Fish and Zodiac

Yesterday morning Brenda and I walked up to the food market on Bravo street. Bob was correct: the fish selection was much bigger and fresher than that of CCC. We purchased a kilo of tuna for 70 pesos, which is equivalent of 7 Aussie dollars, which compares very favorably with the 35 dollars or more we would have had to pay in Australia.

On the way to the market we visited three different drug stores in an attempt to find non-stick dressings for Brenda's knee, with no success. To my amazement even band aids are hard to find in La Paz.

After lunch I took the bicycle to CCC and their large pharmacy section had no band aids and no sticky tape . Even the pharmacist admitted that he didn't have much. The only thing that they had were rolls of stretchy bandages very suitable for knee injuries and I purchased two rolls along with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide so that Brenda could clean her wound, which had been looking a bit slimey and pusy.

I returned to the boat to find that Brenda had found some extremely good antibiotic ointment in the first aid kit that changed the entire look of her wound. Between that and the bandage it appears that Brenda will be OK with her injury.

I'm including photos showing the sidewalk trap that caught Brenda. All over La Paz you can see where light poles or signs or whatever have been removed but the inch or two of metal foundation have been left to stick out of the pavement. Those are the minor traps that lead to skinned knees and the occasional broken wrist. There are plenty of more serious traps that can roll ankles, and break legs, pelvises and maybe even crack skulls.

In the evening we had a delicious meal of gently fried fresh tuna with rice and salad, accompanied by red wine.

This morning we went to the marina relatively early at 9 AM to show Brenda the Club Cruseros coffee morning. On the way we had a short chat with Bob and Al finishing their coffee at The Dock restaurant.

I handed in three movie DVD's and Brenda selected two fresh ones. (No blood & Guts I regret to say.) We met Susan and Dennis of "Two Can Play", well known local identities who have a company that tends to boats while their owners are away. They gave us a lot of valuable travel information on ... which brings me to the next topic.

A few days ago Brenda surprised me by suggesting that instead of visiting Costa Rica maybe we should get to know this vast country Mexico while we are here. This surprised me because I know how much the nature reserves of Costa Rica mean to Brenda, but I could well see the logic and practicality of exploring this vast country instead of flying off to see another. Besides, I am sure that Mexico has plenty of feathered treasures of its own.

Susan and Dennis gave us very useful information on their explorations of Mexico. One possibility is to take the ferry across to Mazlatan and after a day or two there use the extensive network of modern airconditioned buses to go wherever it suits us. Accommodations are cheap and available with no reservations. This has advantages to us such as touring in a stable and safe country with the freedom and flexibility of no prior bookings.

In the afternoon we motored over to the Mogote peninsula where Brenda did her bird watching thing while I scrubbed the Zodiac. The photos show me at work and my biggest worry about the Zodiac: barnacles!

Brenda's Bird of the Day is a Snowy Egret which is about half the size of yesterday's Bird, the GBH. This bird spends much of his time fishing in the Marina. See photo in which he is poised for action - which involves plunging right in.