Apartment No. 2

I got possession of the apartment from Teresa this morning. 

She checked things out with me and the vital things - in particular the air conditioning - work OK.  The ceiling fan  looks rickety beyond belief but managed to turn without dropping off.

There is no doubt in my mind that an apartment on the 2nd or 3rd floor would have been preferable, but I had to take what was available.  If it really bugs me I'll have a word with Teresa about showing me any other apartments that come vacant.

Single bed, just inside front door, kitchen to right

Note rough water tap

Thank goodness it's not over the bed

Anyway, here are the photos of the ground floor apartment.

Visit to Doctor

I heeded the advice of friends and loved ones saw a doctor today. 

I started off by sending an email to Bob Carrol on Adios II.  A few hours later I had his reply with all of the information that I needed.  Dr. Enrique Tuchmann is a sort of doctor to the fleet who does "boat calls".  He speaks English and his receptionist doesn't, but that was no problem because Bob supplied me with Dr. Tuchmann's cell phone number and suggested that I phone just after 8 AM.  I telephoned this morning at 8.15 AM, Dr. Tuchmann answered, and the appointment was made for 11 AM.  Not long after that Bob dropped by to give me more directions on finding the clinic, maintaining a prudent distance from me. 

I found the clinic with little trouble and walked in 20 minutes early.  The receptionist knew who I was and I confirmed that my cita (appointment) was at once (11).  She led me upstairs to Dr. Tuchmann.

Seeking medical help was a good move.  Dr. Tuchmann told me that I have some fluid in my left lung that could turn into pneumonia.  I walked out with prescriptions that included an antibiotic called Macrozit (Azitomicina) which must be very powerful medicine because I am to take only one tablet a day for 3 days. There is also something to help dry out my lungs and something else for my head & sinuses.

I thanked Dr. Tuchmann for seeing me on short notice.  Instead of any nonsense like "I'd like to see you again in 5 days" he told me to call him on his cell phone any time that I needed to speak with him. 

On the way out I paid 500 (about $42) pesos for the visit.

New Slip

Neil advised me two months ago that the marina planned to move me from the 45 ft slip that I've been using for about a year now to a 40 ft slip more appropriate for my 39 ft boat. Today he gave me a Heads Up on the move sometime next week.

The first question I had was the orientation of the slip because the high amount of prop walk to port (i.e. the tendency of the stern of the boat to pull to the left when I put the engine in reverse) would dictate whether I would go into the new slip bow first or stern first.  In the present slip I must back into the slip because were I to go in bow first then when reversing to leave the marina the prop walk would force me to go up the fairway and toward the marina exit in reverse, which makes steering and control very difficult.

The proposed new slip faces the opposite way and will be very much like my slip at the Fremantle Sailing Club.  I will make my entry by motoring down the fairway and entering the slip bow first with a sharp turn to starboard.  To exit I will put the engine in reverse which will back me out in an arc that will leave me facing the marina entrance.

As usual there are tradeoffs. The new slip is on a much quieter jetty, and I will have more privacy given that I will be presenting my bow to the jetty.  On the other hand, I'll miss the colorful activities associated with the fleet of pangas berthed on the other side of my current jetty.

The marina layout is very well shown in the Marina de La Paz web site.  Visit http://www.marinadelapaz.com/
then click on "layout" at the left.  I expect to be moving from slip 111 at the right to 317 at the left.

Apartment and Clearing the Boat

Two mornings ago I visited Teresa at the apartment building on the corner of Juarez and Madero, armed with a statement written in Spanish in which I explained my plans for the next few months, including the visit by Jak for 4 weeks to help me with the boat.  Fortunately she had an apartment with two beds being vacated on Sunday.  I paid for the first month and told her that I would probably need the apartment into November.

I was hoping to get an apartment on the 3rd floor because Brenda and I enjoyed the balcony and the great cross breeze.  Unfortunately this apartment is on the ground floor, on the quieter Juarez street.  I suppose that we'll get used to the convenience of not having to walk several flights of steps with our groceries, laundry, etc.  I had only a quick glance at the interior because there are people still living in it, but it looked OK, with a double bed in the main room and a single bed in a passage way leading from the front door past the kitchen to the rear.  I figure that two tough hombres planning to round the Horn should find it comfortable enough.  Security is good.  From memory, there is a tiny garden court yard totally enclosed with bars.  I take possession on Wednesday morning, at which time I will make sure that all vital systems in the apartment are working well, from the air conditioner down to the toilet, and will take some photographs.

