8/14/2011 - A trip to town

Yesterday, finding ourselves getting a bit low on cash following our trip stateside, we decided we needed to go in to Loreto. As far as I know, that's the closest ATM. Might be one at the Tripui hotel but I don't know for sure. No matter, there are other things we need to get as well.

As I've said before in this blog, there are a couple of ways to get to Loreto from Puerto Escondido (about 25 km). One way is to catch a ride with a fellow cruiser with a car. There are a number of them here and your chances of hooking up with someone seem to be about 50-50. The next option is to catch the bus out at the highway. This is an iffy proposition as the bus can't be counted on to be on time. Also, if they don't have any empty seats or don't happen to see you frantically waving your arms at them, they'll just zoom on by. It's much easier to just stick your thumb out and catch a ride with a sympathetic driver. The last, and most expensive, option is to call a cab. The round trip can run from 400 to 600 pesos but, for that, the driver will cart you around town and wait while you're in the store(s).

Just before we were ready to go I put out a call for a ride out on the VHF net but got no offers. So, we shouldered our packs and started hoofing it out to the highway to stick out our thumbs.

It's a long, unshaded walk out to the highway. Takes about 25 minutes to walk it if you're not really picking them up and setting them down. And, in this heat, that pace is highly unlikely. And how hot was it? Well, according to what I heard on the net this morning, yesterday's high was around 98 degrees with a heat index of 128 degrees!

Once out at the main road, we waited for a car headed north. And waited. And waited. And then we waited a little longer. Seemed to be plenty of cars headed south but no one headed north. Finally, they began to come. At first just a few, and then a whole bunch, one right after the other. It was like the gate opened and let everyone out. I didn't count, but I'd say that 8-10 vehicles sped past us before a Mexican couple in a late model Chevrolet pickup with a load of plywood stopped to give us a lift. Once we began barreling down the road, the driver, unbidden, took pity on us, rolled up his window, cranked up the A/C and aimed a vent right back at us in the jump seat. Ahhhhhhh.......

We really didn't have all that many things to do after we got some cash so we just kind of piddled the day away. A stop at Thrifty Ice Cream for a mango smoothie and then another stop at Augie's for a Bloody Mary (extra spicy, please). On the way to Augie's we passed a bunch of palm trees bearing yellow fruit clusters.

We're pretty sure these are dates. Small dates, yes, but dates nevertheless. If anyone knows different, please let us know.

As we were walking along the malecon, we noticed a familiar looking sailboat at anchor. Sure enough, it was Wind Raven with Jay and Judy aboard. We had our handheld VHF and tried hailing them on 16 and 22 but got no answer. Later on, as we were enjoying our Bloody Marys, we watched them set sail and head out, probably for Bahia Marquer on Isla Carmen.

After Augie's we went to FereMar to get a filet knife, a small tackle box, some motor oil and a medium size spinning rod. We got everything but the rod as I wasn't sure how long a rod would fit in our overhead rack. For being a fishing store, they sure didn't have much of a selection of rods. Next stop was El Pescador for some groceries (mangoes, avocados, carrots, cabbage, etc.). While I was shopping at Pescador, Lulu went to a farmacia to get a prescription filled. She was a little taken aback when a one month supply of pills cost her over 500 pesos. On our way to the bus station later, we stopped at a Similare farmacia to see what the generic pills would cost. Big difference: a 6-week supply was only 197 pesos. Lesson learned.

What we really wanted in town was to find a couple of geckoes to see if they can control the cockroach population on Siempre Sabado but, the only pet store we knew of was closed. Maybe next time.

In no particular hurry, we walked to the bus station to catch the 3:35 bus back to Puerto Escondido. No particular hurry as we had never known this bus to be less than 1/2 hour late. We arrived at the bus station about 3:25 and guess what? That's right, the bus was there and getting ready to leave. The driver directed us aboard where we grabbed the 2 front seats. Twenty minutes later we were back at the Puerto Escondido turn off, walking back down to the marina. Spent the rest of the evening in our usual manner: a soak in the jacuzi* (pronounced yah-cooz-ee) followed by chips and guacamole for dinner and then a couple shows on the laptop in the cockpit. All in all, another fine day.

*The lap pool is a "canal de nado" and a swimming pool is an "alberca". We asked the caretaker for the translations.