Is This a Job?

So, every once in awhile I forget that I'm actually working when I'm leading a Parkwest trip.  Take yesterday for example.  While the rest of the group enjoyed a leisurely, 90-minute breakfast on the hotel balcony, watching whales in the Sea of Cortez and enjoying the Baja sunshine, Collin and I went down to the boat docks to hitch a panga ride with Blacky, the jovial captain of a simple skiff for hire.  He took us out to sea, around the island of Coronado where we saw still more whales, one shark, a bunch of dolphins, then got to swim with the sea lions.  They call them sea "wolves" in Spanish, and when you're that up close and personal with them, and they're diving overhead into the same pool of water where you are doing the doggie paddle, "wolf" seems pretty apt.  Afterwards, we beached for some snorkeling and a short hike on groomed desert trails.  We were back in Loreto in plenty of time for a rest and a stroll about town before our briefing and group dinner: chicken mole all around!

A one-hour flight across the Sea of Cortez delivered us to the town of El Fuerte, a Magical Pueblo that we love and have missed since our last visit in 2009.  This time we are lodged at the charming Hotel El Fuerte, which will shortly fill up with a bunch of American doctors with LIGA International, who come on a regular basis to this area to provide medical care.  (The airport guys said they were expecting as many as 15 planes this weekend.)

Cat Herder is posting while sitting in a shady alcove on the second floor, with a birds-eye view of the palm trees and cascading bougainvillea which are soaking up the 92-degree sunshine and making the courtyard oh so beautiful.

Hope to catch up you readers with some fine photos soon.  Stay tuned!