For the last three days I have been steadily transferring material from Pachuca to the lockup storage across the street.  As of now the sail lockers and the quarter berth lockers are empty, save some chain in the starboard locker.  I've also cleared areas of the cabin lockers.  Remaining on the boat are my clothes, food, all cooking and eating equipment, all tools and most materials.  This does not confirm to my idealistic vision of turning the boat into a shell,  but there are practical reasons for keeping this material on board.  For one thing, I want to eat as much of Pachuca's food stores as possible.  Brenda and I were recently cooking things that we had purchased in Tahiti.  A lot of the cooking and eating gear will wind up in the apartment.  In any event, I cannot fit much more into the bodega.

For historical completeness I'll have to mention that I've had a recurrence of last week's cold.  For the last three days I've been wheezing, sneezing, and coughing my way around La  Paz.  I've been spending a lot of time in bed and today I stocked up on fresh fruit, juices, and strawberry yoghurt.

Unloading Pachuca

I started off the day with an overdue haircut.  I asked for the works: hair, sideburns, eyebrows, mustache, and ears.  The barber did a great job. I then stepped into the Bravo market for the first time in months, it seemed, and purchased fresh fish, some vegetables, and two nice looking mangos that tasted as good as they looked.

I was going to spend the afternoon changing the Volvo engine oil and filter for the first time, but the manual specified the first oil change at 200 engine hours (or 1 year), and the engine has only 62 hours of running.  I discussed it with Mark in Port Townsend and decided to wait until just before we sail out of La Paz in early November.  That left the rest of the afternoon free so I went across the street to Seamar and rented a storage locker (called a "bodega").  I was first shown a small one which was inadequate, given the amount of gear I want to remove from the boat.  Fortunately he had two free large ones, nos 15 and 19.  I chose 15 because it gets more light when the door is open.  Unfortunately both of them were on the second floor.  The bodega measures 8' x 6' with a 9' ceiling.

Even though it was pretty hot - about 95F - I decided to get started on the project by removing all of the sails from the lockers in the V berth area.  On my second trip I found two men unloading a lot of gear from a truck and putting it into locker 19.  I asked him if he was clearing out his boat but no, he was splitting up with his partner and was clearing out of the house.  Asi es la vida he told me. Yea, shit happens was my reply. He was on the top floor packing the material and a strong young Spanish guy was humping the material up the stairs.

He'd had trouble speaking to me in English even though I knew that he was an American.  He said that he's been coming the La Paz for the last 13 years and for the last 3.5 years was married to a local lady.  He said that he dreams in Spanish now and has difficulty flipping over into English.  Then he mentioned that he'd had a heart attack 6 months ago.  He looked distressed and I asked him if he was in pain.  Yes, he was getting a bit of pain in his chest which raised a big red flag in my head.  I quickly finished my load then pitched in with his load, trying to keep him as quiet as possible.

He told me that the entire bill for his treatment was 80,000 pesos, or about $7,000 USD.  In California it would have cost him $200,000.  He confirmed what I have been hearing about the new hospital in La Paz: unltra modern, state of the art, world class.   He said it tops the UCLA Medical Center.  I must take time to visit this hospital (strictly as a tourist!) before I leave La Paz.  

After this hot work I decided to cool off by giving the boat a good wash down.  While doing this I got a visit from a man in a row boat.  It turned out to be David Naughton from Port Townsend.  Simeon Baldwin had told me in early February that David and Sarah Rudolf were headed this way in a Contessa 26.  They've been in the area for a while but between our visits to the islands and our 5 week tour of the mainland finding us at home was difficult.  Fortunately David saw me today, one day after Brenda left and one day before he and Sarah depart for Hawaii.  I'm grateful for even that brief meeting, but I so wish that we could have been here when they arrived so that we could help them get orientated and get to know them

David's boat has no engine - not even an outboard.  I told him that I admired him greatly for sailing without mechanical power.  He has no HF radio - just a handheld VHF.  He has two sextants and fortunately someone got him to accept a GPS which he is finding useful.

