DON BETO

Monday morning the 23rd of April, as I was preparing to my hatch for fiberglass Anibal pulled along side in his inflatable and asked if I would like to accompany him into the mountains to meet a friend of his. Well it took no more to convince me and I jumped at the opportunity. This time I actually remembered to take my camera. On our way to the dock we cavorted with a pod of Dolphins and then stopped by to visit with some amigos of Anibals who are refitting a sailboat. They hope to be sailing it by next year.


NEW SAILORS

After stopping to pick up Aldonsa, and a bite to eat, we were off and running. Until we ran out of gas. Luckily the gas station was only five blocks away. I enlightened Anibal of an old adage my father told me and that was "it is just as easy to keep the top one fourth of the tank full as it is the bottom one fourth. Somehow I don't think he appreciated the humor in it as we walked the ten block round trip in the heat. We did stop at the very next Pemex though.

We traveled out of La Paz through the surrounding hills and up into the mountains. I have to admit that I was not prepared when Anibal hit the breaks and then shot off the left side of the highway and down a dirt road, only to be stopped by a locked gate. There is nothing like a little adrenalin rush, to keep the old ticker going strong. He honked as we sat there, but no one came down, so it was walk up the hill to the house, which would not have been that bad, if not for the heat. We arrived on top of the hill to a fenced in "garden of eve" with many varieties of fruit trees and other plants and bushes. It is a truly beautiful spot, overlooking the Sea of Cortez. We were greeted by a large brown dog that was doing his best to sound vicious, but the rapidly wagging tail gave away his friendly nature.


DON BETO & ANIBAL

Aldonsa had taken a shortcut and arrived through the back prior to us and walked out to meet us with the rancho's owner, who greeted us with a big smile and handshake. We all piled into his truck and headed out. I hadn't a clue as to where we were going. All I had been told was that I would not be allowed to take photos of the archaeological sites, and that I should use my Spanish when speaking as much as possible, so as not to offend. Well this made me a little apprehensive, as my Espanol is very limited. I figured my best bet was to just keep my mouth shut (boca cerrada), and listen up. The owner Don Beto, turned out to be a fine gentleman that was a pleasure to be around. He took us to his lower house where his daughter and granddaughter live and introduced me, as I was the only stranger there.

DON BETO'S GRANDAUGHTER

After the introductions and some interesting conversation, Don Beto put on his belt, complete with knife and canteen. He then gathered up his granddaughter and off we went down and into an ancient stream bed. After awhile we came to a spot where there were ancient paintings on the rock walls. I was told that I should see them in the early morning light when the sun rising and the shadows created, make them stand out. Later that day I was invited to return and experience this marvel of nature.

After exploring this site we were taken to another site that we discussed the different possibilities of the geological formation and the possible collapse of some of the walls where you can see paintings extending into narrow crevices. These crevices would be impossible to paint inside of. I did take some photos of the flora in the area and of the people. I was also given permission to photograph some other things, but I declined to do so, vying on the side of respect. Sometimes patience really is bliss, as it can be rewarded blissfully, in time. Besides, I had enough photos for this post. Yup, you will just have to be patient also!


ANIBAL

As we were sitting around this site discussing its possibilities, Anibal directed my attention to an insect crawling on the sand. He said that is a blood sucker and is poisonous. He informed me that it can kill, but you can't feel it bite. We played around with it for awhile and it started getting very aggressive and actually trying to get on me. It started running toward me and actually got onto my shoe, but was rapidly repelled. That was enough of that (bastante insecto). Would you believe that when I yelled that to it, it turned and left?

I asked Anibal if Don Beta found his water by witching. He didn't know what I was talking about, so I explained how it is done and told him I could witch water, gold ,silver etc. He thought I was loco en la cabasa. That is until he mentioned it to Don Beto, who also witches water. We both use rods, but I told him how to witch with a pendulum and he was very attentive, asking many questions. At this point he seemed to become more comfortable with me as we had made a common bond through our witching.


NINO

When we returned to the house, Anibal asked if I would like to see and photo an old (late 1800s to present)
cemetery. We walked up and across the road to have a look. Well, you can see for yourself.

FLOWER CAP ON TOPPL

FLOWER CAP

1944

Inside this crack lies a very large black lizard with yellow rings

To be continued!