Town of Mulege

Mulege is a town of about 3000 people founded in 1705 when a Jesuit monk came and developed and founded the mission. It´s an oasis for sure....LOTS of Date palms and lush tropical plants....the Mulege river winds through town and then runs to the Sea of Cortez.

Food Supply

This is the desert but the food is abundant....local and not so local produce is brought to the beach almost daily.....its a little bit more pricey than buying them in town but its always fresher than what you get in the many little grocery stores. We eat papaya, yoghurt and granola every morning....there is one store in Mulege that carries 100 % natural yoghurt without sugar!! Seafood of some sort completes our diet.....Shrimp are really HUGE and sweet that come from Bahia Concepcion.....Halibut (flounder) fillets are a common dinner thanks to Marcos, an avid fisherman that comes here for 4 months from New Jersey.

Red tide

As you can see we had some red tide (algae bloom).....you can always count on a gorgeous display of bioluminescence in the water on the following night....these phytoplankton GLOW in the dark anytime they are disturbed....so as the waves are breaking on the beach or fish jumping or boats moving there is a magnificent glow...like zillions of fireflys! ..I will try to get some photos next time it happens.....Allan just so happen to choose that day to clean some rocks from the beach!

Blanket Mafia

Allan has a collection of Sun blankets that he has acquired over the years....each year there is a new sun design....Adolfo, a Zapotecan, is the head of the blanket mafia in the Baja...he has a shop in town and a lovely family...he comes to the beach everyday hocking his blankets...."How many? What color? Almost Free!" Quite a character!

Aerial view of PalapaLand

As you can see we are not the only ones in PalapaLand....there are others....you could be one too! Our palapa is the largest and most decadent...definently the only one with a couch! Most of the visitors are from Canada......several have been from Germany and Switzerland too...always makes for interesting people interactions if we choose...yesterday a man from Grand Canyon, Arizona brought me a dozen or so cajun music CD´s.....leze bon ton roulle.....my spanish is better than my french..ha

Another typical sunrise....

Firepit renovation

The firepit was in need of more repair so I decided to just renovate the thing....using all local materials from the beach.

Palapa living at its finest

OK, here it is!...the inside scoop to palapa living! HA! Really its glorified camping.....kitchen has the basic propane stove, tent has a 4 inch foam mattress, lots of shelf space, desk, table, sunblankets galore for carpets, beach towels etc! Home sweet home for now!!

Water supply

I mentioned before that we get our water delivered....Homero comes in his truck...he supplies the 55 gallon drum and fills it for $10....we use it for everything except drinking...we buy 5 gallon garafons of reverse osmosis water from Muleje for that purpose...those solar distillation water cones would be perfect for this place.
http://www.watercone.com/product.html

Birds of many feathers

We have lots of bird visitors....the seagulls and pelicans are the most predominant and Allan just LOVES to feed them. We also have a pair of Hooded Orioles that frequent our palapa....here the male is using his fine sharp beak to drink from the hummingbird feeder.

Home Sweet Home

Returned to Playa Escondida...its left center, that beautiful white pristine looking beach....I like it much better here than the COLD Pacific!

Whale Watching

Went to Puerto Lopez Mateos on the Pacific to do a little whale watching! Entailed putting lots of clothes on and hiring a boat to take us out in the bay to get closer to the gray whales. This is a big business for this area...there were 6 other pangas out at the same time we were. The whales migrate here from the Beufort Seas and are here to give birth, usually to one calf, from Jan. to March. We saw a few whales that had their young close by. The dunes that covered the barrier island next to the bay were a blast to play in. Also great lobster here...we had a dinner consisting of 3 lobster tails, rice, salad and soup for $15 US Dollars.

Baja more culture

Passed some rock art, perhaps from the Cochimi Indians, also another one of those road side shrines, this one not so ornate, but what you might expect to see on a desert road in the middle of nowhere! Then another oasis of date palms, mango orchards and orange groves. Also a view of the mountain we camped next to the night before.

Baja culture

How about this bouganvilla for a patio cover?! An¨acequia, (irrigation canal) comes from the river to the village...here it is against the cliff.....The Mission of San Javier built around 1700 or so........onion fields are possible with the water!

Road Trip to the Other Side

We took a 4 day road trip to the Pacific Side of the Baja.....it required driving through deserts, mountains, arroyos, and a few small villages. We took a back road... Allan´s 4 wheel drive Ford Explorer was fine for most of it...first order is to lower tire pressure by letting out some air....very arid desert landscape and then over the next hill would be an oasis....lots of water in the arroyos now which is unusual for this time of year....sure made for some gorgeous scenery and nice picnic spots......we camped in high areas....one can pull off the road and camp anywhere!!

Vicarious Living

Interested in seeing more of daily life in PalapaLand and beyond?? (road trip planned this week!!) Then send dontations to Vicarious Living, PO Box 455 Geronimo, Texas 78115....LOVE YALL!!!

Sunset from PalapaLand

Not much to say here except that I hope the colors are as vivid for yall as they were for us!!

Bait fishing

Laco, Ramon and Marco are the premier pescadores in PalapaLand.....the bait begins at the palapa...

Panga ride

Today wenet for an adventure by water in a friends "panga", small fishing boat. Visited many islands and beaches and a sweet little restaurant where there was a parrot who had been living there for 14 years....really beautiful day! Many of the islands are COVERED in bird poop...there used to be millions of birds here, many factors have contributed to their decline.....some had caves where you could enter in one side and come out the other!!

Full Moon

My first full moon in the Baja from PalapaLand

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BONNIE!!!

Its Bonnie's birthday today...my youngest turns 19!! And I am no longer legally responsible!! Yeah! She rodeoed today in San Antonio Livestock Show and won first place in barrel racing! $800 richer she is.....now back to UT Business School so she knows what to do with it...Love ya lots, MOM