I passed on a few of my experiences at Ala Wai Boat Harbor in Honolulu and of course highly recommended it.  David seemed more interested  in anchoring so I suggested Keehi Lagoon not far from Ala Wai.  He had heard of it and I confirmed that it is a good anchorage but that while I was there it was considered to be an aquatic slum and I was advised to not go out at night if I had to move my boat there. 

Tomorrow I'll continue transferring gear from Pachuca to the bodega, and perhaps the following day I'll visit Teresa about renting an apartment.

Brenda Off to Oz OK

Brenda got off to Oz OK today.

The plane was due to take off at 5.38 PM.  I saw her into the boarding lounge at 4.30 PM and at about 5.45 PM I saw her airplane passing high above the bow of  Pachuca and headed north.  Brenda had a window seat.  Had she been on the starboard side she may have had a shot at seeing me at the cockpit of Pachuca lifting a cold Pacifico Clara beer and wishing her a good trip.

KF7PBW

I've just checked with the FCC database and I am listed as "Active" until 12 April 2021 with "Operator Class General", which makes it official.

My HAM call sign is KF7PBW

(I still retain my HF call sign, VNW5980.)

Frigate Bird Rookery

I mentioned a few days ago how Brenda and I drifted alongside a rookery of Frigate Birds.  They seemed totally unconcerned with our presence and no wonder, given that we observed 2 or 3 visits to the rookery per day by boats loaded with tourists.  Here are some of the photographs that we took.  If you enlarge them and pan around you'll see bird nests, courting males with their bright red throat pouches, young chicks in their fluffy white down, and the poses of the various members of the colony in their quiet and gentle daily life.

Breeding male birds are black with a red throat pouch which is not very red or visible when it is not inflated, females are black but have a white breast, nestlings have dark wings with a white head and breast. Frigate birds have the longest wings of any bird, in proportion to their body weight.

Back in La Paz

We made it back to the marina yesterday as planned.

In the morning we had our doubts about making the trip because the northerly wind was still up and gusting to more than 25 kts.  At 9.30 AM we decided to have coffee and cake to see how things went in the next hour, and fortunately the wind settled down as if on cue.  By 10.15 AM the wind was averaging 11 kt and we motored out of the bay at 10.30 AM at the precise time that we had planned the previous day.  We  sailed for about two hours with our full jib and the wind on the starboard quarter, but then the wind died down and we motored the rest of the way.  By modulating our engine speed we arrived at the marina entrance at the planned 2.30 PM, ebb tide.  A quick call on VHF 16 to the marina and we had two marina personnel and Noe waiting to take our lines.

Our colds had greatly improved and I celebrated with two cold beers while Brenda went off to the shower and I finished tidying up the boat.  I then had my shower and shave and after speaking with Stephen on Skype Brenda and I had a very pleasant dinner on the deck of the marina restaurant.  We started off with Margaritas.  Brenda's dish was Combinacion Mexicana, mine was Filete de Veracruz (Sea Bass).

Then it was off to an early night.  Our colds may have improved, but we tired nevertheless.

Another Quiet Day

This morning we discussed the possibility of making for one of the anchorages near La Paz but fortunately decided not to risk exposure to a northerly wind if the GRIB wind predictions got it wrong. The wind is now from the north at 20-26 knots and we are two happy puppies in our sheltered anchorage.

Brenda and I both had bad nights with our colds and have been taking it very easy with plenty of rest, warmth, and good food. Brenda remarked that it is her worst cold in years. However, with luck we are past the worst.

I managed to happily resolve one problem this morning. Last night we discovered that both the radio and the adjacent 12V cigarette lighter plug were dead. These feed off a sub panel that I installed before leaving Fremantle. The 10 amp breaker supplying the panel had not been thrown, and at night I verified that the anchor light, which is supplied by that panel, was working OK. I went for the fuse and sure enough the 15A fuse had blown. I've been pretty touchy about electrics since the recent electrical fire and decided to find out why the fuse had blown. The answer was that the 12V DC to 240V AC inverter draws 20 amps. It's a wonder that the 15A fuse had lasted so long. Anyway, I replaced it with a 20A fuse and am now wondering why the 10A breaker did not trip. (Should all of the breakers be tested, I ask myself.)

