, and was scared enough to back off and find a buddy. The water was pretty cold even though we had our farmer john wet suits on, we'd forgotten to bring neoprene caps. Roger and Jan had more elaborate gear and could stay out much longer.   Here there is a huge osprey next at the top of a tall rock outcropping/pillar. The nest looks like just a part of the rock until we got closer. It appears to have been built on and used for decades. There are probably two baby osprey in it, still not flying, who call out from the nest from time to time.   If you look very carefully, you can see the head of a baby osprey looking over the edge of the nest (on the left at the top of the rock).     Later, Gregorio the jokester, came into the camp saying he'd found a grave site. Several of us trooped after him as he led us through sand, dodging the prickly desert plants to a dirt road. "This is where I got the feeling I wasn't the first to go up here." he said. We followed the fine silty dust along the road past the cardone cacti and Palo de Adan trees. Branching off the dirt road we came up on the grave site. There were more than a dozen graves there. Piled up with stones, most having crosses on them in various levels of decline. Two had plaques on top that were broken, but we thought we could make out "de 1749." John, the professional surveyor, looking at a stake said it may be that some archaeologists had been here studying the site and marked it off on a grid. There is an abandoned manganese mine about a mile or so north of this site. this is a very harsh land, there is no forgiveness for bad planning or luck because it is completely dry. It rains here maybe three or four days a year. There are arroyos, but they are almost always bone dry. This profile in the rock was amusing for our bunch of middle aged people from the USA.