Afternoon walk in La Paz, Mexico

I went for a walk along the waterfront this afternoon.

This has been a trip where I have really wished I had a high quality compact camera for its rapid deployment and discrete appearance. Carrying a rucksack with a dslr and a few lenses has been hot and hasn't suited the kind of shooting that feels comfortable here (open bag, take out large camera, advertise I am a tourist etc!) I was glad I brought it when on the boat but I would prefer small and discrete here.

I know the iPod camera is really a toy but decided I would allow myself to use only that on my walk for a bit of fun. I unwittingly changed the film type by accident so lots were heavily vignetted black and whites instead of what I wanted.

The cars here are a real mix with some old and wonderfully decrepit American stuff and lots of trucks with Tonka toy wheels. Tyres only become unserviceable when the tread has all gone and the ply cords have worn through! It is common for really tatty cars to have no lights or bumpers. I was expecting driving to be mad but it's quite courteous and drivers always give way on pedestrian crossings.

I had to have a margarita while I was here so did that today and picked up some little pressies to bring home. They needed to be little as my bag is already on the measly 23kg limit with dive gear and very few clothes that I have worn and washed literally every other day! I actually left my dive bag back in San Jose to collect on my way back as lugging it to La Paz on the bus would have been a pain indeed.

I also included a couple of pics of the Baja Paradise pension where I'm staying. 89 US Dollars for 4 nights is pretty cool I reckon. Simple, basic and clean with a great shower and the most reliable wifi yet!

There is a metal frame sculpture of a Tiburon ballena (whale shark) in town. I don't understand the writing on it but I think they are proud of the sharks and it's a conservation awareness thing. Along with yes, good day and thank you, that's the shameful limit of my Spanish!

My bargain accomodation

Ply cords visible...nearly time for a new one!

A little hello from Baja

This is just a quick hello from La Paz. I'm hoping to post a proper blog with nice photos of the diving trip to Socorro when I get back home.

Baja looks really nice and is largely unspoiled with lots of desert and semi desert and many mountains inland. Being alone I haven't justified hiring a car and have struggled a bit with the language barrier, which has made organising some things tricky, but I would have a better idea if I came back. It's a bit off season too with many Americans having finished their thanksgiving break and the seasonal cool wind starting to whip up and cool the Sea of Cortez. It could be a nice holiday destination for anyone.

It was very welcome to hear a good news story about the state of large pelagic sea life for a change. The captain of our dive boat, Nautilus Explorer, stated that the numbers of sharks and mantas they are seeing is improving year upon year. From the mid to late 70's unlimited fishing, (mainly by the environmentally catastrophic Taiwanese) destroyed the Sea of Cortez by long-lining it to death. The huge schools of Hammerheads and large mantas totally disappeared. Fishing also badly damaged Socorro and on one occasion in the mid 2000's the Nautilus Explorer highlighted a national scandal and cover up by filming gill netting of rare sharks, mantas and dolphins at a prized dive site (the one where we saw 5-7 mantas each dive!) The public outcry and prosecution that followed caused the government to implement proper patrols in the protected areas of Socorro and in the Sea of Cortez. Hopefully this can be aggressively maintained as the area has some stunning sealife. Sharks numbers have increased greatly over the last 5 years at Roca Partida and small numbers of hammerheads are again being seen at the original Sea of Cortez hotspots where they used to school in hundreds or thousands. It is thought they are both migrating and breeding there.

I'm going out on a boat to look for whalesharks in La Paz bay tomorrow. They come here seasonally to feed on plankton blooms in the shallow water. Most are smaller ones (still big for a fish!) but apparently there was a 10 metre one today.

Here are a few snaps I took on the iPod camera back in San Jose at a couple of colourful little restaurants, including a Mexican Christmas tree!

Stourhead & Early November 2011

We all went to Stourhead on Daddy's last weekend off. It was quite a sunny day, though not especially warm, but it was very busy.  We had to park on the remains of an old airfield nearby as there were so many cars.  I had a nice ride in my pushchair all the way around the lake.  The colours were not as good as last year as its been a mild Autumn so far, but it was still very nice indeed.

Here are some recent photos of me at home.  I was off my food for a week or two as my top teeth were coming through and giving me some grief, so I was a bit grumpy.  Now I'm back to my usual self and eating like crazy.  Daddy said I had a tummy like a little Buddha when he bathed me last night!

Mummy and Daddy say I am in the "Monkey see, Monkey do" phase of copying everything they do.  I comb my hair, I pretend to talk on the phone and I copy the games Mummy and Daddy play with me, like peek-a-boo with some of my toys.

I'm a strong-willed little boy now and if I can't have my own way or get grumpy, this is the special face I have!

I have wild hair and I try to comb it

I'm an enthusiastic eater

I often need distracting like playing with baby wheels cars

I love baby wheels...these are my pig and bee

Wimborne Food Festival 2011

Before Daddy went to work on Sunday we went to the nice Food festival in Wimborne.  It was very, very interesting as there were so many bright colours, people and strange food smells.

I have been a bit poorly with a nasty cough and cold, which made me grumpy, but I'm feeling better now and I'm back to my usual happy self.  Mummy and Daddy also have it....oh dear!

Today Daddy was off work and I was such a good boy.  I followed him all over the house doing the vacuum cleaning, which I love.  I try to fix it with my hammer as I go along, but Daddy looks a bit worried when I hit it too hard!  I am managing to stand up on my own, which is quite exciting and the other day I picked up a computer mouse, held it like a telephone and said "hello Daddy" which made Mummy and Daddy look very surprised.

The cakes were huge.  Daddy got some monstrous slices of fruit cake and I helped him eat them....I love fruit cake!

Mummy couldn't resist some nifty kitchen gadgets

Daddy said he should take some curried goat home as a special treat for Granddad.  In my story books goats always eat socks and underpants so I don't think they will taste too good!

Is that man going to eat all of that!?

This funky band were just great

Time out for a banana

Even Mummy doesn't cook meals this big

There were some of these funny dancers again....I don't understand it but its fun to watch

Mummy bought some wild boar sausages from another stand....these are Irish ones

People were eating a whole pig!

Daddy had a chickpea curry and Mummy had this Thai green curry

Lovely Weather

My Daddy is a grown-up so unfortunately he has been at work during this lovely weather.  When he came home this afternoon we decided to make the best of the lovely warm weather and go to Moors Valley for a nice walk for 2 hours.

We fed the swans and ducks and walked towards Potterne Park.  On the way back I got hungry and so we stopped at a nice picnic bench in the evening sun and I had a banana.  After that I had a lovely time playing on the bench with Mummy and Daddy and playing with some leaves and fir cones.  Daddy took some nice photos as the sun went down.  My Daddy says I am a dear little boy and he likes it when I give him a big hug when he gets home from work.  We usually play ball on the bottom of the stairs for a while when he gets home.

Nana got me a lovely second hand Richard Scarry book last week at Hinton Ampner, in the church stall.  here I am reading it.

This is one cool book.  I laugh when Daddy reads some of it to me

Here I am with Mr Swan at Moors Valley

One of the rare occasions when I didn't take my hat off!

Daddy used Silver Efex Pro to convert this photo to mono

Here I am on the bench...great fun

I was so happy I slapped the bench with excitement.  You can see my new teeth here!  They are good for biting breadsticks

I loved playing with the leaves and other bits....I did keep trying to eat them though!

For the photo geeks; Daddy took these shots on his old Nikon D80 camera with the little Nikon 35mm f1.8 lens.  Natural light only.