We expect to begin motoring to La Paz at 10.30 AM tomorrow to arrive at the marina at 2.30 PM, ebb tide.

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Another Night at Bahia San Gabriel

During the night the wind swung to the SW blowing at 10-ll kt, stronger than had been forecast. We were on a lee shore in just over 3 meters of water. However, after visiting the foredeck and winding the bitter end of the anchor chain around the Samson post instead of the anchor winch gypsy in case the snubber line parted, I figured that at the shallow depth I had a ratio of better than 10 to 1 on my anchor rode, so I went back to bed and tried not to worry about it. The tide continued to ebb so that at 1.30 PM I had only .4 meters of water under the keel. I know this to be a fact because I took the opportunity to throw a lead line over the side and confirm that the depth sounder is correctly set to measure the true depth of the water.
With our colds smoldering along Brenda and I decided to have an easy day. In the morning I inflated the Zodiac and launched it, the Brenda helped me lower the outboard motor onto it. After lazing around the rest of the morning we had lunch, a nap, then set off for a tour of the area.
Our first destination was a rookery that Brenda had spotted to the south of us. I will let Brenda describe the interesting experience.
"Robert let the Zodiac drift quietly a few feet from the rocky shore, pushed along by a gentle wind. The colony of nesting Magnificent Frigate Birds did not seem at all agitated by us. They were more interested in each other. This morning I had thought 'I've seen lots of Frigate Birds but never the red throat pouch that the males inflate when breeding.' Now I have seen many throat pouches so inflated that the bird's beak angles upwards. Some pairs were still building their nest and gently clacking their bills. Others had a white fluffy nestling to show for their efforts. It was all very busy with neighbours very close, but relatively serene. I estimated that at least 2000 birds formed the colony."
I really enjoyed drifting so close to the Frigate Birds, watching them do their courting thing, preen each other, and looking over some white fluffy chicks that had already hatched.

Brenda visiting mangrove at low tide

We then motored to the other side of the bay where Brenda visited a mangrove which, though disappointing from the bird watching perspective, was pleasant in the bright sunshine and gentle wind.

Panoramic of Bahia San Gabriel,  Pachuca at Left

We were back on board when at 4.10 PM the wind abruptly swung from a gentle NE to 10-12 kt E, as though somebody had thrown a switch. An easterly wind suited us both, no matter how strong it got, because we had good protection from that direction.
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At Anchor Again

In the days since our return from our tour of the mainland Brenda and I have been taking it easy, recuperating, I guess, from the rigors of backpacking at our stage of life.

On our return to La Paz we caught the tail end of an arts festival with Australia as its theme, then experienced a few days of the annual "Bayfest", put on by Club Cruceros. Two outcomes of the Bayfest worth noting are that I won in a raffle a 30% reduction in the cost of my next boat haul out, and for the first time the Club Cruceros volley ball team defeated the Mexican Navy. Jokes were made about the navy retaliating by increasing the number of boardings and inspections, and whether they could continue to rescue Gringo boaters in trouble with the same diligence and dedication that they've shown in the past.

Brenda and I developed colds, but by then we had already decided to spend 3 days at anchor in the local bays to give Brenda a last visit to these great places before her departure for Australia in ... less than a week now.

Cold or not I had to spend 45 minutes in the water yesterday cleaning the propeller, shaft, and water line which had grown "beards" of sea grass. Cleaning the propeller was important because a matting of grass will destroy the laminar flow over the propeller surfaces and result in loss of drive. (My first boat Chiquita almost wound up on the rocks at the Fishing Boat Harbour in Fremantle because of a fouled propeller and was saved only because Reg Kelly just managed to reach a reach a fishing boat's rail with the boat hook as the wind drove us toward the rocks. Unfortunately Reg then blotted his copy book by refusing a direct order by the captain shortly after dawn the next day to go over the side and clean the propeller. "This is Mutiny!" I protested, as I slid into the cold winter waters to do it myself.) I also ran the engine for 45 minutes to make sure that all was well after six weeks of dormancy. (It started and ran like ... well ... a new Volvo engine.)

