The Whales of Bahia de Banderas

We had an experience of a lifetime....whale watching!  Sure we've seen whales on TV, read how big they are, but seeing them in person, in their habitat was breathtaking!  Sam's brother & sister-in-law, a couple they know from Minnesota (escaping the cold in Vallarta), along with ourselves, took a private whale watching tour with Whale Watching Vallarta.  December through March is whale watching season in Vallarta, with January and February being the best times....we were in prime season!  

From left - Bill, Paula, Lilia, Dave, Sam, Julie, Mark

The tour left from the Nuevo Vallarta Yacht Club, so we started there with lunch before boarding the 32ft boat for our adventure.  The weather was beautiful for our afternoon departure; calm waters and clear skies!  We can't say enough good things about the tour company, Whale Watch Vallarta!  They don't just send you out in a boat looking for whales with someone who knows the bay, they send you out with a marine biologist who explained the habitat and lifestyle of these magnificent creatures!  Our guide was Lilia and she was awesome!  We spent 3 hours on the bay spotting whales and boating over to them, always respectful of the strict whaling regulations in place in Mexico.  Afternoons tend to be a quieter time for the whales, (the couple days before our tour had no sightings), but we were blessed with several sightings of Humpback whales, the species most often seen in the bay.

We learned the Humpbacks come here from their feeding grounds in California, Canada, Alaska, and some as far as the Arctic for mating and calving.  All the time they're here they don't eat, so prior to coming south, they fill up on krill and small fish (about 1400kgs/day) to fatten them up with enough blubber to survive the winter down here!  We also learned that the same whales are tracked year after year here and elsewhere.  Apparently their markings are as unique as our fingerprints, allowing for this tracking without physically tagging them.  Way cool!

We were very fortunate to see several whales on the Heat Run (multiple males vying for a female) and others just cruising around the bay.  Beautiful displays of spouting, fins and tails were given to us.  None were in the mood to breach (jump out of the water), but we got to see their enormity just the same!  

Toward the end of the trip, the weather was starting to turn and the sightings also diminished.  Lilia brought out a hydro microphone to try and pick up any whales singing....yes, they sing to communicate with one another!  We didn't pick up any sounds, nada!  Lilia said with no songs at all, there was a good chance that meant the Humpbacks were laying low because there were Killer whales nearby.  We did get to hear some previously recorded whale songs, which were so very cool!

Truly an amazing experience, one we will never forget!!  Thank you Mother Nature for these beautiful creatures!

Hasta luego!

Bill y Sam

Meet Gabby.....

When we were planning for this trip we thought having a GPS device just might help.  Yes, we know there are apps and Goggle maps, but none will help you if you don't have connectivity.  Bill researched different GPS devices and decided on the Garmin.  We knew we picked a good one when we were off the beaten path in San Carlos, got twisted around and decided to try the GPS.  We turned it on, put in our destination, and almost instantaneously it said "turn right on Road".

The damn thing knew exactly where we were even without any road names!  We were impressed.  It finds restaurants, banks, gas near by.  It usually knows one way streets (had a little trouble entering La Penita, but in its defense they had changed the entrance into the town).  It continued to impress us time and time again during this trip that we began to affectionately call it Gabby.  We call her Gabby because she can talk a lot especially if you don't follow her directions.   We quickly learned to not rely on her for pronouncing any Spanish words, she really needs some lessons!

As we continue our travels in this beautiful country, it's nice to know we have Gabby along for the ride!  If you're looking for a GPS device, we'd highly recommend the Garmin!

A Day in the Life of Snowbirders in Mexico....

We can't believe it's already January 17th!  We haven't done a very good job of posting our experiences as we're too busy enjoying them and reflecting upon them (ok and just being lazy snowbirders)!  We've spent most of our first 2 weeks in Lo de Marcos exploring the area and absorbing the lifestyle.

Our days usually start slow and easy around 7am with coffee.  Sam is usually up earlier, still struggling with sleep issues (BTW, today is 13 months smoke free!!!!).  Sometimes if we get moving quickly, we'll take a walk on the beach.  Around 9-10am our bellies start to talk and one of us walks down to the market and buys the fixings for Huevos ala Mexicana (eggs, serrano peppers, and tomatoes, we usually have onion in the house) and oranges and other fruit/veg for fresh juice.

While Sam is preparing breakfast, Bill squeezes the oranges and usually adds some spinach, apple, and other stuff to make a blended juice.

Our goal for our life this winter in Mexico is 'no plans, no schedules, no stress', so during breakfast we talk about what we might want to do.  Some days we check out our neighboring towns of Rincon de Guayabitos, La Penita, San Pancho, Los Ayala, enjoying their beaches, food, and shops.  Other days we hang out at our beach.  Some days we just stay home, doing laundry, straightening the house, playing cards or backgammon, walking around our little town getting to know the neighbors and shops.

Playa de Los Ayala

Playa de Lo de Marcos

The last couple days have been spent with Sam's brother, Dave and sister-in-law, Paula...hands down high points of this trip so far (pics to come, we were too damn busy catching up, but we'll be seeing much more of them yet this trip!!

Today will likely be one of those 'stay at home' days as it is cooler and cloudy, with a touch of raindrops.  No laundry today as it wouldn't dry on the line with the weather; glad we haven't run out of clean underwear!  If the bandwidth holds up we just might get a couple more blog posts done today!

The shrimp guy comes today too, so we'll be making Camarones ala Mojo de Ajo (shrimp in garlic butter) tonight.  Most of the shrimp here comes from San Blas (about 2 hours north).  There are a couple shops in town that will open later today with camarones for sale and there's also the guy that drives around in his truck with coolers full of shrimp & fish, on his loud speaker announcing his goods for sale....that's who we buy from.  It surely sounds like a strange way to buy your shrimp, but it beats the hell out of 'previously frozen' shrimp largely found in the states and it's just how they roll down here so we're embracing it!  Oh, and we get a half kilo (about a pound) of beautiful, fresh shrimp for 110 pesos (around $5.50) and we're paying tourist prices!!

The other goal for today (or maybe tomorrow) is to find the library in town (it's tucked away somewhere).  This little Mexican town holds weekly guided meditations at the library on Wednesday and Sam is looking forward to attending!

Well that's it for now as we're getting hungry, so it's time to go to the market for breakfast goodies!

Hasta luego!

Bill y Sam