We motored out this morning at 10.30 AM in a gentle breeze and falling tide, which would assist us in the La Paz Channel. I noted that the volt meter was reporting a satisfactory 14.2 V (with no fault alarm!) and 65 amps were being delivered to the batteries. After rounding the Pemex oil facility we spotted a small boat up ahead and when we got close saw that it was a navy panga instead of a fishing boat. I thought little of it since I had already been boarded twice and after the second time (in 3 days) had been told that Pachuca's details would be recorded and there would be no more boardings.

I hadn't reckoned on the Club Cruceros volley ball team defeating the Mexican navy.

The young man seemed more anxious than me. No doubt I was relaxed because I had cracked open my first cold beer shortly before the boarding. In response to his question I had to ask Brenda my age. I then came very close in telling him in Spanish that my age was 670 instead of 67. I then told him the individual numbers, "seis" and "siete". He then asked me Brenda's age and I got mockingly serious and shook my head saying "No, Amigo". We both turned to Brenda and I said "twenty one" as he said "twenty".

We had a gentle head wind throughout our passage to Bahia San Gabriel on Isla Espiritu Santo, 18 nm north of La Paz. Pachuca's slippery hull moved effortlessly through the calm water at just under 6 knots. Brenda said that she could not neither hear nor feel the engine when standing at the bow.

We worked our way along the right side of the bay, into circular section of deeper water that allowed us to go much farther into the bay than usual. It was Dave's "DJM Questor Software" that made this possible for me because with it I could see the progress of the boat against a close up Google satellite photo of the bay, which showed the depths very well. We dropped anchor at 3 PM in 4.2 meters of water. As usual, it is splendid holding ground of pure sand with no weed, mud, or rocks - the foundation of a relaxing night at anchor.

At the Bayfest festival Brenda had attended a session on Mexican sauces and learned how to make three sauces, one of which is "Ranchero" sauce, which can be made without a blender. Brenda made a Ranchero sauce while we motored and we both enjoyed a lunch of "Huevos Ranchero" soon after dropping anchor.

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Ham License Examination

Before we left on our tour I took measures to prepare for some radio ham license examinations scheduled for today, 6 April.  To that end I had made firm bookings for the ferry trip across the Sea of Cortes back to La Paz on 4 April, two days before the examinations, just in case something went wrong with the ferry (which it did!)

I got greedy and decided to go for both the "technical" and the higher "general" certificates.  I downloaded study guides for the two examinations onto my Acer webtop as PDF files.  During the tour I managed to go over the dry material over and over whenever I got a chance, usually on a bouncing bus and later a bit on the train.  A couple of times I grabbed an hour of study while Brenda was out bird watching. 

The work paid off because this morning I took the tests and passed them both.  I don't know the scores but one of the markers said "good work" regarding the test for the General certificate.  I had to memorize things like "The mixer is the receiver stage that combines a 14.250 MHz input signal with a 13.795 MHz oscillator signal to produce a 455 KHz intermediate frequency (IF) signal." (An question on today's test.)  Or how about "The approximate maximum theoretical forward gain of a 3 Element Yagi antenna is 9.7 dBi", another of today's questions.  However, I did manage to learn a lot about all aspects of radio work, which was supposed to be the goal of it all.

Anyway, I am a true Ham now and expect to receive my new call sign after the papers are processed by the US FCC.

Return to La Paz

We arrived in Topolobampo early in the afternoon after the short bus ride from El Fuerte.  Brenda had received a telephone call from Baja Ferries a few days earlier informing her that the ferry would be a bit late in leaving, midnight or perhaps 1 AM instead of the expected 11 PM.

Topolobampo had very little to offer to two backpackers who had hours to pass.  We based ourselves outside of an upmarket restaurant sheltered from the sun for several hours, from where Brenda and I did some "walkabouts".  We then spent a few minutes cleaning ourselves up an looking as presentable as possible then walked into the restaurant for beers for me and a lemonade for Brenda.  Linda, attending to the bar, spoke good English and made us feel welcome.  We had a great conversation with her about life in Mexico.  She pointed out that the slip fees at the Marina Palmira, to which the Pelicanos restaurant is attached, is an amazingly low 170 PESOS per week, or about 500 pesos per month. We then took a table and had a good fish meal accompanied by a very nice white wine.  At 8 PM we left the restaurant and became back packers again, walking the 1 kilometer to the Baja Ferry terminal.

I went to the Baja Ferries desk, presented our tickets, and was told that the ferry would not depart until 2 AM.  I was shocked but did not know enough Spanish to either express my displeasure or ask for an explanation.  An hour later I re visited the desk and was told that the ferry would not depart until 3 AM.  I was fuming because neither we nor as far as I could see the rest of the putative passengers were getting any information.

About an hour later two things happened to cool me down a bit.  An English speaking representative of the company approached Brenda and myself and explained that the ferry was having "cooling problems" and was travelling slowly.  Is it already on the way? I asked, and Yes it is, so I was told.  The man said to expect the ferry at 1 or 2 AM.  I told him that I had been told 3 AM.  It didn't make a lot of sense to Brenda and myself.  Brenda had been told days earlier that the ferry would be late, so it seemed to us unlikely that there was an emergency that had sprung up from nowhere.  The other ameliorating measure was that the company brought in pizza for the hundreds of passengers in the terminal.  After waiting in a long queue we got two slices of warm pizza and a cup of what Brenda thought was cold tea each.  I found the tea undrinkable and threw it away, but the company had at least made a gesture.

After we ate I saw that the Baja Ferries staff were no longer at the counter.  This did not auger well.  Brenda suggested that we find space on the floor as so many of the other passengers had and soon we were bedded down on the floor.  I put on my Icebraker sweater and pants over my shorts then lay on my jacket in a successful attempt to insulate myself from the cold tile floor.  4 AM came around and Brenda and I not only resigned ourselves to spending the night on the floor but wondered if the ferry was even going to make it to Topolobampo, much less be in shape to take us to La Paz.

Dawn came and at about 7.30 AM the kiosk opened and I got coffee for Brenda and myself.   By then the girl had returned to the Baja Ferries counter and I asked her when the ferry would leave.  She did some mental calculations and replied "nueve" (nine).  I teased her with "Verdad?  No uno?, no dos?, no tres?, no quatro?", reminding her of the ferry tales that we had been told the evening before.  She smiled sheepishly and reaffirmed that 9 AM was the time.  In walking around the building I saw a truck load of military arriving, which made me wonder if they were preparing for the arrival of the ferry.  Then Brenda spotted the ferry in position, with trucks emergeing.  Then we saw trucks being loaded into the ferry.  Soon the passengers were admitted and at 10 AM the ferry was underway.

Things got better after that.  The ferry was probably their most modern, two generations ahead of that steel floating industrial machine that had taken us to Mazatlan 5 weeks earlier.  Our state room looked 5 star to us, who had plumbed some of the hotel depths of Mexico.  We had no porthole but the air conditioning was working very well.  I had a shower and shave, we went down for our complementary breakfast, then we crashed out for a blessed 3 hours of sleep in what was to us luxury.  There had been little hot water when I had taken my shower and to our disappointment the water was still not hot when Brenda took hers.  It may have been related to that "cooling" problem.  We noticed that the ferry seemed to be moving at normal speed.

We went to the restaurant to have a coffee and something sweet and Brenda spotted land.  From the look of it we were approaching the north end of the Cerralvo channel.  It did not take long to confirm that we were indeed approaching La Paz.  We passed between the same markers that Arnold and I had traversed so many months earlier and could see Playa Bonanza on Isla Espirito Santu to our right.  I shows how far we had come when the waters of La Paz felt like home.  At about this time we noticed a smaller ferry heading out.  This answered our question of how the ferry would be able to meet its schedules if this one was 12 hour late.  We figured that this older ferry had been pressed into service because it was leaving Pichilingue at about the scheduled time.

It took a lot of time to turn the ferry around, dock it, and get the passengers off, but at 6.45 PM we emerged from the taxi at Marina de La Paz.

We found the boat in good order, as though we had been away for only a few hours.  We put our gear down and after I made a quick trip for bread, butter, milk, and beer we set off for Rancho Viejo for a celebratory dinner beginning with a Margarita each.

Back in La Paz

We got back to the boat at 6.45 PM.  This was about 12 hours later than we had expected.  The ferry was supposed to depart from Topolobampo at 11 PM last night.  Instead it left at 10 AM today after Brenda and I (and just about everybody else) spent the night sleeping on the terminal floor.  More on this later.

To El Fuerte, State of Sinaloa

Today we completed the last leg of our Copper Canyon train journey and are now in El Fuerte (so named because there was a fort here to protect the settlers).

Tunnel Wall, Taken With Flash

 We started off the day with a pleasant morning walk around the town of Cerocahui.  The highlight for Brenda was seeing two different species of blue birds.  We also saw humming birds streaking out of pine trees in a blur. 

 Back at the hotel we had pleasant brunch at the restaurant on the second floor, planning a relaxing time for the next two hours until our departure for the train station.  But then the proprietor came up, explained that all clocks had been advanced 1 hour and instead of departing for the train in two hours we had 10 minutes to pack up and get in the car.  He drove very fast and got us to the station just in time to see the Economy class train pull out for Chihuahua.  Our train did not arrive for over an hour.  All very confusing.

 Brenda an I think that today's leg from Bahuichivo to El Fuerte was the most dramatic of the journey.  There seemed to be more tunnels, bridges, and amazing scenery.  The pine trees disappeared and we started to see cactus and other warm weather flora.  Brenda saw bananas and paw paws under cultivation.  We eventually crossed the highest bridge on the line which was located next to a very large lake with a water level well below its maximum.  After that we were moving through flatter and settled areas.  Brenda and I took the opportunity to visit the restaurant car for a pleasant 30 minutes of refreshments. 

Hotel Guerrero

Pancho Villa Recruiting Poster

High Ceiling of Tree Trunks

Our Room With Bolt Across Door, Window at Left

 We stepped off the train at El Fuerte and found a cab that took us the 6 km to the Guerrero hotel.  As I hoped with a low budget hotel near the center of town it was “interesting”.  It was built 100 years ago and sports a large courtyard surrounded by rooms.  Our room has a ceiling at least 20 ft high, composed of tree trunks spaced about a foot apart with some sort of material in between.  The walls are of stone, rendered from waist level up.  The doors are big wooden ones like you'd find in a castle (or a dungeon, I guess), and to lock it we have to pass a long bolt through a couple of steel saddles then put a padlock through the bolt.  The bed is a stone plinth with a mattress on topThey did a pretty good job of retrofitting the modern plumbing.

After we settled in and had showers we went out looking for a restaurant.  The one highly recommended by the guide was closed but we found another good one in a hotel near the main plaza.

Bahuichivo Station, Then Cerocahui

View from Walk to the Rim

Another View From Our Walk Along Rim of Canyon

This morning we went for a walk, not sure of where we were headed.  We crossed the main road of the town, went up a dead end road, walked  though the grounds of what appeared to be a defunct hotel, and soon found the rail track.  We found a path on the other side of the track and soon found ourselves at the rim of the canyon and enjoyed splendid panoramic views.  With a bit of walking I was able to see the tourist center that we had visited the previous day  as well as the cable full  extent of the cable car.

We were driven to the Posada Barrancas train station at 1.45 PM expecting to catch the train for Bauichivo at 2.11 PM.  Brenda and I had different ideas about the direction from which to expect the train.  Shortly before 2 PM we heard the whistle of a train coming from Brenda's direction and we figured that the train was a bit early.  We got on board, were escorted to our seats, and fortunately I asked about payment for two for Bahuichivo.   The conductor told me that the train was headed for Chihuahua, where we had come from.  I could hardly believe my years.  “Quando Otro Tren?” I asked.  “Media hora” was his reply.  We got off that train as fast as we could.  That was a close call.  If I had waited for the conductor to ask us for our fares we would have been well on our way back to Chihuahua before discovering the mistake.

Train Arriving at Bahuichivo Station

The train heading in the opposite direction to Los Mochis arrrived 40 minutes later, about 30  minutes late. Boarding was a fast operation:  The train stopped, we climbed on, then the train was off again well before we got into our seats.  A few minutes later the conductor collected our fares (400 pesos for the both of us)  to Bahuichivo.  This was the most scenic section of the line yet, with plenty of mountains, gorges, rivers, tunnels, and bridges.

We got off the train at Bahuichivo and soon found the hotel Plaza's car.  Ten minutes later the proprietor arrived, asked “Senor Morales?”, we shook hands, and Brenda and I climbed into the van and watched for 10 minutes while an unbelievable number of people and baggage were crammed into a bus.  Brenda and I were pleased not to be riding that bus.  The 16 km drive to Cerocahui was along a dusty road and I was wondering what we had let ourselves in for.  But soon we found ourselves in a beautiful valley with a large river and surrounded by mountains, and not long after that were in the charming village of Cerocahui, with its paved road, central plaza, and venerable church started by a Jesuit priest in 1680. 

Church at Cerocahui

Unfortunately the Internet service was not good enough for Skype and probably e-mail.  Worse, none of the shops sold beer.  Maybe to make up for this we had dinner at a very up market hotel – not that we had a choice, really, because there did not seem to be any other restaurant open in the village.

Posada Barranca, at the Heart of Copper Canyon

We boarded the train at 11.20 AM and soon the train was winding around mountain country, passing through deep cuts and perhaps a dozen tunnels.   At one point the track made a complete loop in order to climb a steep gradient. This was conifer country, with pine trees dominating the landscape.

The train stopped for 15 minutes at Divisadero and we got off to buy a quick lunch at the makeshift food court then ran across to take our first photos of one of the gorges.  We then got back on the train for the brief 4 km ride to Posada Barranca, our destination.

Cable Car Descending, Zoom To See Its Destination

Girl from Juarez Fell of Round Rocking Rock 3 Years Ago

We had already decided on two possible hotels for our overnight stay and did not waste any time in getting into the vehicle of the Cabanas Diaz accommodation.  In the car with us was a group of four women visiting from Italy that we got to know over the rest of the day.  They had left their husbands at home to go traveling.

Cabanas Dias offered a 3 hour car tour of the rim of the canyon and soon Brenda, myself, and the four Italian women were on our way.  It was an excellent tour that enabled us to see parts of the canyon that we might have otherwise missed.  Our first visit was to a recently completed tourist center jutting out over the cliff with mind blowing views of the canyon.  The center included a cable car spanning maybe 2 kilometers over a gorge and terminating on a high rock tower from where we were told were spectacular views of the canyon and the river below.  None of our group decided to take the half hour return trip but Brenda and I talked about returning for a ride the following morning.  We then drove to other vantage points along the rim, finishing at Divisadero, where we had made our brief visit from the train.

The tour guide provided an explanation of why there seemed to be so much dead vegetation in these hills.  He said that both this winter and last winter the temperature got down to 60F below zero, when the norm is 4 or 5F below zero.  We had been told in Chihuahua that about 6 weeks before our arrival the temperature had dipped to 60F below zero, and we had found that difficult to believe.    Brenda figures that temperatures that far below the norm would have taken a heavy toll of both flora and fauna.  To make things worse, there has been no rain in the area for over a year.
 
Unfortunately we found that the microwave signal at the accommodation was very week.  The cell phone could somehow function with no bars showing on the strength meter, but the internet connection via the Telcel dongle was so bad that it was useless.

I did use Brenda's telephone to make my first hotel reservation.   I had been avoiding this because I figured that communication by phone would be more difficult since I would not be able to use body language and gestures.  I used the Google translator to prepare statements that I anticipated needing to make, then called to the Hotel Plaza in Cerocahui.  The exchange went went amazingly well and soon we were booked for the following night, with a car to meet us at the train station.  We deemed a booking to be important because Bahuichivo, our next destination, is only a train station.  Accommodation is 16 km away at Cerocahui which is "in the middle of a verdant and picturesque valley".